university of copenhagen | Scholarship for Nigerians and Africans - Part 2

PhD Fellowships in Molecular Microbial Ecology, Denmark

The aim of this research project is to further develop and improve the modern microbial metagenomics tools to study natural microbial communities. In this project we will use high throughput sequencing to study the composition of bacterial communities in various natural environments with great resolution.
Furthermore, the project includes studies of the presence and evolution of plasmid-borne traits in different natural habitats in order to resolve the role of the mobile gene pool in microbial adaptation. We are specifically interested in studying the effect of anthropogenic activity on the evolution and prevalence of multi resistant bacteria.

We expect that the applicants have obtained an MSc degree in biology or biochemistry, a good grasp of theoretical concepts, and some expertise in laboratory techniques used in molecular microbial ecology, DNA sequencing and bioinformatic analysis. Fluency in English is a requirement.

An assessment committee will be appointed to evaluate the applications. The final selection will be made by the supervisors, Søren J. Sørensen and Lars H. Hansen and the Head of Department, based on the recommendations of the evaluation committee. Successful candidates will then be requested to formally apply for enrolment as a PhD student at the PhD school of Science, University of Copenhagen.

Scholarship Application Deadline:14 April 2011

Further Scholarship Information and Application

Fully Funded PhD Positions in Synthetic Biology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

The following PhD position is available.
Detection of protein dynamics using single molecule fluorescence confocal microscopy.

The ability to detect the fluorescence of a single fluorophore has led to great advances in understanding of heterogeneity and dynamics at the nanoscale level in life and material sciences. The specific emission properties of fluorophores like its intensity, decay time, emission wavelength (spectrum) and anisotropy can be used to probe changes in the fluorophores surrounding. For example, fluorescence decay time changes can be used as a powerful tool to monitor quenching and energy transfer processes. A confocal microscope setup will be developed with multiple avalanche photodiodes and a spectrometer (polychromator/CCD camera) that can be used to monitor changes in multiple parameters of the single fluorophore´s emission at the same time, providing a wealth of information. In order to extract as much information as possible, it is important to choose fluorophores with a high absorption coefficient, high fluorescence, low triplet, and low photobleaching quantum yield. For this, organic fluorophores (with and without the presence of photostability enhancing additives, like e.g. ROXS) will be tested and compared with a new class of silver cluster based emitters, attached to proteins in order to determine their photo stability performance. As a test case we will investigate the conformational changes that occur during binding and transport of substrate within the neurotransmitter transporter homologue, LeuT.

Qualifications
A MSc or equivalent degree in a field relevant to the research project and good English skills are required.

Scholarship Application Deadline:1st of April 2011, 12 noon

Further Scholarship Information and Application

PhD Fellow in Veterinary Imaging, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

The project will be concerned with the use of ultrasound to generate images for clinical and research use and with the extraction of quantitative data from these images. The fellowship is partly funded by the strategic initiative at KU-LIFE, CHANCE and will utilize chemometric analyses as part of its research methodology. Ultrasound images from an ongoing research project involving eels are available and further experiments will require further imaging by the Fellow in this species. In addition the PhD Fellow will be expected to identify suitable clinical patients and collect data form them at the Department´s Small Animal Hospital and perform subsequent analysis. The aim being to describe relevant clinical or physiological parameters. The research work will be based primarily at the Small Animal Hospital, however some of the research image collection may be done by the Fellow at an external research farm. In addition to the duties described below, the PhD fellow will be expected to contribute to the clinical and teaching activities of the Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences. The project will provide opportunities to develop existing skills in general veterinary diagnostic imaging using digital radiography, CT, MRI, scintigraphy and in particular ultrasound. Training in image analysis and statistical analysis techniques will be an integral party of the fellowship. Principal supervision on the project will be provided by the Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences with additional supervision provided by the CHANCE initiative.

Eligibility Criteria:
– A master´s degree related to the subject area of the project
– The grade point average achieved
-Professional qualifications relevant to the PhD programme
-Previous publications
-Relevant work experience
-Other professional activities
-Language skills
– Communication and collaborative skills
-Marks obtained during the first year of study on the master programme (only relevant for applicants applying for a 4-year scholarship)

Scholarship Application Deadline: 21 March 2011

Further Scholarship Information and Application