05 Postdoctoral Fellowship at University of Lausanne (UNIL), Switzerland

You are expected to work on single- and co-authored publications with the other project members (the PI, one PhD, and a further postdoc) with respect to equality of opportunity. There are many possibilities to bring in your own ideas related to the topic of the project. You are expected to present preliminary findings of the project at international conferences.
 
You have the opportunity and are expected to contribute to the exciting intellectual life in Lausanne at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, which includes the LIVES research group with its focus on inequalities from a life course perspective and the university-wide LIVES community. There are also opportunities to collaborate with researchers at the Swiss Centre of Expertise in the Social Sciences (FORS).

There are no teaching responsibilities associated with this position (but teaching may be arranged if you wish so). The position offers you a two-year contract with a competitive salary, the possibility to contribute to an exciting, novel research project, to develop your research profile, and to be involved in a stimulating research environment. And, of course, you get the opportunity to live in one of the most beautiful parts of Europe.

The Collier lab has an open position to study the control of DNA replication in Alphaproteobacteria that have complex genomes (ex: with multiple chromosomes, dicentric chromosomes and/or megaplasmids).  The Agrobacterium tumefaciens plant pathogen will be used as a model during this fundamental research project. We foresee that methylated bases on bacterial genomes (epigenetics), as well as transcriptional and post-transcriptional mechanisms of regulation will play major roles in regulating genome maintenance in such bacteria.

We are looking for a highly motivated candidate interested in fundamental aspects of bacterial genetics/epigenetics and bacterial cell biology. At least 80% of the activity will be dedicated to personal research. The other 20% will be dedicated to shared research activities of the group and to contribute to teaching activities.

As part of its commitment to support the Global Observatory’s efforts to establish data and research enabling the measurement of gender inequalities in sport, to identify challenges, and to facilitate changes towards greater equality between women and men in and through sport, the University of Lausanne will provide this Research Associate position to a candidate who can contribute to this mission.

The Research Associate will contribute to UNIL’s support of the GO, particularly in advancing its research and knowledge collation and translation mandate. In this capacity, the position will provide substantial support for achieving research engagement outcomes in the following areas:

• Collating data, knowledge and research on gender equality and PEPAS
• Connecting research expertise with policy and practice communities
• Contributing to the development of research agendas, methods and products
• Convening expertise to exchange and advance learning across sectors

A breakthrough in our ability to image mineral nutrients at high resolution and sensitivity has recently been achieved by the Meibom lab with the development of a CryoNanoSIMS ion microprobe (Meibom et al, BMC Biology, 2023). This unique instrument represents a quantum leap in our ability to visualize soluble elements in situ, which recently made it possible to demonstrate a completely unpredicted function of a major sodium transporter in protection of root meristems against salinity (Ramakrishna et al., Nature, 2025).

We now aim to expand on this breakthrough by generating the first, high-resolution maps of elemental distributions in roots of the model plants Arabidopsis, both in the presence and absence of the endodermis, the main extracellular diffusion barrier of roots. This will provide unprecedented insights nutrient distribution in plants. Furthermore, we seek to elucidate the uptake and distribution of potassium and nitrate through stable isotope tracing. This will provide novel insights into the uptake of these crucial minerals for agriculture