Open position: Interactions between microbes and viruses/plasmids

Open position: interactions between microbes and mobile genetic elements

What: Microbes and their interactions with viruses and plasmids impact all natural, human-modified and engineered ecosystems on earth. Viruses regulate microbial populations, control nutrient turnover by microbes, and promote microbial gene transfer, fuelling evolution. Knowledge on which viruses/plasmids infect which microbes and the mechanisms underlying these infection interactions is therefore essential for a basic understanding of ecosystem processes and for applied research.  The goal of this project is to explore the structure of microbe-virus (or plasmid) networks and the consequences of this structure to processes such as horizontal gene transfer and microbe population dynamics.  This knowledge is directly relevant for tackling problems such as the spread of antibiotic  resistance.

Where: The position is at the Ecological Complexity Lab at the Department of Life Sciences, Ben-Gurion University, Israel. We collaborate with Rachel Whittaker (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) and Itzik Mizrahi (BGU). 

Who: we are looking for a candidate who:

* Has excellent working relations.

* Is quantitatively oriented (this is a computational project).

* Has experience with programming.

* Is curious, enthusiastic and creative.

* Has excellent English communication skills (speaking and writing).

How to apply: Please send a CV, a 1-page letter of why are you interested in joining and names of 2 referees (for recommendations) to: pilos@post.bgu.ac.il.