GCP partner Agropolis–CIRAD has a post-doctoral vacancy for a Plant Geneticist with a background in marker-assisted breeding and an interest in the international and finalised aspects of research for development. The selected candidate will be involved in a GCP sorghum marker-assisted breeding project and based in Mali. He/she will work on definition and follow-up of phenotyping experiments as well as methodological developments for data analysis.
Position description
Sorghum breeding in the Sahelian zone, particularly in Mali, aims at improving productivity and response to intensification while maintaining adaptation and grain quality characteristics of local varieties. Recent tools from molecular genetics and genotyping technologies enable innovative breeding strategies that allow the exploration of more allelic combinations than pedigree breeding schemes classically used in major crops.
The post-doctoral fellow will contribute to a GCP-funded project in which partners include the Institut d'Economie Rurale (Mali), Agropolis–CIRAD (Montpellier, France) and Syngenta Seeds (Toulouse, France). This Subprogramme 3 project, entitled Improving sorghum productivity in semi-arid environments of Mali through integrated MARS, implements recent methodologies for marker-assisted recurrent selection with two bi-parental populations currently being developed in Mali. The post-doctoral fellow will participate in the coordination of a first year of phenotyping, to be conducted in 2010 in Mali, and will later be involved in QTL data analysis and methodological development for MARS in conjunction with Syngenta and development teams of the GCP’s Molecular Breeding Platform.
Eligibility requirements:
- PhD in plant genetics and breeding
- Experience in marker-assisted breeding theory and good skills in data analysis and biostatistics/informatics
- Motivation for field work in a tropical area
- Communicative skills in both French and English
Location: Bamako, Mali and Montpellier, France
New deadline for applications*: 7th June 2010
Start date of contract: As soon as possible
Type of contract: CDD POST DOCT, 18 months
Job reference: 1646
For more details on the vacancy and on how to apply are available on the Agropolis–CIRAD website in English and in French
*Please note that the above deadline supersedes the original application deadline of 21st April 2010.