Dear ARAB-UK,

A PhD student position is available with Josh Mylne, an Australian Research Council Queen Elizabeth II Fellow and the current John S. Mattick Fellow (www.imb.uq.edu.au/mylne). Dr Mylne is based within the Chemistry & Structural Biology Division of the Institute for Molecular Bioscience at The University of Queensland (www.uq.edu.au) in Brisbane, Australia. This is a 3-year position and carries a tax-free stipend of $AUD 22,860 ($AUD 1 = $US 1.03).

The project will determine whether the shared life history between apicomplexan parasites and plants means Arabidopsis can inform us of the mode-of-action for human drugs. The project is multi-disciplinary and will involve forward mutagenesis, classical genetics, molecular biology, Arabidopsis genetic engineering and next-gen sequencing assisted gene cloning. There is also scope to acquire skills in protein biochemistry and structural biology.

This project will involve collaboration with Professor Geoff McFadden (www.geoffmcfadden.com), who is based in the Botany Department of the University of Melbourne (www.unimelb.edu.au).

Applicants should have a degree in Biology, Genetics or a related discipline, with excellent communication skills. Experience in plant genetics and molecular biology is a plus. Interested candidates should send before December 18th, their CV and a letter of motivation including a brief description of previous activities to [log in to unmask] Please include "human drugs" in the e-mail subject line. Short listed candidates will be asked to provide 2-3 letters of reference.

The Institute for Molecular Bioscience is a world-class research institute located at The University of Queensland, in Brisbane, Australia. The IMB's mission is to decipher the information contained in the genes, proteins and molecules of humans, animals and plants. It houses 32 research groups in the Divisions of Computational Biology and Genomics, Chemical and Structural Biology, Molecular Cell Biology, and Molecular Genetics and Development. Our emphasis is on quality basic research and its translation into medical and biotechnological outcomes.

The University of Queensland (UQ) is both the largest and oldest university in Queensland. Recently, UQ was given an overall ranking as one of the top 100 universities in the world by the Times Higher Education, with a ranking of 74. UQ has 1011 full-time life science researchers and was ranked as the top Australian university in life sciences and 26th in the world, according to Times Higher Education. UQ was also voted one of the top three international academic institutions outside the USA in The Scientist magazine's annual Best Places to Work in Academia 2010 survey.

References: 
McFadden, G.I., (2011) The apicoplast. Protoplasma. 248: 641-650.
Mylne & Wigge (2011) Nature Chemical Biology 7:666-667.
Mylne et al. (2011) Nature Chemical Biology 7:257-259.

Josh

----
Dr Joshua S. Mylne
ARC QEII Fellow

Chemistry & Structural Biology Division
Institute for Molecular Bioscience
The University of Queensland
St Lucia, QLD, 4072, Australia

T: +61 7 3346 2021
E: [log in to unmask]

www.researcherid.com/rid/A-5581-2009
www.imb.uq.edu.au/mylne

See you at ICAR 2013 in Sydney? www.icar2013.com.au