ILRI Vacancy: Post-Doctoral Research Fellow (Plant Molecular Biologist)

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) seeks to recruit post-doctoral research fellow (Plant Molecular Biologist) whose responsibilities will include wide range of disciplines including bioinformatics, molecular biology, next-generation sequencing, plant transformation and plant virology. The position will focus on characterizing the basis of plant virus-mediated manipulation of plant-aphid interactions.

ILRI works with partners worldwide to enhance the roles that livestock play in food security and poverty alleviation, principally in Africa and Asia. The outcomes of these research partnerships help people in developing countries keep their farm animals’ alive and productive, increase and sustain their livestock and farm productivity, find profitable markets for their animal products, and reduce the risk of livestock-related diseases. www.ilri.org

ILRI is a not-for-profit institution with a staff of about 700 and in 2014, an operating budget of about USD83 million. A member of the CGIAR Consortium working for a food-secure future, ILRI has its headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, a principal campus in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and offices in other countries in East, West and Southern Africa and in South, Southeast and East Asia. www.cgiar.org

ILRI also manages the Biosciences eastern and central Africa (BecA) Hub at ILRI, the centre for excellence in modern plant and animal biology in Africa. BecA is an initiative developed within the framework of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD)/ African Union African Biosciences initiative. It consists of a Hub based on the ILRI campus in Nairobi, Kenya and a network of regional nodes and other affiliated laboratories and organizations throughout the region. The BecA Hub facilities are world class, including a range of molecular, plant transformation, and genomics laboratories and equipment (e.g. 454 and Illumina next generation sequencing, Biosafety level 3 laboratory, nutritional analysis platform, plant growth facilities). The Hub hosts and conducts research in crop, microbe and livestock areas where new developments in science offer promise to address previously intractable problems constraining Africa’s development. Capacity building is a major goal of all activities. The scope covers agriculture and food security and their intersections with human health and nutrition, and the sustainable use of Africa’s natural resources. Further information is available at http://hub.africabiosciences.org/

As part of an ongoing research project entitled Modelling and manipulation of plant-aphid interactions: A new avenue for sustainable disease management of an important crop in Africa, we are hiring a postdoctoral research fellow. The project is funded by the Sustainable Crop Production Research for International Development (SCPRID) programme. We aim to recruit an outstanding candidate from sub-Saharan Africa as an opportunity to augment the Capacity Building impact of the project and to add to the strength of our research effort.
Based at the BecA-ILRI Hub in Nairobi, the successful candidate is also expected to spend periods of time with collaborators at the University of Cambridge to receive training and carry out research. The project provides significant scope for research for a postdoc in an unusually wide range of disciplines including bioinformatics, molecular biology, next-generation sequencing, plant transformation and plant virology. The postdoctoral research project will focus on characterizing the basis of plant virus-mediated manipulation of plant-aphid interactions.

Responsibilities:
• Conducting research activities on the basis of plant virus-mediated manipulation of plant-aphid interactions;
• Devising and executing genetic screens;
• Using gene expression analyses and mutants to characterize the genetic regulation of this phenomenon;
• Developing transformation systems for common bean and transforming bean, Nicotiana spp and arabidopsis;
• Data analysis including statistics and bioinformatics;
• Working with collaborators in the UK and Uganda;
• Contributing to capacity strengthening in crop research at the BecA-ILRI Hub;
• Supervising junior staff, students and visiting scientists;
• Contributing to resource mobilization efforts of BecA-ILRI.

Requirements:
• Ph.D. degree in virology, genetics, plant pathology, plant molecular biology or related fields but with strong interest and expertise in molecular plant-microbe interactions;
• Strong experience in plant molecular biology;
• Strong experience in research focused on understanding the molecular basis of plant resistance or susceptibility to disease;
• Experience with analysis of NGS datasets, such as for metagenomics or gene expression analyses;
• Publication record;
• Ability to perform in a multicultural research environment and as part of a multidisciplinary team.

Experience in the following areas will be considered an asset:
• Expertise in plant transformation;
• Interest in international agricultural research and development;
• Experience communicating scientific findings at conferences and other for a;
• Proficiency in spoken and written English.

Post location:
The position is based at ILRI’s Headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, potentially with time spent in Sir Professor David Baulcombe and Dr John Carr’s laboratories at the University of Cambridge, and potentially in Uganda.

Duration: 2 years with the possibility of renewal, contingent upon individual performance and continued funding.

Position level: This is job is a Post-doctoral Scientist level.

Benefits: ILRI offers a competitive international and salary and benefits package which includes Medical insurance, Life insurance and allowances for: Education, Housing, Home leave, Annual holiday entitlement of 30 days + public holidays.
*Benefits are tax free subject to compliance with tax regulations of country of citizenship.

Applications: Applicants should provide a cover letter and curriculum vitae: a list of publications and names and addresses (including telephone and email) of three referees who are knowledgeable about the candidate’s professional qualifications and work experience should be included in the curriculum vitae. The position title and reference number: PD /BecA/11/14 should be clearly indicated in the subject line of the cover letter. All applications to be submitted online on our recruitment portal: http://ilri.simplicant.com/ on or before 27 December 2014, screening of the applicants will be on a rolling basis.

To find out more about ILRI and the BecA-ILRI Hub, visit our websites at http://www.ilri.org andhttp://hub.africabiosciences.org

To find out more about working at ILRI visit our website at http://www.ilri.org/ilricrowd/