As a Postdoc, you will be part of the project Flora of the Netherlands (Flora van Nederland).

With assistance from the FES investments (Fonds Economische Structuurversterking) in Naturalis in the past years, nearly the complete Dutch Flora was subjected to barcoding with Chloroplast (Cp) [at least matK] and nuclear (ITS) markers. You will investigate how effective the Cp barcodes and ITS barcode are in distinguishing between Dutch vascular plant species. Special attention will be given to difficult groups such as Dryopteris (species complex affinis), Mentha, Potamogeton, Ranunculus subg. Batrachium, Salix, Quercus, Betula, Apium (incl. Helosciadium), Lepidium, Myosotis, Oxybasis (Chenopodium chenopodioides, glaucum, rubrum), Chenopodium s.l., and Carex. 

We expect incongruence between the nuclear and Cp marker(s), caused by hybridization or chloroplast capture, which has been observed in wind pollinated trees such as Quercus and Notofagus.

The Postdoc will be supervised by dr. Leni Duistermaat and Prof. dr. Hans ter Steege.

The candidate must have a PhD degree in a relevant field (for example molecular systematics) with a strong interest in bioinformatics. Preferably the candidate is used to work with large datasets.

Excellent knowledge of the English language (written and verbal) is essential, as well as a scientific and critical attitude, outstanding time management and organisational skills, and the ability to work independently as well as collaboratively within the project consortium and the Naturalis research group. The candidate should have good communication skills and be enthusiastic to contribute to knowledge dissemination and outreach activities within the project. Prior experience with supervision of student projects is an advantage.

Fixed-term contract: 2 years.

We offer

A contract (36 hours per week) for a period of one year to be extended with one more year after successful evaluation, and a monthly starting salary between € 3.368,-- and € 4.406,-- gross per month based on full time employment (depending on relevant experience). You also get an allowance for travel expenses, holiday allowance (8%) and year-end bonus (3.4%). The starting date is May 1st, 2023 at the earliest. The successful candidate will be employed by Naturalis in Leiden. Naturalis Biodiversity Center offers an inspiring working atmosphere with effective and efficient supervision of our postdocs. Our Research Coordination Office also provides ample support to our scientific staff. Our institute promotes gender equality and wants to enhance the diversity of staff members. 

Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden is the Dutch national research institute for biodiversity and systematics. With our collection of 42 million specimens, one of the world's largest natural history collections, and our state-of-the-art research facilities we offer the (inter)national research infrastructure for species, identification and monitoring (for example in the ARISE and DiSSCo projects). We closely collaborate with many Dutch universities, research institutes, industry, and government. We host over 120 researchers including 14 academia embedded professors and 50 PhD students. We present the history of our planet, and the diversity of life on Earth, through permanent and temporary museum exhibitions, educational programmes, and online presence, with more than 400,000 visitors per year. All in all, a unique combination of science and culture in the Netherlands and elsewhere in the world!

The research department is organised in 8 research groups comprising researchers, postdocs and PhD-students. The current position will be in the research group ‘Tropical Botany’. Naturalis has a completely new lab building, including state-of-the-art molecular facilities, microCT scanners and electron microscopy (SEM and TEM).