Postdoctoral Research Associate at University of Oxford
Job Description
About the role
This is a 5-year postdoctoral post that will form part of an international consortium, the ‘Cassava Source Sink Project (https://cass-research.org/) that is working to improve the yield of cassava plants through transgenic intervention. The ultimate aim of the consortium is to develop improved genotypes in farmer-preferred varieties to be made available to smallholders in Sub-Saharan Africa. The project is targeting metabolism and development of the cassava storage root as well as development and transport in the stem. The project has already been running for 10 years and this post is associated with a renewal of the funding for a further 5 years. Funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation / AgOne subject to contract.
About you
This postdoctoral post will be responsible for constructing and analysing computational models of cassava metabolism in different tissues and in the whole plant. The post-holder will benefit from extensive pre-existing data from the consortium as well as new data to be provided during the five-year course of the project. The goal will be to guide ongoing transgenic strategies with targets identified from the modelling being incorporated into the transgenesis and field trial pipelines. The longer-term goal is to develop a whole plant model that can integrate with in-field phenotyping to provide early predictions of yield potential of different genotypes.
How to apply
Applications should include the application letter, a CV, a list addressing the job criteria, and names of two academic references. Where Covid-19 has resulted in substantial disruption to your work or research outputs, please explain this by providing an additional paragraph in your supporting statement.
The University of Oxford is committed to equality and valuing diversity. All applicants will be judged on merit, according to the selection criteria.
This post is a 5-year fixed term, full time position and available from 01 May 2024.
The closing date for applications is 12.00 noon on 12 March 2024, interviews are likely to be scheduled between 5 – 12 April 2024. For further inquiries, please contact Prof Lee Sweetlove lee.sweetlove@biology.ox.ac.uk
