Post-doctorant en métagénomique des sols historiques

muséum national d'histoire naturelle; France; Vor Ort; EUR 42.000 - 54.000; Vollzeit

Zusammenfassung

Muséum national d'histoire naturelle, located in Paris, invites applications for a Postdoctoral position within the ISYEB Joint Research Unit. The successful candidate will join the INEVEF team to study historical microbial diversity using ancient DNA from herbarium specimens and soils associated with wheat.

The project leverages past 100–200 years of plant material to understand microbial ecology, metagenomics analyses, and paleogenomic methods, with results disseminated through publications

Qualifikationen

• The candidate has earned a Ph.D. within the last 3 years and demonstrates initial postdoctoral experience.
• Experience related to the metagenomics of microbial communities is required.
• Fluency in spoken and written English is essential.

Aufgaben

• Perform bioinformatics processing of high-throughput sequencing datasets and validate ancient DNA sequences.
• Taxonomic and functional annotation of ancient and modern sequences.
• Manage data and submit to biological databases.
• Conduct quantitative and statistical analyses using R.
• Extract nucleic acids from herbarium and modern samples and sequence them.
• Present results at scientific conferences (in English) and at outreach events.

Kenntnisse

Postdoctoral experience

Metagenomics of microbial communities

Microbial ecology

Paleogenomics / paleogenetics

Bioinformatics (metagenomics)

R programming

English fluency

Scientific communication

Ausbildung

PhD in relevant field

Tools

R

Jobbeschreibung

Organisation/Company Muséum national d'histoire naturelle Research Field All Researcher Profile First Stage Researcher (R1) Positions Postdoc Positions Application Deadline 3 Dec 2026 - 23:59 (Europe/Paris) Country France Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Full-time Hours Per Week 35h35 Offer Starting Date 1 Jan 2027 Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Not funded by a EU programme Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Offer Description

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The position is within the ISYEB Joint Research Unit (Institute of Systematics, Evolution, and Biodiversity; https://isyeb.mnhn.fr/fr ) of the Origins and Evolution Department, located at the Jardin des Plantes. ISYEB contributes to the Museum’s mission in the areas of research, teaching, expertise, and outreach. The successful candidate will join the INEVEF team (Plant and Fungal Interactions and Evolution).

The successful candidate will report directly to Roland MARMEISSE, Research Director at the CNRS.

The position is part of the scientific framework of the Past2ECO project, a recipient of the 2025 call for proposals from the PEPR Agroecology and Digital Initiative, which utilizes historical genetic data (herbarium collections) and contemporary data (biological resource centers) to better understand the adaptation mechanisms of wheat and sorghum crops in the face of climate change: https://www.pepr-agroeconum.fr/les-projets-finances/ressources-genetiqu…

This project falls under Past2ECO’s Priority 1, which aims to characterize the historical genetic diversity of crops using ancient DNA from herbarium collections. A study of the historical microbiomes associated with wheat specimens in herbariums and the soils associated with their roots will make it possible to trace their trajectory over time.

The impact of ongoing global changes on microbial biodiversity is uncertain in the absence of historical data. The project uses plants and soils associated with cultivated plants (wheat) preserved in herbariums over the past 100–200 years as sources of ancient DNA representative of past microbial diversity. Using a paleogenomic approach, the DNA extracted from these plants and soils is sequenced. After validating the ancient nature of this DNA, the sequences are annotated to reveal both the taxonomic and functional diversity of the communities, which is then compared to current diversity revealed by the same approach using modern samples. For the current project, we have an initial set of ancient DNA sequences derived from 60 soil samples collected since 1820 throughout France.

Research Areas:

• Bioinformatics processing of sequence datasets from high-throughput sequencing, assembly, extraction of microbial sequences, and validation of the “ancient nature” of sequences derived from herbarium specimens (primary)
• Taxonomic and functional annotation (classification) of ancient and modern sequences (primary)
• Management of the obtained data and submission to databases (primary)
• Quantitative and statistical data analysis using R software (primary)
• Extraction of nucleic acids from new herbarium and modern samples and their sequencing
• Presentation of results to the scientific community (posters and conferences in English) as well as at public outreach events (primary)
• Dissemination of research findings through scientific publications (primary)

Profile/Experience:

• Have earned a Ph.D. within the last 3 years and demonstrate initial postdoctoral experience
• Experience related to the metagenomics of microbial communities

Desired specific skills or knowledge:

• Training and knowledge in microbial ecology and plant-microorganism interactions.
• Knowledge and practical experience in paleogenomics/paleogenetics
• Bioinformatics skills in a metagenomics context
• Quantitative and statistical data analysis using R
• Fluency in spoken and written English
• Ability to communicate and collaborate with other team/lab members and project partners
• Presentation of scientific results (posters and conferences in English), literature reviews, and contribution to the writing of publications.