Post doc Position

The Department of Forest Genetics and Plant Physiology was founded in the late 1970s - when the College of Forestry moved to Umeå. The number of employees has since grown steadily is now around 100, including postdoctoral researchers and postgraduate students. In the late 1990s it was decided to join with the Department of Plant Physiology at Umeå University to form a research center, Umeå Plant Science Centre (UPSC). The Department of Forest Genetics and Plant Physiology moved into the premises adjacent to the partner department and together have developed a close and successful collaboration on research issues, technology platforms, and training of master's and doctoral level students. The international element within UPSC is large, with over 40 nationalities represented.

The department conducts introductory and advanced training in plant physiology, ecophysiology, plant molecular biology, forest genetics and forest biotechnology within the Forestry program and at the master level.

The department offers postgraduate studies in biology, specializing in plant physiology, ecophysiology, plant molecular biology and forest genetics. Postgraduate courses are generally held in cooperation with the Department of Plant Physiology.
For more information about the Department of Forest Genetics and Plant Physiology and UPSC visit www.upsc.se.

Duties:
The postdoc will join an EU project within the program Forest Value to work on existing data obtained in Norway spruce breeding material for phenology, growth, wood quality and pest resistance to assess trade-offs and potentials for breeding. The same tree material has been already genotypes to conduct Genome Wide Association Studies and to develop Genomic Selection models. A new common garden experiment to assess resilience and adaptability to spring frost tolerance will also be conducted in Scots pine and Norway spruce. The Postdoc will join international meetings where he/she will have the possibility to interact and collaborate with colleagues within the EU project from Sweden (Skogforsk), Norway (NIBIO), Finland (LUKE) and Latvia (SILAVA). The Postdocs will also be encouraged to establish collaboration with the other two postdocs in the team who are conducting research in the fields of local adaptation and the effect of breeding on forest resilience, adaptability and foliar fungal biodiversity in Scots pine and Norway spruce. The team is also conducting research in stem quality, frost phenology and biotic stress assessed with remote sensing technology, and their implementation into novel Machine Learning-driven breeding models. Hence, the postdoc will have the possibility to interact with a wide range of researchers and experts from multiple disciplines such as genetics, bioinformatics, remote sensing, breeding and machine learning.

Qualifications:
PhD-qualified researchers are invited to apply. The candidate is expected to have good knowledge in genetics (preferably quantitative genetics-breeding theory), statistics (mix models, ML), and bioinformatics. Candidates trained in the fields of genetics and/or statistics or ML-mathematics are encouraged to apply. Experience with conifer or any other tree species will be considered as an advantage, but it is not essential. For example, a candidate working in potation breeding is welcome to apply. Also, a candidate trained in ML-mathematics and statistics who fancy trees and genetics is welcome to apply too.

As postdoctoral appointments are career-developing positions for junior researchers, we are primarily looking for candidates with a doctoral degree that is three years old at most. The diploma has to be written or translated into English or Swedish to be confirmed.
Place of work:
Umeå

Form of employment:
Temporary employment, 24 months

Extent:
100%

Starting date:
September 2022

Application:
We welcome your application no later than 2022-05-31, use the button below.

Academic union representatives:
https://internt.slu.se/en/my-employment/employee-associations/kontaktpersoner-vid-rekrytering/



The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) is a world-class international university with research, education and environmental assessment within the sciences for sustainable life. Its principal sites are in Alnarp, Umeå and Uppsala, but activities are also conducted at research stations, experimental parks and educational establishments throughout Sweden. We bring together people who have different perspectives, but they all have one and the same goal: to create the best conditions for a sustainable, thriving and better world.

SLU has just over 3,000 employees, 5,000 students and a turnover of SEK 3 billion. The university has invested heavily in a modern, attractive environment on its campuses.

www.slu.se