Postdoc on Modelling Global Marine Phytoplankton-Virus Interactions
University of Amsterdam
Homepage: https://www.uva.nl/en
Ocean Sciences (OS)
The PHYVIR project, funded by the Dutch Research Council and consisting of 5 PhDs and 2 postdocs, 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 postdoctoral researcher for PHYVIR’s modelling research, you will add viruses to a global ecosystem model (MIT’s DARWIN model), coupled to an ocean circulation model (MITgcm). The model will use a trait-based approach both for the viruses and the phytoplankton. Specifically, using information on phytoplankton-virus interactions from the literature, from PHYVIR lab experiments and field studies, and from mechanistic virus-host interaction models developed by the PhD contributing to PHYVIR’s modeling research, you will implement a multi-virus model to assess how (different) viruses affect distributions and the seasonal dynamics of phytoplankton functional groups, total phytoplankton biomass, succession and plankton diversity across ocean provinces. The ultimate aim is to obtain a better understanding of how viruses affect marine carbon sequestration and nutrient cycling at the global scale under present and future conditions.
Applications are only considered if submitted via the official platform of the University of Amsterdam, see here for more information: