pplications are invited for a postdoctoral research associate to work on an NSF-funded project on the evolution of mutation rate in the lab of Charles Baer at the University of Florida (http://www.zoo.ufl.edu/cbaer/). The project combines classical mutation-accumulation methods of quantitative genetics with very-high-throughput genome sequencing to investigate the relationship between current mutation load and future mutation rate, using the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans as a model system. The project additionally includes a theoretical component in collaboration with Frank Shaw (Hamline Univesity, St. Paul, MN), to which the postdoc is encouraged but not required to contribute. The successful applicant will ideally have some or all of the following skills: C. elegans biology, molecular biology, bioinformatics, theoretical population genetics. All applicants will be considered, however, and the only necessary attribute is a commitment to excellent work in an explicitly team-oriented environment. The initial appointment is for one year, with an additional two years’ funding available conditional on satisfactory performance.
Start Date (pending final NSF approval): Oct.15, 2007 or as soon as possible thereafter.
Starting Salary: $36,996/year plus competitive benefits, including family health insurance, and annual increases at the NIH-mandated rate.
Location: Gainesville, Florida, USA. Gainesville is a very pleasant, medium-sized city in north-central Florida with excellent public schools. Outstanding year-round outdoor recreational opportunities abound, as long as they don’t involve snow (“This is Florida. No snow, no ice”.).
The University of Florida is an equal-opportunity institution.
Members of groups under-represented in the Biological Sciences are especially encouraged to apply.
Please direct inquiries by email to Charles Baer (cbaer at zoo.ufl.edu).