The Laboratory of General and Agricultural Microbiology of the Agricultural University of Athens is seeking a postdoctoral researcher with an Agronomy/Biology/Microbiology background for employment in the European Union Life-Climate Action project FROSTDEFEND (www.frostdefend.eu). The project is on the creation of a frost-damage prognosis tool for citrus tree crops, based on populations of epiphytic and airborne ice-nucleation-active bacteria, meteorological conditions and agronomic traits. This forecasting tool will be used to apply copper sprays to reduce the above populations and improve the resilience of trees to frost. The postdoctoral researcher will drive frequently to experimental orchards in the region of Aegion, Peloponnese, Greece to sample plant material for identification of aerial and epiphytic ice-nucleating bacteria with molecular (quantitative PCR, metagenomic) and classical microbiological methods. He/she will evaluate the effectiveness of sprays which reduce these populations and improve tree resilience to frost. He/she will also assist in the administrative / financial management of the program and in dissemination actions. The postdoctoral researcher will be part of an interdisciplinary team of agronomists, microbiologists, atmospheric scientists and modelers from Greece, France, and Germany.
Interested persons must possess:
- Driving license
- Excellent knowledge of English and understanding of the scientific literature
- Proven ability to write scientific publications
- Excellent knowledge of MS Office
- Experience in microbiological techniques
- Experience in molecular biology techniques (especially PCR, quantitative PCR, metagenomic analysis of microbiomes), bioinformatics and related software
- Experience in analysis and statistical processing of field data is a plus
- For the administrative management of the project, knowledge of the Greek language is essential
This ongoing project will be completed in August 2025. The postdoctoral fellow will be employed for the duration of the project. Those interested are kindly requested to send a detailed CV and the name and addresses of two scientists who agree to provide recommendations for them to Associate Professor Dimitri Georgakopoulos (dgeorga@aua.gr).