Ongoing opportunities are available for Ph.D. students wishing to study the microbial ecology and oceanography, focusing on efforts to understand microbial diversity, microbial interactions, and viral impact on picophytoplankton. Successful candidates will pursue a Master’s (M.Phil.) or Doctorate (Ph.D.) in the department of Ocean Science at HKUST with Dr. Charmaine C.M. Yung.
Some potential topics to develop are:
– Temporal dynamics of picophytoplankton in Hong Kong waters
– Exploring the temporal dynamics of viruses and their potential hosts including bacteria and single-cell eukaryotes in the ocean
– Identifying green algae-virus pairs, establish model systems to study the interaction between the underlying mechanism of the infection as well as the top-down and bottom-up effect on green algae populations.
– Investigating the Vibrio population structure in different sources, including waters and oysters.
Requirements:
Applicants should demonstrate the following qualifications:
– Minimum: A bachelor’s degree in Biology, Microbiology, Bioinformatics or equivalent
– Strong interest in marine microbial ecology
– Very good written and oral communication skills in English
– Experience in basic microbiology, microbial ecology, molecular biology, and/or bioinformatics is preferred, especially DNA/RNA extraction techniques, PCR, and working with UNIX, R and/or Python is preferred.
– The ability to participate in marine fieldwork that may sometimes be physically demanding
– Field experience working in marine environments is also an asset
– Fulfill the HKUST admission requirements (https://pg.ust.hk/prospective-students/admissions/admission-requirements)
Interested applicants should e-mail to ccmyung@ust.hk including:
1. A cover letter describing your motivation, skills, and experience for this position
2. CV
3. University transcript (unofficial is fine)
Application deadline: Open until filled
Start date: 2020 Spring
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Microbial oceanography @ HKUST
