We are seeking a highly motivated Postdoctoral Researcher to work on an NWO funded project investigating molecular mechanisms regulating abiotic stress recovery in Arabidopsis thaliana. The selected candidate will work under supervision of Dr. Sasidharan. Your responsibilities will include development and execution of experiments based on leads from a previous project, data analysis, manuscript preparation and collaborating with other team members. You are also expected to develop ideas and write applications for relevant postdoctoral fellowship awards.

Programme summary

When faced with environmental perturbations, plant survival is determined by both acclimation during the stress and recovery following stress withdrawal. However, mechanisms regulating the latter remain relatively unexplored. In this NWO funded project, the focus is on investigating the molecular regulation of plant recovery following a flooding event. As global warming fuels intense and frequent precipitation events leading to flooding, there is an urgent need to understand and explore flooding survival mechanisms in plants. Previous research from our team has demonstrated that overcoming post-submergence stress is an important aspect of flooding tolerance. Plants acclimated to the low oxygen and low light conditions underwater must rapidly re-adjust to terrestrial conditions upon floodwater retreat. Our research has shown that in Arabidopsis, this involves a massive reprogramming of ribosome-associated transcripts. The post-submergence period triggers a network of signalling pathways to cope with oxidative stress, senescence and dehydration via stomatal control. The successful candidate will follow-up previous leads in this aspect, and work closely with a PhD candidate, to characterise molecular processes underlying recovery with a focus on hormonal control. This project will provide the opportunity to combine genomics, genetics and whole plant physiology in an experimental set-up in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana optimised to study flooding recovery.

Essential qualifications:

• a PhD in the area of Molecular Plant Sciences;
• expertise in genetic and molecular techniques;
• record of relevant peer-reviewed publications;
• excellent English oral, written and presentation skills;
• ability to think critically and creatively.

Desirable qualifications:

• experience in the area of abiotic stress signalling;
• bioinformatics experience on microarray and/or genomics datasets.

We offer a temporary position (1.0 FTE) for a year, with an extension for a further two years if the evaluation is positive. The salary - depending on previous qualifications and experience  - ranges between €3,173 and €4,166 (scale 10 according to the Collective Labour Agreement Dutch Universities) gross per month for a full-time employment. Salaries are supplemented with a holiday bonus of 8 % and a year-end bonus of 8.3 % per year. We offer a pension scheme, (partly paid) parental leave, collective insurance schemes and flexible employment conditions (multiple choice model). More information is available at: working at Utrecht University.

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The Plant Ecophysiology group is an internationally recognized plant research group embedded within the Institute of Environmental Biology at Utrecht University, one of Europe’s leading research universities. We are a highly dynamic and competitive research group with access to world class research facilities. Successful candidates can expect to work with a highly ambitious, creative and international team of PhD candidates, Postdocs, tenured staff and Research Assistants. You will benefit from our extensive national/international ongoing collaborations (including those with industry), facilitating network building essential to future jobs.