Doctoral researcher, Ecology We are looking for a PhD researcher at the Department of Biological and Environmental Science at the University of Jyväskylä to join a project "Determining the contribution of rare gut bacteria to ecosystem function" funded by the Research Council of Finland. The four-year position will start on 2.1.2025 or as agreed. Project description Gut microbiota is a diverse community of microbes that provide numerous services for their animal hosts, such as producing metabolites, communicating with the host's immune system, and helping the host resist colonisation by pathogens. Identifying the contributions of different members of the gut microbiota to these functions remains challenging. This project will focus on identifying whether the loss of rare gut bacteria impacts the diversity of services provided by the microbiota to the host. To address this issue, we create synthetic gut microbiota that are inoculated into microcosms and a wild rodent model, the bank vole. We will then measure how changes in microbiota composition affect provision of services. One of the key outcomes of the project will be a better understanding about how biodiversity loss in gut bacteria affects wildlife health. The applicant will work within Prof Phill Watts' groupand collaborative network to gain diverse expertise in, for example, experimental ecology, fieldwork, next generation sequencing, metabolomics, and bioinformatics analyses. Full details about the position and application procedure can be found here: https://ats.talentadore.com/apply/doctoral-researcher-ecology/8KjeKX "Watts, Phillip" (to subscribe/unsubscribe the EvolDir send mail to golding@mcmaster.ca)