Doctoral fellow

ABOUT GHENT UNIVERSITY

Ghent University is a world of its own. Employing more than 15.000 people, it is actively involved in education and research, management and administration, as well as technical and social service provision on a daily basis. It is one of the largest, most exciting employers in the area and offers great career opportunities.

With its 11 faculties and more than 85 departments offering state-of-the-art study programmes grounded in research in a wide range of academic fields, Ghent University is a logical choice for its staff and students.

YOUR TASKS

As part of the UGent funded BOF-GOA project ‘The secret garden: diatom adaptation and evolution in benthic environments’, we offer a fully-funded PhD position.
About the project:
Diatoms are a group of highly diverse, globally dominant microalgae which contribute significantly to global carbon fixation and biogeochemical cycling. Understanding how diatoms adapt to changes in their environment is therefore a major research interest. In this project we aim to identify and functionally characterize key adaptations that drive the extraordinary species diversity and ecological success of benthic diatoms. Benthic diatoms mainly belong to the evolutionary younger and hyperdiverse araphid and raphid clades. We will employ a multi-disciplinary approach to study the role of climate-sensitive abiotic and biotic stressors on life cycle dynamics in existing and newly developed model species, as well as in natural populations.

About the PhD position:

• You will perform laboratory experiments aimed at revealing the effect of abiotic stressors, metazoan grazers, and/or bacteria on cell size dynamics and sexual reproduction of model araphid and raphid diatom species.
• You will obtain and analyze (single cell) transcriptomes from various diatom species, including comparative transcriptomics and differential expression analysis.
• You will develop reporter lines and – time permitting – knock-out lines and use advanced microscopy techniques to functionally study selected genes.
• You will integrate experimental and gene expression data to obtain a mechanistic insight into the response of diatoms to stress.
• Data management and curation is an important aspect of your project.
• You will be encouraged to contribute to science communication.
• You will work in the Laboratory of Protistology & Aquatic Ecology (PAE) at Ghent University’s Department of Biology, under supervision of Prof. Wim Vyverman, Dr Gust Bilcke, and Dr Darja Belišová (EMBL Heidelberg)

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR

• You have a strong interest in microbiology, adaptation, and genomics.
• You are a critical, analytic thinker. You work with rigor and you have a keen eye for detail.
• You are a driven, hard-working person, committed to obtain a PhD degree.
• You have good oral and written communication skills, and are fluent in English.
• You are keen to combine laboratory experiments and microscopy with bioinformatic analyses.
• Preferably you have experience using R and/or Python, and/or you have programming skills in bash or another scripting language.

WHAT WE CAN OFFER YOU

• We offer a full-time position as a doctoral fellow, consisting of an initial period of 12 months, which - after a positive evaluation, will be extended to a total maximum of 48 months.
• Your contract will start the earliest on January 1st, 2026.
• The fellowship amount is 100% of the net salary of an AAP member in equal family circumstances. The individual fellowship amount is determined by Team Personnel Administration based on family status and seniority. A grant that meets the conditions and criteria of the regulations for doctoral fellowships is considered free of personal income tax. Click here for more information about our salary scales
• All Ghent University staff members enjoy a number of benefits, such as a wide range of training and education opportunities, 36 days of holiday leave (on an annual basis for a full-time job) supplemented by annual fixed bridge days, bicycle allowance and eco vouchers. Click here for a complete overview of all the staff benefits.

INTERESTED?

We invite applications from highly motivated candidates with a passion for protist and/or adaptation research. Please send any inquiries to Prof. Wim Vyverman (wim.vyverman@ugent.be).

Send your application via email to Anja Hondekyn (biology-applications@ugent.be) as a single PDF document until the 23th of November 2026. Applications should include a motivation letter, CV, diplomas including study results, and contacts of two potential referees. If not otherwise possible, diplomas can be send in a separate PDF document.

We do not accept late applications.

As Ghent University maintains an equal opportunities and diversity policy, everyone is encouraged to apply for this position.