PhD position in modeling microbial life in unsaturated porous media @ ETH

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).

Graduate Scholarships 2011@University of Twente, The Netherlands

Description: The UT Scholarship is awarded by the Foundation University of Twente.. The UT Scholarship is meant for international students who show excellence, both academically as well as socially. The UT Scholarship is awarded for one year of study and is extended for a second year if study results are sufficient.

Level of study: Master

Country of origin: Non-EU/EEA

Scholarship amount: Maximum of €20,000.

Field of study

· Applied Mathematics · Applied Physics · Biomedical Engineering · Business Administration · Business Information Technology · Chemical Engineering · Civil Engineering and Management · Communication Studies · Computer Science · Construction Management and Engineering · Educational Science and Technology · Electrical Engineering · Embedded Systems · European Studies · Health Sciences · Human Media Interaction · Industrial Design Engineering

· Industrial Engineering and Management · Environmental and Energy Management · Mechanical Engineering, · Mechatronics, · Nanotechnology, · Philosophy of Science, Technology and Society, · Public Administration, · Science Education and Communication, · Sustainable Energy Technology, · Systems and Control · Telematics

Requirements :

·	The online application form for admission to the university has been completed and all certified documents have been received.

·	You have been (provisionally) accepted to a master programme at the University of Twente.

·	You are excellent, both academically as well as socially.

·	Sufficient mastery of the English language:

o	academic IELTS, overall band score of at least 6.5 TOEFL, internet based (TOEFL-iBT) of at least 90

o	academic IELTS, speaking score of at least 6.0 TOEFL, internet based (TOEFL-iBT) of at least 20

·	Your faculty has nominated you for the UT Scholarship.

·	You are a national of a non EU/EEA country.

·	You show potential to become a future leader (of industry).

·	You are strongly committed to society.

·	The UT Scholarship is not meant for candidates who already have their Master degree

Deadline:  You can only be nominated by the faculty of the university for a UT Scholarship between October 2010 and May 2011.

For more details : send an email to scholarship[at]so.utwente.nl.

POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHER with topic Arctic treeline – climate changes and ecotone responses @ Faculty of Science- University of Helsinki

Description: The position is financed by the Academy of Finland and it is a subproject of a larger consortium called Impacts of climate change on Arctic environment, ecosystem services and society (CLICHE).The aim of the project is to use the key palaeoecological data combined with modeling and remote sensing approaches for investigating the long-term trends of the Arctic tree-line in northern Europe (Fennoscandia and Russia). Special weight is given to reconstructing the Holocene shifts of the northern margin of the Boreal conifer forest, associated changes in the biomass of the conifer forest and the tundra, and the resulting changes of the Arctic albedo. The project aims to use novel approaches for estimating vegetation cover (also in terms of biomass) and to integrate the data with dynamic vegetation modeling to explore the biomass and carbon dynamics that are linked to the treeline changes. The project is strongly connected to other on-going international programs and collaboration.
Tiem Period: 3 years, depending on the date the post-doc will start.
Stipend:  The starting monthly salary will be 3 100–3 200 E..
Qualifications: The candidate is expected to have a PhD or equal in earth sciences (geology, geography) or relevant biological or ecological sciences. The candidate is expected to have a good idea of the main methods, issues, and concepts of palaeoecology and ecology or plant geography and basic skills of computing, including basic GIS techniques and ability or potential to learn to use the dynamic vegetation models and basic C++ programming. The candidate must be motivated, committed and internationally oriented. The project will include fieldwork in the treeline region of northern Europe.
Requirements: Applications must include curriculum vitae, list of publications, brief letter explaining the motivation for applying for the position, as well as a description of future goals. Please include name and contact information of two referee persons in the application and send your application to the address geo-office@helsinki.fi. The deadline for applications is 25.1.2011 at 3.45 pm local time.
Contact: Heikki Seppä, Professor of Quaternary Geology,Department of Geosciences and Geography, P.O. Box 64, FI-00014, University of Helsinki, Finland
Phone: +358-9-191 50820 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting    +358-9-191 50820      end_of_the_skype_highlighting
E-mail: heikki.seppa@helsinki.fi
Helsinki 21 December 2010
Deadline- Jan 25, 2011
For more details click here: www.helsinki.fi/university
Homepage: http://www.helsinki.fi/science/palaeoclim/

Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (DNA from Ancient Soils), @ The University of Waikato, New Zealand at the Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences - Subject: chemistry/mineralogy/microbiology

Description:. This project “DNA from ancient soils” has been funded by the NZ Marsden Fund for three years.Applications are sought from candidates experienced in molecular biology and aDNA analysis, with a strong background in computational and infomatics skills. Some experience in soil chemistry/mineralogy/microbiology would be an advantage. The work will be performed in both New Zealand (University of Waikato) and Australia (University of Adelaide).
The successful applicant will have been awarded their PhD at the time of taking up the appointment, and will have successfully published papers from their doctoral research.


Deadline: 15 January 2011
Links: For more details click here