The Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences (SILS) is seeking a Postdoctoral researcher for a TKI-funded project in close collaboration with several Agro-business companies.
In the tomato germplasm accessions with resistance to different herbivores have been identified, as well as a large variation in the production of defense compounds. Some of these compounds have been implicated to be effective as natural insect protectants. The production of such compounds is however complex, involving specialized tissues and biochemical pathways that are under tight transcriptional regulation. The aim of this project is to identify the genetic components that are crucial to 're-arm' cultivated tomato with effective insect resistance.

You will be involved in phenotyping of a large population of an interspecific cross of a cultivated line with a wild but resistant wild tomato, selected for metabolic properties, in an effort to narrow down the genetic region(s) involved and identify novel regulators. These screens will be done in close collaboration with breeding companies. Existing datasets on specialised metabolites, genome- and RNAseq of a big set of wild tomatoes are available for lead discovery. Next to that, genetic material is available to follow up on earlier leads and study metabolite production and storage capacity, metabolic flux and gene/biochemical regulation in more detail.

You should have a PhD in plant molecular biology or biochemistry and preferentially have experience with metabolomics, molecular biology and data-analysis. Affinity with bioinformatics is advised. You should have drive, excellent communication skills, be willing to supervise students and be keen to work in collaboration with our industrial partners and to travel to the companies for several experiments.

Fixed-term contract: 1 year.

The appointment will be on a temporary basis for the period of 1 year. After satisfactory performance evaluation it will be extended with 2 more years to a total duration of 3 years. The monthly gross salary will be maximal €3,637 (scale 10-7) in the first year, based on a full-time appointment and depending on relevant work experience. We offer a pension scheme, a holiday allowance of 8% per year, an end-of-year bonus of 8,3% and flexible employment conditions. Conditions are based on the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities. Favourable tax agreements may apply to applicants from abroad. 

Are you curious about our extensive package of secondary employment benefits like our excellent opportunities for study and development? Take a look at our website.

University of Amsterdam

With over 5,000 employees, 30,000 students and a budget of more than 600 million euros, the University of Amsterdam (UvA) is an intellectual hub within the Netherlands. Teaching and research at the UvA are conducted within seven faculties: Humanities, Social and Behavioural Sciences, Economics and Business, Law, Science, Medicine and Dentistry. Housed on four city campuses in or near the heart of Amsterdam, where disciplines come together and interact, the faculties have close links with thousands of researchers and hundreds of institutions at home and abroad.  

The UvA’s students and employees are independent thinkers, competent rebels who dare to question dogmas and aren’t satisfied with easy answers and standard solutions. To work at the UvA is to work in an independent, creative, innovative and international climate characterised by an open atmosphere and a genuine engagement with the city of Amsterdam and society.

Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences

The Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences (SILS) is an institute that belongs to the Faculty of Science. Its approximately 230 scientists and staff members work in 16 research groups that perform excellent research, centred on four themes:

1. Green Life Sciences
2. Cell & Systems Biology
3. Neurosciences
4. Microbiology

The theme Green Life Sciences consists of 5 research groups: Plant Physiology, Molecular Plant Pathology, Developmental Genetics, Plant Cell Biology and Plant Hormone Biology. This project is executed at the research group Plant Physiology, that studies the role signaling molecules in the interaction between plants and other organisms such as insects.