PhD: Groundwater Microbial & Viral Ecology + Bioinformatics

ETH Zurich; Zürich; On-site; CHF 60,000 - 75,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Fully funded PhD position

Job summary

ETH Zurich's Geomitigation of Greenhouse Gases group invites applications for a fully funded 4-year Doctoral position combining groundwater microbial and viral ecology with environmental bioinformatics. You will analyze omics datasets and integrate them with hydrogeochemistry to understand carbon cycling in groundwater.

We seek a curious, independent researcher with MSc in a relevant field, experience in metagenomics, Linux, and programming (Python/R/Bash), and excellent English.

Qualifications

• MSc in microbiology, microbial ecology, bioinformatics, computational biology, geobiology, or closely related discipline.
• Experience with metagenomic data analysis or related environmental bioinformatics approaches.
• Experience with Linux/Unix command-line environments and computational biology workflows.
• Experience with Python, R or Bash.
• Strong understanding of microbial ecology, physiology, and/or metabolism.
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills with complex datasets.
• Creativity and motivation to explore new questions and computational approaches.
• Ability to work independently and in a collaborative team.
• Excellent spoken and written English.

Responsibilities

• Analyze large-scale environmental metagenomic, metatranscriptomic, and viral sequencing datasets to investigate microbial and viral diversity, activity, and function.
• Characterize microbial metabolic potential and activity, focusing on carbon cycling pathways and environmental responses.
• Investigate microbial and viral community dynamics, virus-host interactions, and evolutionary adaptation across groundwater age and geochemical gradients.
• Integrate environmental multi-omics datasets with hydrogeochemical measurements to understand biological processes influencing subsurface carbon cycling.
• Perform DNA and RNA extractions from environmental samples and contribute to lab analyses, including flow cytometry and microscopy.
• Synthesize research findings into scientific manuscripts and present results at international conferences and workshops.
• Collaborate closely with the Principal Investigator, project partner, and other group members in a supportive research environment.

Skills

Linux/Unix

Python

R

Bash

Analytical skills

Independent work

English

Education

MSc in microbiology

Job description

ETH Zurich's Geomitigation of Greenhouse Gases group invites applications for a fully funded 4-year Doctoral position combining groundwater microbial and viral ecology with environmental bioinformatics. You will analyze omics datasets and integrate them with hydrogeochemistry to understand carbon cycling in groundwater.

We seek a curious, independent researcher with MSc in a relevant field, experience in metagenomics, Linux, and programming (Python/R/Bash), and excellent English.