A two-year postdoctoral position is available in the Department of Cryptogamic Botany, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm. The position is placed within professor Mats Wedin’s working group and is a part of the project area “Fungal phylogeny and evolution” funded by the Swedish Research Council (VR).

The project is about fungi in the Stictidaceae (Ostropales, Ascomycota), a group containing saprotrophic, parasitic and lichenized fungi, focussing on some species that can live either as saprotrophs or as lichens, depending on the substrate they grow on. This is a phenomenon we have coined “optional lichenization”. We have also suggested that the fungus, at or soon after the germination of the fungal spore, irreversibly initiate either way of life. The postdoc will specifically study microbial and photobiont diversity in Schizoxylon albescens. Schizoxylon albescens constitutes two genetically distinct cryptic species that both show optional lichenization, and Schizoxylon when lichenized is probably associated with a consortium of algae, only some of which are potential “true” photobionts. The simple lichen associations in Schizoxylon and other related Stictidaceae will be a useful model system to study fungal-algal-microbial interactions.

The bacterial and photobiont communities in Schizoxylon will be compared with communities in Populus-bark and wood (potential substrates of the fungus) and with other lichen-associated bacterial communities described in the literature. This will be done using established pyrosequencing methods based on targeted PCR-amplification with bar-coded primers to separate samples, utilizing a GS Junior next-generation-sequencing machine available in-house. The postdoc will utilize the data to test several hypotheses.

Candidates have a recent PhD in systematics/evolutionary biology or similar, preferably with experience of pyrosequencing and bioinformatics. A demonstrated publication record and excellent English communication and writing skills are expected. Good knowledge in molecular lab work, phylogenetics and light microscopy are required, and experience in lichenology, mycology, and field work is an advantage. A valid driving licence is required.

The starting date is May 1st 2013. The appointment is for two years.

For more information please contact professor Mats Wedin (mats.wedin@nrm.se). Union representatives are Bodil Kajrup, SACO-S and Yvonne Arremo, ST. All can be reached at telephone number + 46 8 519 540 00.

Mark your application, including a cover letter outlining relevant background, experience and motivation, your CV including a list of publications, contact information for two references, and copies of educational certificates, with dnr 2.3.1-9-2013, and send it as a single pdf document to rekrytering@nrm.se or to the Swedish Museum of Natural History, Box 50007, SE 104 05 Stockholm, Sweden, no later than February 28th, 2013.

Fixed term for 24 months, available from 1 February 2013

This post is part of the NERC funded project ‘Niche Evolution of South American Trees and its Consequences’. The project aims to make a fundamental advance in our knowledge of the processes that have created patterns of diversity in the tropics by gaining a better understanding of the evolutionary timing and rate of biome switching in plant lineages. Such patterns of biome switching are not only of interest for studies of plant diversification, but also have far-reaching implications for understanding forest ecology and the conservation of evolutionary (phylogenetic) diversity as a result of land-use or climate change.

The project focuses on the rain forest, seasonally dry forest and savanna biomes of South America, and the postdoc will take a leading role in fieldwork, data generation, data analysis and paper-writing.

The project aims to:

• integrate plot and community survey data from all three biomes from a wide variety of sources to create a dataset of floristic composition unparalleled in its ecological breadth and detail, spanning ~1300 sites. We will work at on all tree genera and at the species level in Leguminosae (the legume family) across all plots
• quantify the climatic and edaphic niches of: (i) all adequately sampled genera; and (ii) all adequately sampled species of Leguminosae
• reconstruct phylogenetic relationships of: (i) all genera found at all inventory sites in all biomes; and (ii) of species of Leguminosae found at >10 plots across all biomes, using existing and de novosequence data

These datasets will then be used to understanding the timing, rate and nature of biome switching and niche evolution in South American trees.

You will have a completed or soon to be completed (by start of the post) PhD with a background in plant evolution, systematics, ecology, or biogeography. You will need to have fieldwork experience and good skills in quantitative scientific methods, allied to good communication skills. An ability to work in an international team will also be needed, along with some level of fluency in Spanish and/or Portuguese.

The work will be based in the UK at Leeds (first 9 months) and Edinburgh (subsequent 15 months) although you will work closely with all partners involved in the project in Brazil, Peru and Bolivia. The first part of the post will focus mainly on fieldwork and data collection and the second part principally on data analysis and writing.

Further details concerning the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh can be found at http://www.rbge.org.uk/ and for the School of Geography, University of Leeds at: www.geog.leeds.ac.uk.

Salary £31,000- £34,000 p.a.

Informal enquiries may be made to Prof Toby Pennington (t.pennington@rbge.ac.uk; +44 (0)131 248 2818), Dr Kyle Dexter (kgdexter@gmail.com, +44 (0) 131 248 2964) and/or Dr Tim Baker (T.R.Baker@leeds.ac.uk+44 (0)113 343 8352).

A job description and person specification can be downloaded from www.rbge.org.uk/about-us/vacancies.

To apply, please send a covering letter explaining your suitability for the post and a CV as well as a completed equal opportunities questionnaire to the HR Team at The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 20a Inverleith Row, Edinburgh, EH3 3LR or by e-mail to at recruitment@rbge.org.uk. Applications should be received no later than Monday, 17 December 2012.

If you have not heard from us by 31 January 2013, please assume your application has been unsuccessful. No recruitment agencies please.