Two PhD and Postdoc Funded Positions in Environmental Microbiology

Two PhD and Postdoc Funded Positions in Environmental Microbiology at EPFL in Switzerland; About the EPFL Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne is a public research university in Lausanne, Switzerland. EPFL is among the most prestigious universities in the world for the quality of its education and research. It is ranked #26 in QS World University Rankings 2025.

Open positions at the NCCR Microbiomes: 2 PhD student positions at the Environmental Microbiology Laboratory at EPFL: The Environmental Microbiology Laboratory (EML) studies microbial processes in the subsurface with a focus on contaminant transformations and the nitrogen cycle. The research performed at EML aims at understanding fundamental microbial and abiotic processes and at providing science-based solutions to environmental challenges including aquifer contamination, nuclear waste disposal, and greenhouse gas emissions. The lab is advertising two new PhD student positions:

1) PhD student in environmental geomicrobiology: Investigate anaerobic microbial methylation in an environmental isolate. Applications deadline 1 Sept 2024. All information and application here.

2) PhD student in soil and environmental microbiology: Investigate the role of temperature and precipitation frequency on the soil microbiome and its greenhouse gas emissions. Applications deadline 1 Sept 2024. All information and application here.

The laboratory for Microbiome Adaptation in the Changing Environment (MACE) is seeking Postdoctoral Researcher to join their team for 2-4 years. Alpine landscapes are rapidly transforming due to anthropogenic climate change. Climate warming and reduced snow cover increases the number of soil freeze-thaw cycles due to loss of snow insulation. This reduces microbial abundance and diversity which could in a deterministic way affect N and C mineralization, greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes, and downstream ecosystem impacts. Compounding this, decreased snow cover potentially reduces input of cold-adapted microorganisms from snow to soil, as microbiomes have less time for selection of cold adapted features/taxa from harsh environmental pressures of the snowpack. This can decrease resilience of soil microbiomes to temperature fluctuations and freezing events.

This project will assess impacts of cold-adapted microorganism on the metabolic capabilities of the microbiome; addressing the question of “What are the molecular and mechanistic level impacts of increasing freeze-thaw cycles and decreased input of cold adapted microorganism on function, composition, and resilience of soil microbiomes?”. The overall approach of this project will include in situfield work, culturing, multi-omics, and computational methods. Furthermore, the overall project will aim to integrate multiple layers of data including biogeochemical parameters, metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, and metaproteomics in a united analysis.

The successful candidate will join the Alpine and Polar Environmental Research Centre (ALPOLE) at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland. The ALPOLE research center is based in Sion, Switzerland with a mission to address key challenges related to environmental change in Alpine and Polar regions undergoing rapid and unprecedented transformations. Applications will be reviewed as they are received. Start date flexible, from summer/early fall 2024. All information and application here.