Research assistant 36-month temporary contract

Duration: 36 months

Employer: INRA

Location: Joint Research Unit « EcoFoG », Kourou, French Guiana

Starting date: 1st September or 1st October, 2011

A 3-year Research assistant position is available in the "Population
Ecology" team of the Joint Research Unit "Ecology of Guianese Forests"
under the supervision of Ivan Scotti (INRA) and Nadine Amusant
(CIRAD). The grant is provided by the ANIB@ROSA project, supported by
the EU-funded PO-FEDER 2007-2013 program.

The research assistant's goals will be to (i) high-throughput sequence the
transcriptome of Aniba rosaeodora (Brazilian rosewood), a commercially
important tropical forest tree species; (ii) develop an array of
high-throughput SNP / sequence markers for the unique identification
(DNA fingerprinting) of individual plantation trees (iii) validate the
identification tool on plantation and spontaneous trees (iv) assess
the genome-wide distribution of genetic variation among provenances (v)
evaluate the past demographic history and levels of selective pressure
genome-wide and at individual gene loci, namely those coding for enzymes
involved in the biosynthesis of commercially important compounds.

The research assistant will:

- Prepare cDNA libraries for high-throughput sequencing and co-operate
with sequencing specialists to obtain transcriptome sequence libraries

- Annotate the above libraries

- Develop an array of 500-1000 SNP/sequence markers to be analysed by
high-throughput sequencing

- Apply the markers to the fingerprinting of plantation trees

- Define the smallest set of markers allowing the unique identification
of each tree

- Apply population genomics methods to the estimation of past
demographic changes in natural populations of rosewood and to the
identification of loci undergoing selection

- Publish scientific papers on his/her results in international peer-
reviewed journals.

The appointed research assistant will have a strong background in
genomics/molecular biology, bioinformatics, statistics and population
genetics; will be fluent in English and in French; will be at ease with
text-editing and spreadsheet software, web browsers and the R package. He
or she will have a taste for scientific endeavour and technological
development, engage in scientific and technical exchange with other
members of the team, other project partners and the scientific community
at large and will be able to make decisions autonomously and to work in
tight collaboration with other scientists and staff members. The program
will be executed in the Ecological Genetics laboratory of the Joint
Research Unit "EcoFoG" and in other laboratories worldwide when necessary.

Candidates must file their application, along with a CV and two letters
of reference, at the following e-mail addresses:

Ivan Scotti ivan.scotti@ecofog.gf

Nadine Amusant nadine.amusant@cirad.fr
Interviews will take place either in person or by video call by the end
of June 2011.


VISITORS TO FRENCH GUIANA MUST HOLD A VALID YELLOW FEVER VACCINE CERTIFICATE

Ivan Scotti
INRA - UMR 0745 ECOFOG "Ecologie des Foręts de Guyane" / "Ecology of Guiana Forests"
Team Leader « Population Ecology »
Campus agronomique, Avenue de France
BP 709 - 97387 KOUROU Cedex
FRANCE
Phone +594 (0)59432-9274, -9285, -9278 Fax +594 (0)59432-4302
i.scotti.inra.kourou@gmail.com,
http://www.ecofog.gf


Ivan Scotti