PostDoc Fellowship in Exolife Science

We advertise the opening of a postdoctoral fellowship under the interdisciplinary project “Effects of bacteria on atmospheres of Earth, Mars, and exoplanets” supported by the Novo Nordisk Foundation, which involves research groups at University of Copenhagen from the Niels Bohr Institute, the Department of Chemistry and the Department of Biology.

The deadline for application is June 15, 2022. Start of the fellowship is September 1, 2022, or soon thereafter.

The candidate will be based at the Section of Microbiology, Department of Biology, and will work in a team of post docs and PhD students at the Centre for ExoLife Sciences (CELS) with the common goal of deepening our understanding of how microbial life interact with its surroundings in terrestrial and extraterrestrial environments and how microorganisms affect the atmospheres of Earth and other planets, including the effects of microorganisms on cloud formation and properties. For more information, please see https://cels.nbi.ku.dk/english/openings/

The main goal of the post doc project is to manipulate the genomes of selected bacterial, archaeal and fungal isolates from e.g. cold and/or dry environments in order to enhance their abilities to survive and/or sustain activity under extreme environmental conditions, e.g. simulated Martian conditions and simulated Earth or extra-terrestrial atmospheres and clouds. We look for a candidate in biology, biochemistry or related fields with experience in genomic manipulation of prokaryotes, fungi and/or algae using CRISPR-Cas, CRAGE or similar techniques. It will be an advantage to have experience from genomic and/or physiological characterization of prokaryotes, fungi or algae. Also, we look for a candidate who will engage in collaborative, interdisciplinary research and will prioritize synergistic interactions with the other scientific fields within CELS.

Supervision: Professor Anders Priemé, Department of Biology and Associate professor Jan O. M. Härter, Niels Bohr Institute.