PhD Studentship on Complex Trait Analysis, University of Groningen, The Netherlands

Vacancy PhD Studentship on Complex Trait Analysis
What? Four-year bursary PhD position, fully funded When? Available from January 2008

Job description
Project 1: The aim of this PhD position is to help unravel the genetic basis of agriculturally/evolutionary important traits using
association- and linkage mapping approaches. The prospective student will be involved in the analysis of data from a large, densely genotyped natural collection of the flowering plant Arabidopsis thaliana and a novel multi-family panel of recombinant inbred lines.

The nature and magnitude of these data will provide an unprecedented high-resolution picture of the genetic variation underlying complex phenotypes and will make it possible to systematically integrate information from natural as well as experimental populations. The task is to build an analytical/computational framework to facilitate such an integrative analysis. As an extension, different types of –omics data will be collected from these populations, which will then be used to reconstruct the molecular networks that link genetic variation to phenotypic variation.

Project 2: DNA methylation is an epigenetic mechanism that leads to changes in gene expression which can be inherited through mitosis, and even through meiosis in some instances. The impact of differential methylation on the variability in complex quantitative traits at the population level is an area of research that is vastly under-explored. The aim of this novel project is to map methylation loci that influence complex phenotypes using tiling array technology. The student will be involved in the computer implementation of statistical methods and is also expected to make creative contributions to the conceptual development of this project.

Requirements
You are a university graduate at MSc level in one of the following disciplines: bioinformatics, statistics, computer science,
mathematics, theoretical biology, quantitative genetics, physics, or mathematics. You are expected to have an excellent academic record (supply a list of examination marks from your university study) and be curious, creative and ambitious. You should be able to write scientific articles and reports (to be proven by your graduation thesis or another comparable report) and be fluent in the English
language.

Additional information and applications
You can apply for this job until we have found a suitable candidate. For further information and direct applications please contact:

Prof. dr. Ritsert Jansen
Groningen Bioinformatics Centre
University of Groningen
Kerklaan 30
9751 NN Haren, The Netherlands
Phone +31 (0)50-363-8089
Fax +31 (0)50-363-7976
Email r.c.jansen[ at ]rug.nl

Dr Frank Johannes
Groningen Bioinformatics Centre
University of Groningen
Kerklaan 30
9751 NN Haren, The Netherlands
Phone +31 (0)50-363-8082
Fax +31 (0)50-363-7976
Email f.johannes[ at ]rug.nl