PhD position: Transgenerational epigenetic inheritance

[sue_bertram]

Dr. Sheri Johnson in the Zoology Department at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand is seeking a highly motivated and enthusiastic student to investigate whether environmental challenges experienced as males age affect the fitness of multiple generations, and to identify key candidate genes for transgenerational effects. This work will use a vertebrate model, the zebrafish (Danio rerio), and involves extensive experimental work manipulating environmental stressors (e.g. toxins, hypoxia), behavioural and life-history phenotyping, breeding the lines through to obtain multigenerational data, and the generation and analysis of next-generation sequence data. This work involves an exciting multidisciplinary team, involving two collaborators from Otago (Prof Neil Gemmell and Dr Tim Hore in the Department of Anatomy), a collaborator at the University of New South Wales (Associate Prof Shinichi Nakagawa) and a collaborator from Uppsala University (Associate Prof Simone Immler).

Selection criteria: We seek a student with a strong academic record, a keen interest in animal behaviour and/or behavioural ecology, appropriate practical and technical experience, and a demonstrated ability in written and oral communication.

Application/scholarship details: If you are interested in joining our exciting project at Otago, please send an e-mail with an expression of interest, why you are interested in joining the lab, and your CV to Sheri Johnson (sheri....@otago.ac.nz). High quality applicants will apply for an Otago PhD scholarship, which covers tuition and provides a stipend ($25000 NZD/year).

For information on PhD study at the University of Otago, including entry requirements, see: http://www.otago.ac.nz/postgraduate/index.html. For information on the Department of Zoology, see: http://www.otago.ac.nz/zoology.