Description: The Soil and Environmental Terrestrial Physics (STEP) of the Department of Environmental Sciences (D-UWIS) at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich) invites applications for a PhD position in modeling microbial life in unsaturated porous media. They are looking for motivated and enthusiastic student to embark on basic environmental research in quantitative modeling of primary abiotic processes controlling microbial life in unsaturated soils at various spatial and temporal scales by explicitly considering hydration, heterogeneity, bacterial motion and diffusion of multiple nutrients and their impact on interactions of competing microbiological populations. We are interested in quantifying the combined roles of hydration and multi-source nutrient composition and concentration on multi species bacterial colony dynamics and morphology and on formation and function of cooperative microbial consortia and their spatial configuration in soil pores.
Requirements: Candidates should have : a Master’s degree from an accredited university or an equivalent Diplom in the areas of physics, engineering or environmental sciences (exceptional students without a Masters degree will be considered as well); excellent computer skills; a solid background in biology and mathematics, as well as some background knowledge of soil physics; English language skills (German is of advantage but not required). The successful candidate will closely collaborate with scientists from ETH Zurich, the Soil and Environmental Terrestrial Physics (STEP), and other partners, as well as assistance with teaching and other activities of the lab. The position is available for a period of 3 years and planned to start early in 2011.
Contact: please submit your application, including a complete CV, a motivation letter and 2 references.
Link: www.step.ethz.ch or contact Mr. Gang Wang (gang.wang@env.ethz.ch).
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