Return to Job Search
Stellenbosch University
South African Centre for Epidemiological Modelling & Analysis (SACEMA)
Director
(Five-year Contract Appointment)
(Ref. AR/412/12/09)
SACEMA is hosted by Stellenbosch University and administered by the National
Research Foundation (NRF). The Centre was launched in 2006, with an initial
investment for five years from the South African Government Department of
Science & Technology (DST). During its first five years of operation SACEMA has
more than doubled this income with external funding, principally from the
Canadian International Development Agency which, in 2009, provided secure
funding for the next five years.
SACEMA needs to appoint a new Director in 2010. This is a senior, full-time,
academic position with an internationally competitive remuneration package,
commensurate with experience and qualifications. The appointment will be for an
initial period of five years. Subject to continued funding for the SACEMA
project, the incumbent will become a permanent staff member of Stellenbosch
University, and be eligible for pension and other benefits that apply to
academic positions of the University.
We wish to appoint as Director a person of high academic standing and an
international reputation in mathematical epidemiology. S/he will report to the
SACEMA Management Board and Board of Trustees.
Responsibilities: Assuming overall management of SACEMA as a DST/NRF
Centre of Excellence • overseeing the budgets and staffing of SACEMA research
and training projects • planning and chairing scientific meetings, as well as
hosting scientific visits • continuously developing SACEMA sites as appropriate
at Southern African universities • developing links and collaborating with
cognate research initiatives • locating SACEMA activities within national
research priorities and the strategic objectives of Stellenbosch University •
actively identifying fruitful areas of research • providing advice and direction
to the various research teams, as well as evaluating research outcomes •
actively participating in and leading one or more of the principal research
teams in the Centre.
Requirements: A distinguished research record and international
recognition in mathematical modelling of human biology, quantitative
epidemiology and/or medical statistics • senior level experience in academic
management • familiarity with the major health problems facing Southern Africa
and substantial contribution to the international literature in this field •
experience in teaching Mathematics and supervising students in Mathematical
Epidemiology.
Commencement of duties: June 2010
Closing date: 29 January 2010
Enquiries: Prof. John Hargrove on 021 808 2589 or at
jhargrove@sun.ac.za
The University will consider all applications in terms of its Employment
Equity Plan, which acknowledges the need to diversify the demographic
composition of the staff corps, especially with regard to the appointment of
suitable candidates from the designated groups.
The University reserves the right not to make an appointment.
Your application, comprising a comprehensive curriculum vitae (including the
names and contact details of at least two referees), must reach the University
before or on the closing date of the advertised post.
Apply online at
http://www.sun.ac.za/vacancies.
Candidates may be subjected to appropriate psychometric testing and other
selection instruments.
"If you apply, please say that you saw this first at Science in Africa"
Top of Page Return
to Job Search
Stellenbosch University
South African Centre for Epidemiological Modelling & Analysis (SACEMA)
South African Research Chair in
Mathematical Epidemiology and Disease & Invasion Ecology
(Ref. AR/413/12/09)
SACEMA, with the support of the South African Department of Science &
Technology (DST) and the National Research Foundation (NRF), is recruiting a
senior scientist of international standing in the area of dynamical systems
modelling in epidemiology and disease ecology. It is envisaged that the
incumbent will develop close, long-term ties with the other two relevant Centres
of Excellence in the region, viz. the Centre for Biomedical Tuberculosis
Research and the Centre for Invasion Biology, to further integrate dynamical
systems theory into their scope of work.
The successful candidate must comply with the criteria below.
- Extensive experience in training postgraduate as well as postdoctoral
students in the area of dynamical systems theory applicable to epidemiology
and disease & invasion ecology, complemented by the ability to offer courses
to students in advanced areas of population and epidemiological modelling,
parameter estimation and model fitting.
- A distinguished peer-reviewed record of research publications in
mathematical systems theory and its application to problems in one or more
of the following areas: HIV/AIDS, TB, malaria, zoonotic processes and
invading diseases/species.
- Experience in running large collaborative research projects involving
international collaborations, and providing research opportunities for
undergraduate, postgraduate and postdoctoral students.
- Demonstrated ability to obtain competitive funding from national and
international governmental funding agencies or private foundations.
For the duration of the appointment the selected candidate will occupy an
extraordinary professorship in the Department of Mathematical Sciences at
Stellenbosch University, where s/he will strengthen the activities of the
Bio-Mathematics Focus of the Department as well as the interaction with the
African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) in this area.
The appointee will set in motion a scheme for providing superior training for
a cohort of African, specifically South African, scientists to the PhD level in
mathematical population modelling, and analysis of epidemiology and disease &
invasion ecology.
The spirit of this scheme is that it should provide future leadership in
quantitative epidemiology and ecology in South Africa as well as the region. The
incumbent will be based in Stellenbosch although it is recognised that, where
appropriate and where funds allow, s/he will also organise training for the
students at overseas institutions.
The scheme will be funded as a part of the South African Research Chairs
Initiative (SARChI), spear-headed by the South African National Research
Foundation. Information on the SARChI initiative is available on the website (http://www.nrf.ac.za/sarchi).
The Chair is tenable for a period of up to 15 years and comes with a maximum
annual budget of R2,5 million (about US$330 000 at current exchange rates).
Closing date for applications: 29 January 2010
For further specific information, contact Prof. John Hargrove, Director:
SACEMA, on 021 808 2589 or at
jhargrove@sun.ac.za.
The University will consider all applications in terms of its Employment
Equity Plan, which acknowledges the need to diversify the demographic
composition of the staff corps, especially with regard to the appointment of
suitable candidates from the designated groups.
The University reserves the right not to make an appointment.
Your application, comprising a comprehensive curriculum vitae (including the
names and contact details of at least two referees), must reach the University
before or on the closing date of the advertised post.
Apply online at
http://www.sun.ac.za/vacancies.
It is important that applicants request their referees to forward
confidential reports by the closing date to
vacancies_academic@sun.ac.za.
Candidates may be subjected to appropriate psychometric testing and other
selection instruments.
"If you apply, please say that you saw this first at Science in Africa"
Top of Page Return
to Job Search
University of the Western Cape
The Institute for Microbial Biotechnology and Metagenomics [IMBM]
Post-Graduate Research Projects
Department of Biotechnology
University of the Western Cape
Cape Town, South Africa
The following research projects are available in 2010. Enquiries should be
forwarded to Professor Don Cowan, Director, IMBM
(imbm.uwc@gmail.com). Please note that
PhD and Masters bursaries can only be awarded to South African citizens.
PhD and MSc Projects
i. Technologies for production of biofuels: The enzymology of lignocellulose
degradation
IMBM has a well established research platform in the field of biofuels research,
funded by the NRF, PlantBio and several industrial partners. Several projects
involving the discovery, expression and characterization of lignocellulosic
degrading enzymes, identified using metagenomic and high throughput screening
methods, are available.
ii. Technologies for production of biofuels: Understanding the physiological
responses of ethanologenic microorganisms to solvent and inhibitors.
This project involves the use of proteomics methods to investigate the effect of
solvents and growth inhibitors on fermentation performance and gene expression.
iii. Molecular ecology of Ethiopian and Kenyan haloalkaline lake systems.
In collaboration with researchers from the Universities of Bergen (Norway),
Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) and the Jomo Kenyatta Technical University (Kenya), we
are studying the diversity of culturable and unculturable bacteria in the high
salt, high pH Rift Valley lakes of eastern Arfica.
iv. Characterization of actinomycetes in Western Cape Fynbos
Cape fynbos biome is internationally acknowledged as one of the biodiversity
‘hotspots’ of the world. This research programme focuses on the diversity of the
terrestrial actinomycetes in this unique and specialised environment. The
diversity of these organisms will be determined by using conventional isolation
methods together with modern molecular technologies.
v. Characterization of psychrotrophic microbial communities in Antarctic
desert soils
Antarctic desert soils are rich sources of novel cold active microorganisms.
Researchers will join a team, in collaboration with other scientists from
universities in New Zealand and Hong Kong, to investigate the phylogenetic and
culturable diversity of groups of industrially important microorganisms
(including actinomycetes and cyanobacteria). Other aspects of this program
include studies of gene expression and of key nutrient cycling processes in
specialized Antarctic habitats.
vi. Metagenomic mining and characterization of novel extremophilic enzymes
The researcher will join a team working on metagenomic methods for identifying
new enzymes. The project involves the preparation and screening of fosmid
libraries, sub-cloning and expression of selected genes, and detailed
structure-function studies on candidate proteins.
vii. Plant-associated bacteria as tools for crop improvement
The project will involve a phylogenetic survey of rhizospheric microbial
populations of major crop species, the attempted culturing of target species,
and the development of isolates for constitutive expression of plant-growth
promoters.
viii. Assembly and annotation of novel Antarctic microbial genomes
We have recently obtained Illumina sequence data from the genomes a several
novel Antarctic microbial isolates, including a halo-alkalo-psychrophilic
Nesterenkonia isolate. The project, in collaboration with Prof Alan Christoffels
of the SA National Bioinformatics Institute, will involve a team of researchers
undertaking the completion, assembly and annotation of the genomes.
ix. Structure-function studies with nitrile hydratases and amidases.
These project are for students interested in enzymology, biocatalysis, site
specific mutations and structural analysis. In collaboration with Prof Trevor
Sewell, we aim to use mutagenesis to modify the active sites of several enzymes
implicated in the degradation of nitriles. One of our objectives is to introduce
enantioselectivity into nitrile hydratases using enzyme evolution methods.
x. Endemic endophytic microorganisms: Diversity and Gene Mining
Endophytes (non-pathogenic microorganisms adapted to life inside plant tissues)
are a poorly understood group. In collaboration with several other research
teams, we aim to expand our understanding of the endophyte diversity of Cape
endemic plant species, and to use metagenomic methods to access potentially
valuable genes and enzymes from this important genetic resource.
xi. Biology of extremophilic phage
This project is designed to investigate the more basic and fundamental aspects
of phage diversity in extreme environments, particularly in halo-alkaline
samples. This will involve the isolation and functional and genetic
characterization of the phages.
Professor DA Cowan, Institute for Microbial Biotechnology and Metagenomics,
Department of Biotechnology, University of the Western Cape, Bellville 7535,
South Africa www.imbm.co.za
"Please say that you saw this first at Science in Africa"
Top of Page Return
to Job Search
Cape Peninsula University of Technology
Biocatalysis and Technical Biology
MSc/PhD/Postdoctoral
Several positions available in the Biocatalysis and Technical Biology
research group at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, South Africa.
More information
"Please say that you saw this first at Science in Africa"
Top of Page Return
to Job Search
Rhodes University
Department of Zoology and Entomology
Food web ecology of coastal marine invertebrate communities
Msc position
Research and bursary funding is available immediately for a highly motivated
Masters student in the field of marine ecology, to be based in the Richoux
laboratory in the Zoology and Entomology Department at Rhodes University in
Grahamstown, South Africa. Applicants must possess B.Sc. and Honours degrees in
a related biological field (eg. zoology, botany, biochemistry, etc.) and have a
keen interest in both field and laboratory-based research. The successful
applicant will acquire skills in an exciting and widely applicable
interdisciplinary field involving trophic marker analysis (eg. fatty acid
composition and stable isotope ratios) to study energy transfer within and among
aquatic ecosystems.
All interested candidates, please email your CV and a letter of motivation as
soon as possible to:
Dr. Nicole Richoux
N.Richoux@ru.ac.za
Room 209
Department of Zoology and Entomology
Rhodes University
Grahamstown
South Africa, 6140
"If you apply, please say that you saw this first at Science in Africa"
Top of Page Return
to Job Search
Rhodes University
Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology &
Biotechnology
Mycorrhizal Research Group
Please see attached pdf.
"Please say that you saw this first at Science in Africa"
Top of Page Return
to Job Search
University of the Western Cape
PhD/Postdoc in Phage Display
A PhD/Postdoc position is available in the Protein-protein Interaction group
at the University of the Western Cape to implement a Phage Display screen1
for the identification of novel protein-protein interactions. The group
currently comprises 4 PhD and 2 MSc students, focussing primarily on
interactions involving the RBBP6 p53-associated protein2;
3. The project will complement a number of similar techniques
currently in use within the group, including yeast two-hybrid,
immunoprecipitation, BIACore and NMR-based studies. The group has excellent
facilities for molecular biology and bacterial protein expression, BIACore and
fluorescence microscopy, as well as access to a 600 MHz NMR spectrometer
configured for biomolecular work at a nearby institution.
The University of the Western Cape is situated 20 minutes’ drive from central
Cape Town. Cape Town and the surrounding areas offer excellent quality of life,
including mountains, beaches, winelands and fine restaurants. Childcare and
excellent schools are readily available.
Applicants should have a strong background in molecular biology. Previous
experience of phage display or the construction of cDNA libraries would be an
advantage, but are not essential.
For more information contact Dr David Pugh, email:
dpugh@uwc.ac.za. To apply, send a covering
letter, a CV containing details of previous courses and associated grades and
the email addresses of 3 referees to the above address.
More information:
1. Lanzillotti, R. & Coetzer, T. L. (2008). Phage display: a useful tool for
malaria research? Trends Parasitol 24, 18-23.
Pubmed
2. Pugh, D. J., AB, E., Faro, A., Lutya, P. T., Hoffmann, E. & Rees, D. J.
(2006). DWNN, a novel ubiquitin-like domain, implicates RBBP6 in mRNA processing
and ubiquitin-like pathways. BMC Struct Biol 6, 1.
Pubmed
3. Chibi, M., Meyer, M., Skepu, A., Rees, D. J., Moolman-Smook, J. C. & Pugh, D.
J. (2008). RBBP6 Interacts with Multifunctional Protein YB-1 through Its RING
Finger Domain, Leading to Ubiquitination and Proteosomal Degradation of YB-1. J
Mol Biol.
Pubmed
"Please say that you saw this first at Science in Africa"
Top of Page Return
to Job Search
|
