• Are you an early career scientist with interest in the impact of abiotic stresses on wheat production?
• Do you have, or will shortly obtain, a PhD in the genetic control of abiotic stress tolerance in cereals?
• Join our Abiotic Stress Tolerance Group within CSIRO Agriculture & Food

The Position

CSIRO Early Research Career (CERC) Postdoctoral Fellowships provide opportunities to scientists and engineers who have completed their doctorate and, in this case, have less than four years relevant postdoctoral work experience. 

The Postdoctoral Fellow will be part of a Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) funded project on improving reproductive stage chilling and frost tolerance in wheat. The project aims to improve reliability of chilling and frost tolerance phenotyping by developing controlled environment phenotyping methods based on metabolomics. The project involves identifying cold-specific diagnostic metabolite markers that differentiate chilling tolerant and sensitive wheat germplasm using metabolomics and lipidomics. These metabolomics markers will then be used to phenotype mapping populations. A SNP linkage map of the mapping population will be established and the phenotyping data will be used to identify chilling tolerance QTL. The QTL positions will be mapped to the wheat genome sequence. Chilling-tolerant and sensitive population tail lines will then be evaluated in field trials.

Your duties will include:

Under the direction of senior research scientists and engineers, the CERC Postdoctoral Fellow will:

• Carry out innovative, impactful research of strategic importance to CSIRO that will, where possible, lead to novel and important scientific outcomes.
• Utilise design thinking methodology to plan and prepare research proposals, and apply non-academic impact methodology to research projects.
• Carry out research investigations requiring originality, creativity and innovation.
• Record, manage, and analyse data/information using relevant domain data science techniques.
• Carry out data analysis according to appropriate and rigorous statistical standards.

Location:      Black Mountain, ACT
Salary:           AU$82k- AU$93k plus up to 15.4% superannuation
Tenure:         2 years
Reference:    60772

To be successful you will need:

• A doctorate (or will shortly satisfy the requirements of a PhD) in a relevant discipline area, such as Physiology and genetics of abiotic stress tolerance in wheat (drought and cold stress).  Please note: To be eligible for this role you must have no more than 4 years (or part time equivalent) of postdoctoral research experience.
• Extensive knowledge and experience with wheat abiotic stress physiology, chilling/frost and drought stress in particular.
• Knowledge about metabolite analysis and role of metabolites in abiotic stress tolerance (chilling/frost).
• A solid basis in statistics for data analysis and experience with mapping of QTL.
• Excellent molecular biology skills is required for analysis of molecular marker profiles in wheat germplasm (DNA extraction, PCR, SNP analysis).

For details about who to contact and for more information please view the Position Description

We’re working hard to recruit diverse people and ensure all our people feel supported to do their best work and empowered to let their ideas flourish.

Flexible Working Arrangements

We work flexibly at CSIRO, offering a range of options for how, when and where you work. Talk to us about how this role could be flexible for you. Balance

About CSIRO

At CSIRO you can be part of helping to solve big, complex problems that make a real difference to our future. We spark off each other, learn from each other, trust each other and collaborate to achieve more than we could individually in a supportive, rewarding, inclusive and truly flexible environment. 

Apply Online

To apply online, please provide a CV and cover letter outlining your suitability and motivation for the role.

Applications Close at 10.59 AEST 28 April 2019