“Evolutionary genomics of fruit pests: Drosophila suzukii and other

grapevine parasites”

We are seeking an enthusiast student to employ genomics and phylogeny

to understand the molecular basis of behavioural innovation in

insects.

The student will focus on fruit flies, in particular Drosophila

suzukii, an emerging fruit pest which shows an unprecedented

ecological behaviour when compared to other fruit flies. Other models

will be grapevine specific insect parasites. The goal is to understand

how and when this species developed their novel ecological behaviour.

The student will employ bioinformatics (including molecular

phylogenetics, clock studies, comparative genomics and

transcriptomics) to study the evolutionary history of the above

species and of some of their gene families. Depending on student

attitude/interest there may be space for other work spanning from

chemical ecology to evodevo, as well as for the development of

student's own ideas.

Most of the training/work will be carried out at the Research and

Innovation Centre of the Edmund Mach Foundation (FEM), an agricultural

research institute located in the Italian Alps. Part of the training

will be done at an external PhD school chosen by the candidate in

conjunction with FEM. Supervision will be given by Omar Rota-Stabelli

(phylogenomics) and Gianfranco Anfora (chemical behaviour) as well as

by one supervisor at host university. FEM pays the studentship as well

as external fees. There will be plenty of

interaction/training/collaboration with other labs both at FEM and

abroad, particularly at the Swedish University of Agricultural

Sciences.

We are ideally looking for a candidate with a MSc in biology,

bioinformatics, agriculture or a related discipline. A successful

candidate will have a background either in evolutionary biology or

bioinformatics, with some programming skills.

Application deadline: 10 January 2012

For more info: http://www.fmach.eu/UploadDocs/8433_088_ASB_DDS_Profile.pdf

Send your cv and application form to: phd.fem [AT] iasma.it

For (scientific) questions: omar.rota[AT]iasma.it