PhD Graduate Research Assistantship Position in Nematology at Purdue University

Graduate Research Assistantship at the Department of Botany & Plant Pathology, Purdue University, USA

The Lei Zhang lab at Purdue University (https://ag.purdue.edu/btny/Pages/Profile.aspx?strAlias=leizhang&intDirDeptID=10: publications https://scholar.google.com citations?user-faYqul SAAAAJ&h-en) is seeking highly motivated applicants for graduate study at PhD level starting in the spring of 2023. The research assistantship of a PhD student provides stipend of $24.565 year and tuition waiver. Students with molecular biology background are encouraged to apply. English proficiency test (TOEFL or IELTS) is required for non-native English-speaking international applicants.

About the Project

Plant-parasitic nematodes are microscopic soil-borne roundworms, they infect and damage plant roots causing annual crop losses valued at $80-$118 billion worldwide. The Zhang lab is aimed to enhance understanding of plant-nematode interactions and plant resistance to nematodes at molecular, organismal and population levels using a diverse array of approaches Research results have been published on prestigious journals, including Nature Plants, PLOS Pathogens, Malecular Plant Pathology, Plant Disease.

Prior research experience in plant-parasitic nematodes is NOT required for application

The successful applicant will have opportunities to be trained and work on:

1. basic research to study molecular plant-nematode interactions and mechanism of nematode biology using next generation sequencing (NGS), gene editing, RNAi and protein-protein interactions techniques, or
2. applied project to develop beneficial fungi and bacteria as biological agents for nematode control in soybean.

How to apply for the PhD Graduate Research Assistantship:

Interested students are asked to e-mail directly to Dr. Lei Zhang ([email protected]) the following documents: Resume, transcripts. The subject of the email should be “Research assistantship spring 2023”. Screening of applications will begin on May 2, 2022 and will continue until the position has been filled.

The College of Agriculture at Purdue University is one of the world’s leading colleges of agricultural, food, life, and natural resource sciences and ranked sixth in the US in the 2019 QS World University Rankings.

Read also : PhD Studentship Position in Chemistry with focus on physical chemistry and organic synthesis at Uppsala University, Sweden