Postdoctoral position available in the De Smet Lab

About the Lab

The VIBUGent Center for Plant Systems Biology (PSB) is a worldleading plant science institute located at the heart of a renowned plant biotechnology campus in Ghent Belgium. Its mission is to unravel plant biological processes and translate this knowledge into value for society. The Functional Phosphoproteomics group () led by Prof. Ive De Smet at PSB tackles early temperature signalling in plants such as the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana and the crop plants wheat and soybean. To unravel this we focus on dynamic changes in protein phosphorylation status since temporary and reversible phosphorylation of proteins is essential in regulating various processes. Through a phosphoproteomics approach the lab has identified potential key regulators of thermomorphogenesis in A. thaliana and wheat which we started to functionally characterize (see for example Xu et al 2024 Nature Plants Pan et al 2024 Plant Physiology Zhu et al 2024 New Phytologist Zhu et al 2021 Nature Communications Vu et al 2021 Nature Communications).

Job description

The De Smet lab is looking to recruit 1 highlymotivated postdoctoral researcher who will be involved in elucidating the underlying signalling mechanisms that play a role in regulating plant growth under a changing climate especially high temperature. The postdoctoral research will explore the regulation of protein phosphorylation and stability mainly in wheat to reveal novel modes of action. The successful candidate will use a multidisciplinary approach combining biochemistry (mass spectrometrybased approaches and others) cell biology (confocal microscopy) plant genetics (generating mutants and/or transgenic lines) and plant phenotyping (thermotolerance stomatal movement etc). Overall the project will contribute to our understanding of how an environmental signal (temperature) is perceived by the plant and converted into developmental and physiological responses.

Profile

Essential

• You have an international PhD in (plant) molecular biology or biochemistry with max. 4 years of postdoc experience
• You are an expert in molecular biology biochemistry and/or (plant) biotechnology
• You have guided (master/PhD) students and/or technicians
• You can take initiative function well in a team and have a handson mentality perseverance and critical mindset
• You are proficient in the use of the English language for both oral and written communication

Desirable but not required

• Experience with proteomics interactomics and/or confocal microscopy
• Experience with kinases and/or E3 ligases
• Experience with a crop ideally wheat will be to your benefit
• A publication record in peerreviewed journals in the field of animal and plant sciences is an asset
• You are eligible for Marie Curie and/or EMBO postdoctoral fellowship applications

Key personal characteristics

• You have a strong sense of responsibility maintaining a clean working environment
• You can accurately compile and document experiments (using an ELN)
• You have a nononsense cando attitude
• You build team interactions quickly
• You feel great in a fun team and add to that spirit
• You communicate clearly candidly and respectfully

We offer

• A 12year postdoc position
• A multidisciplinary highly stimulating and supporting international research environment at VIB and Ghent University (UGent)
• Access to stateoftheart tools and infrastructure including core facilities for proteomics
• Various training opportunities are organized at VIB to broaden your expertise and skills (training.vib.be).
• Tentative start date: Spring 2025

How to apply

Submit your application through the VIB application tool. The call will remain open until a suitable candidate is identified.

Make sure that your application includes:

• A detailed CV
• A onepage summary of past research activities (e.g. in PhD/PostDoc projects)
• A onepage letter of intent describing your motivation for this position how your research experiences and interests are aligned with those of the lab and research topic and future goals
• The names and contact details of 3 referees