PhD fellowship on relative abundance, diversity and virulence of Escherichia coli in animal enteric disease

We are offering a PhD fellowship on relative abundance, diversity and virulence of Escherichia coli in animal enteric disease commencing on 1st May 2025 or after agreement. This PhD project aims to investigate the role of Escherichia coli diversity and its relationship with gut microbiota disturbances in enteric diseases of young piglets and calves.

Our group and research
The PhD student will be a member of the One Health Antimicrobial Resistance (OHAR) research group led by Prof. Luca Guardabassi. Our research focuses on discovery and development of solutions for improving diagnosis and antimicrobial therapy of bacterial infections in veterinary medicine using a One Health approach. For more information:
https://ivh.ku.dk/english/research/veterinary_clinical_microbiology/one-health-antimicrobial-resistance/

Project description
Enterotoxin-producing E. coli (ETEC) has traditionally been considered as one of the primary causes of enteritis in young piglets and calves, but recent studies reveal an inconsistent correlation with diarrhoea, suggesting additional factors contribute to disease onset. This PhD project will investigate the role of E. coli in gut microbiota disturbances (dysbiosis) using faecal and intestinal samples from diseased and healthy animals. Leveraging advanced metagenomic techniques, the research aims to characterize abundance, diversity, and virulence of E. coli lineages and their interplay with the gut microbiota during the development of enteric disease. This will provide new insights into disease aetiology and mechanisms, advancing diagnostics, prevention, and treatment of this important disease in veterinary medicine.

Principal supervisor is Luca Guardabassi, Professor, Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, E-mail:
[email protected]

Start: 1st May 2025 or after agreement
Duration: 3 years as a PhD student
Job description
Your key tasks as a PhD student at SUND are:

• Carrying through an independent research project under supervision.

• Completing PhD courses or other equivalent education corresponding to approximately 30 ECTS points.

• Participating in active research environments including a stay at another research team.

• Obtaining experience with teaching or other types of dissemination related to your PhD project

• Teaching and disseminating your knowledge.

• Writing a PhD thesis on the grounds of your project

Key criteria for the assessment of applicants
Applicants must have qualifications corresponding to a master’s degree related to the subject area of the project, e.g. veterinary medicine. biology and biotechnology. Please note that your master’s degree must be equivalent to a Danish master’s degree (two years). Moreover, applicants must have documented experience with core microbiology techniques, including bacterial isolation, antimicrobial susceptibility testing, and molecular methods like PCR and DNA extraction.

Other important criteria are:

• The grade point average achieved

• Professional qualifications relevant to the PhD project

• Previous publications

• Relevant work experience

• A curious mind-set with a strong interest in microbiology and bioinformatics

• Fluency in written and oral English

Place of employment
The place of employment is at the Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen. We offer creative and stimulating working conditions in dynamic and international research environment. Our research facilities include modern laboratories and animal facilities.

Terms of employment
The average weekly working hours are 37 hours per week.

The position is a fixed-term position limited to a period of 3 years. The start date is 1st of May 2025 or after agreement.
The employment is conditioned upon the applicant’s successful enrolment as a PhD student at the Graduate School at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen. This requires submission and acceptance of an application for the specific project formulated by the applicant.

The PhD study must be completed in accordance with The Ministerial Order on the PhD programme (2013) and the Faculty’s rules on achieving the degree.

Salary, pension and terms of employment are in accordance with the agreement between the Ministry of Taxation and The Danish Confederation of Professional Associations on Academics in the State. Depending on seniority, the monthly salary starts at approximately 29,191 DKK/Roughly 3,912 EUR (April 2024 level) plus pension.

Questions
For specific information about the PhD fellowship, please contact the principal supervisor. General information about PhD studies at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences is available at the Graduate School’s website: https://healthsciences.ku.dk/phd/guidelines/

Application procedure
Your application must be submitted electronically by clicking ‘Apply now’ below. The application must include the following documents in PDF format:

1. Motivated letter of application (max. one page)

2. CV incl. education, experience, language skills and other skills relevant for the position

3. Certified copy of original Master of Science diploma and transcript of records in the original language, including an authorized English translation if issued in other language than English or Danish. If not completed, a certified/signed copy of a recent transcript of records or a written statement from the institution or supervisor is accepted. As a prerequisite for a PhD fellowship employment, your master’s degree must be equivalent to a Danish master’s degree. We encourage you to read more in the assessment database: https://ufm.dk/en/education/recognition-and-transparency/find-assessments/assessment-database/assessment-database. Please note that we might ask you to obtain an assessment of your education performed by the Ministry of Higher Education and Science

4. Publication list (if possible)

Application deadline: 6th February 2025, 23.59pm CET
We reserve the right not to consider material received after the deadline, and not to consider applications that do not live up to the abovementioned requirements.

The further process
After the expiry of the deadline for applications, the authorized recruitment manager selects applicants for assessment on the advice of the hiring committee. All applicants are then immediately notified whether their application has been passed for assessment by an unbiased assessor.

The assessor makes a non-prioritized assessment of the academic qualifications and experience with respect to the above-mentioned area of research, techniques, skills and other requirements listed in the advertisement.

Once the assessment work has been completed each applicant has the opportunity to comment on the part of the assessment that relates to the applicant him/herself.

You find information about the recruitment process at: https://employment.ku.dk/faculty/recruitment-process/

The applicants will be assessed according to the Ministerial Order no. 242 of 13 March 2012 on the Appointment of Academic Staff at Universities.

The University of Copenhagen wish to reflect the diversity of society and encourage all qualified candidates to apply
regardless of personal background.

Københavns Universitet giver sine knap 10.000 medarbejdere muligheder for at udnytte deres talent fuldt ud i et ambitiøst, uformelt miljø. Vi sikrer traditionsrige og moderne rammer om uddannelser og fri forskning på højt internationalt niveau. Vi søger svar og løsninger på fælles problemer og gør ny viden tilgængelig og nyttig for andre.

Info
Ansøgningsfrist: 06-02-2025

Ansættelsesdato: 01-05-2025

Arbejdstid: Fuldtid

Afdeling/Sted: Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences