A 24 months position is available in our group "Genome, Evolution and Bioinformatics" (GEB). The group is part of the "Laboratoire de Chimie Bactérienne" (LCB, CNRS-UP9043) within the "Institut de Biologie Structurale et Microbiologie" (IBSM) (Marseille, France).

The position is funded by an ATIP (Action Thématique et Incitative sur Programme) young researcher grant from the French Research Council, CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique).

Our team has two primary lines of research: (i) the study of ancient evolution (i.e. deep relationships within and between the three domains of life) and (ii) the reconstruction of ancestral biological systems and their subsequent evolution using phylogenomics methods. For more details a list of the publications of the team is available at (http://lcb.cnrs-mrs.fr/spip.php?rubrique86).

The applicant will work on ancient prokaryotic evolution. Three main questions will be addressed:
- Do the phylogenies based on informational proteins reflect accurately the evolution of Archaea and Bacteria?
- What is the real importance of horizontal gene transfers in prokaryotes (from a quantitative but also from a qualitative point of view)?
- What did the last archaeal common ancestor (LACA) and that of Bacteria (LBCA) look like and what is the importance of reductive evolution in prokaryotes (i.e. genes that were present in LACA or LBCA and subsequently lost in some archaeal or bacterial lineages)?

Qualifications and experience required:

Applicants should have:
- a PhD in biology or in bioinformatics
- skills in at least one programming language
- a good knowledge of current molecular phylogeny and bioinformatics tools
- a real interest in evolutionary biology

The position is available at 01/01/2009.
The salary will depend on previous professional experience (with a minimum of 2328,05 ¤ per month) and includes social security (with medical coverage) paid by the employer).

Application:
Please, send a motivation letter describing your experience, a detailed CV including publications, and the names (and addresses) of two referents to:
Céline Brochier (celine.brochier [at] ibsm [dot] cnrs-mrs [dot] fr)
Do not hesitate to contact me for complementary information.