The HADAL Center at Department of Biology at SDU invites applications for a position as research assistant. The position is available for two years from around the 1st of September 2026.

The HADAL center explores the diversity of microbial life and the dynamics of elemental cycling in hadal trenches with focus material transport and deposition, transformation and decomposition of organic matter microbial ecology, community composition, biogeochemical processing.

The research assistant will work on exploring the role of bacteriophages in elemental cycling in hadal environments with emphasis on prophages and their AMGs, using a combination of bioinformatic and experimental approaches. This will include 1) analyzing AMGs from lytic and temperate phages and mapping their associations to environmental conditions using metagenomic data. 2) identifying phage-host systems from metagenomic data for in silico evaluation of the role of AMGs in phage-host interactions. 3) investigating trade-offs of lysogeny for the host by quantifying the metabolic contribution and regulation of prophage-encoded AMGs in benthic element cycling using experimental approaches with phage-host systems in cultivation.

The work will therefore entail a combination of bioinformatic approaches (analysis of large metagenomic and genomic dataset), microbiological analyses (phage and host Isolation, cultivations, and characterization) and molecular approaches (e.g. Real-Time PCR and genomic sequencing), in association with laboratory experiments.

We seek a candidate with a M.Sc. degree in marine microbiology and viral ecology, strong experience in experimental work with marine microbiology and bioinformatic skills.

Read more: https://fa-eosd-saasfaprod1.fa.ocs.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/CandidateExperience/en/sites/CX_1001/job/4034/?utm_medium=jobshare