PARASITE ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION AT THE UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI

 4-year PhD fellowship and 3-year postdoc

 >
 >Applications are invited for a 4-year PhD fellowship and 3-year post
 >doc to study parasite evolution by combining ecological, evolutionary
 >and molecular approaches.
 >
 >The project is centered on the interaction between host plant Plantago
 >lanceolata and its fungal pathogen Podosphaera plantaginis in the
 >Aland Islands in Finland. Prior research on this interaction has shown
 >that the pathogen persists as a metapopulation. Despite rapid turnover
 >of local populations there is evidence of rapid ongoing coevolution
 >between these species. In your project you will ask how processes at
 >different spatial scales - molecular, within host, within population
 >and metapopulation - affect the diversity and evolution of pathogens.
 >The studies will be carried within a spatially explicit framework: We
 >have epidemiological data on the occurrence of the pathogen in its
 >over 3000 host population collected since year 2001. Hence we know the
 >age of the local pathogen populations, and evolutionary dynamics can
 >be linked with epidemiological dynamics. In practice, you will carry
 >out field surveys in the Aland Islands, conduct experimental work in
 >the laboratory and genotype pathogen isolates using SNP markers.
 >
 >The research group of Dr Anna-Liisa Laine is part of the
 >Metapopulation Research Group, Centre of Excellence appointed by the
 >Academy of Finland, where you?ll find a wide range of expertise
 >studying ecological and evolutionary questions within a spatial
 >framework.
 >
 >Please send your application to anna-liisa.laine@helsinki.fi by 10 May
 >2010. Attach a CV (with possible publications included), contact
 >details of two references, and a letter (MAX 1 page) with a
 >description of your research interests and why you would be a suitable
 >candidate for the project. The PhD project is scheduled to start in
 >the summer-autumn of 2010. There is more flexibility in the starting
 >date of the post doctoral position.
 >
 >For more information, please contact Dr Anna-Liisa Laine
 >(anna-liisa.laine@helsinki.fi) and visit our website at
 >www.helsinki.fi/science/metapop.
 >
 >For information on the University of Helsinki, please visit:
 >http://www.helsinki.fi/university/index.html
 >