ERC-funded PhD and Postdoc Positions in Comparative Genomics (full time /
part-time options available)

The Hiller Lab at the LOEWE Center for Translational Biodiversity Genomics
(TBG) in Frankfurt, Germany has two openings for a PhD student and/or a
Postdoc to work on the BATPROTECT project to investigate the genomic basis
of long healthspans, disease resistance, and viral tolerance in bats.

BATPROTECT
is a 6-year funded ERC synergy grant project that will use bats as
natural models of healthy aging and disease tolerance to elucidate the
molecular mechanisms behind bats' exceptional longevity and resistance
to viral and age-related diseases. BATPROTECT brings together a team
of global leaders in bat biology and ageing (Emma Teeling, Dublin),
bat immunology and virology (Linfa Wang, Singapore), evolution and
genomics (Michael Hiller, Frankfurt), and ageing model organisms
(Bjoern Schumacher, Cologne) that will jointly investigate aging and
immune responses in bats from the wild and captive colonies, discover
genes with evolutionary importance for longevity and disease resistance,
and functionally validate longevity and immune regulators in stem and
differentiated cells of bats and model organisms, with the ultimate goal
to uncover new directions to improve human healthspan and disease outcome.

*The Project*
The overall goal is to uncover the genomic basis of exceptional
healthspans and disease tolerance in bats, understand the evolution
of these traits, and identify key molecular targets for functional
validation. To this end, we will assemble ~150 new reference-quality bat
genomes using HiFi and HiC sequencing to better cover the diversity of
bats, generate comparative transcriptomic datasets, and analyze these
data using our established methods repertoire (TOGA and others). Work
includes phylogenomics, performing comparative screens to identify key
adaptations in coding and non-coding (miRNA) genes as well as differences
in gene expression patterns across the bat phylogeny, associating genomic
changes with longevity and viral reservoir status traits, identifying
novel bat genes, and investigating endogenized viral elements. The
exact project will be defined based on the interests of the applicants.
The PhD student and postdoc will work closely with other members of the
BATPROTECT team, the Hiller lab, and other Bat1K collaborators. We also
offer exchanges with the other BATPROTECT labs as well as yearly retreats
with all project members.

*Your profile*
- Degree in bioinformatics/computational biology, genomics or a
  related area
- Solid programming skills in a Linux environment, experience with shell
  scripts and Unix tools
- Strong interest in comparative genomics, prior experience is an
  advantage

*Our lab*
The mission of our lab is to understand how nature's fascinating
phenotypic diversity has evolved and how it is encoded in the genome. Work
in the lab includes sequencing and assembly of reference-quality genomes,
genome alignment and gene annotation, development and application of
comparative genomic methods to discover differences in genes and gene
expression, and the use of statistical approaches to link phenotypic to
genomic changes.  Our lab is part of TBG (https://tbg.senckenberg.de/)
and the Senckenberg Research Society (https://www.senckenberg.de/en/),
and is based near the city center of Frankfurt am Main, Germany. TBG
provides access to cutting-edge computational (large HPC clusters, genome
browser) and lab infrastructure to sequence and analyze genomes. English
is the working language in our lab.

*How to apply*
More information about the positions are at https://tinyurl.com/mwf2tr5c.

Please send us your application containing a CV with a publication list
and contact information for at least two references, a summary of previous
research experience (max 1 page), and copies of certificates, transcripts
and grades in electronic form (single PDF file) by *August 31st* to
recruiting@senckenberg.de quoting the reference number #12-24005-1,
or apply through the online application form on our homepage.

For more information about the lab and the project, please contact
Michael Hiller (michael.hiller@senckenberg.de) or visit the lab webpage
https://tbg.senckenberg.de/hillerlab/.

Michael Hiller, PhD
Professor of Comparative Genomics
LOEWE Centre for Translational Biodiversity Genomics,
Senckenberg Society for Nature Research & Goethe University, 
Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Michael Hiller <michael.hiller@senckenberg.de>

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