University of Amsterdam

Homepage: https://www.uva.nl/en

The PHYVIR project aims to integrate complementary expertise – developing and applying mathematical models and bioinformatics to viral ecology, phytoplankton physiology and biological oceanography - to bridge the knowledge gaps that limit our current understanding and predictive power of how viral infections impact phytoplankton communities and global biogeochemical fluxes.

As a PhD candidate for PHYVIR’s modeling research, you will develop mechanistic models to study phytoplankton host-virus interactions in the marine environment under explicit consideration of C:N:P stoichiometry. You will use phytoplankton and virus traits obtained from the literature, and from lab experiments and field studies conducted by other PhDs within PHYVIR, to parametrize and validate the models. You will start from single virus-single host interactions before expanding to multiple hosts and viruses. Ultimately, this modeling project aims to quantify how environmental variability, e.g., in temperature, light and nutrient availability, impacts virus-phytoplankton interactions to predict which host and virus traits might be favored in a future ocean.

Tasks and responsibilities:

• develop a PhD thesis plan, prepare and perform the research;
• integrate results obtained by other PhD students, postdocs and the larger PHYVIR team into the models;
• present your results at meetings and scientific conferences;
• publish your results in international scientific journals;
• contribute to teaching and to supervision of MSc students who wish to do a modeling project on virus-host interactions (max 10% of the time).

What do we require?

• A MSc degree in applied mathematics or physics, computational science, theoretical biology, marine biology, microbial ecology, biological oceanography, or closely related discipline
• Experience with differential equations in mathematical models of dynamical systems (with applications in, for example, cellular processes, population dynamics, species interactions, ecosystem processes, or earth & climate sciences)
• A demonstrated ability to work with programming languages such as Python, Matlab, or C++;
• An intrinsic motivation to increase our understanding of marine ecosystems;
• Strong oral and written communication skills in English.

Please apply via the university website: https://werkenbij.uva.nl/en/vacancies/phd-models-of-phytoplankton-virus-interactions-netherlands-14322