PhD Microbial Indicators and Information Systems

The Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) is a member of the Helmholtz Association (HGF) and funded by federal and state government. AWI focuses on polar and marine research in a variety of disciplines such as biology, oceanography, geology, geochemistry and geophysics thus allowing multidisciplinary approaches to scientific goals.

PhD Position "Microbial Indicators and Information Systems" (m/f/d)

Background

This PhD position will conduct research in the framework of the EU projects AtlantECO and EuroSEA. The work will be computer-based (in silico) with no planned laboratory duties.

Within AtlantECO, you will contribute to Task 3.3 "Interactions with European marine strategies" by coordinating with GOOS and MBON in the development of data exchange systems for Essential Ocean Variables dealing with marine microbes. You will further contribute to Task 5.5: "Generate predictors and indicators for ecosystems status, dynamics, health and services". In both of these tasks, you will analyse data sets from a wide range of partners and distil them into indicators of ocean health and resilience, noting their strengths and weaknesses. You will also research and develop advanced metadata exchange solutions using Knowledge Representation (KR) technologies.

Within EuroSEA, you will contribute to Task 3.8: "Augmented Observatories" by researching the value of "omic" approaches in ecosystem assessment. You will research and develop digital product exchange systems withing existing ocean observing infrastructures and contribute to standard operating procedures (SOPs) for long-term omic observation aligned to the GOOS EOVs (e.g. Microbial biomass and diversity), coordinating with the Global Omics Observing Network (GLOMICON), the GOOS Biology and Ecosystem Panel, and the IOC-UNESCO Ocean Best Practice System.

Tasks

• research into the use of microbial ecology in long-term marine science and monitoring
• international coordination of data, information, and knowledge products for microbial and multi-omic profiling of marine ecosystems
• analysis of high-dimensional omics data and development of ecosystem status indicators
• publication of key findings in peer-reviewed academic journals, with secondary contributions to project reports and white papers
• coordination with the UNESCO Global Ocean Observing System's (GOOS) Essential Ocean Variable (EOV) Panels and related networks.

Requirements

• MSc in microbial ecology, biodiversity informatics, bioinformatics, or a related field
• high fluency in data analytics using statistical computing languages or packages (R, python preferred)
• high fluency in marine microbial (particularly bacterial and eukaryotic) ecology and related metabolism and physiology
• high fluency in metadata handling relevant to biodiversity/omic data and information products
• experience with knowledge representation (KR) technologies and ontology development/application
• ability to work with international stakeholders, including those in academia, industry, and policy
• excellent command of the English language.

Additional skills and knowledge

• experience working with international networks and stakeholders
• experience developing indicators from high-dimensional ecological data
• experience working with marine observatory systems
• familiarity with the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development's implementation plans, particularly with relevance to biological observation and data strategies
• advanced usage of distributed version control systems in collaborative settings
• familiarity with cluster/cloud computing solutions for analysing large data sets.

Further Information

For further information, please contact
Dr Pier Buttigieg
(pier.buttigieg@awi.de; +49(471)4831-2268).
This is a part-time position, limited to 3 years. The salary will be paid in accordance with the Collective Agreement for the Public Service of the Federation (Tarifvertrag des öffentlichen Dienstes, TVöD Bund), up to salary level

13 (66%)

. The place of employment will be

Bremerhaven.

All doctoral candidates will be members of AWI's postgraduate program
or another graduate school and thus benefit from a comprehensive training program and extensive support measures.

This characterizes us

• our scientific success - excellent research.
• collaboration and cooperation - intra-institute, national and international, interdisciplinary.
• opportunities to develop – on the job, aiming at other positions and beyond AWI.
• a culture of reconciling work and family – audited, and even more than that.
• our outstanding research infrastructure – ships, stations, aircraft, laboratories and more.
• an international environment – everyday contacts with people from all over the world.
• having an influence – fundamental research with social and political relevance
• flat hierarchies – freedom and responsibility.
• exciting topics – also in technology, administration and infrastructure.

Equal opportunities are an integral part of our personnel policy. The AWI aims to increase the number of female employees and therefore strongly encourages qualified women to apply.

Disabled applicants will be given preference when equal qualifications are present. The AWI fosters the compatibility of work and family through various means. Because of our engagement in the area of work-life compatibility we have been awarded the certificate “Career and Family”.

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