What is our position offer?
If you have an Engineer or a PhD degree with at least two-years of experience, this offer for a 40-month position
is for you.
What is the context of our need?
Following the Call: H2020-SFS-2016-2017 Sustainable Food Security – Resilient and resource-efficient value
chains, our project entitled “PoshBee” has been selected and awarded a 40-month budget to recruit a
Research Engineer.
“Bees pollinate our crops and wildflowers, and thus are essential for human well-being. Worldwide, bees face
many threats and are often in decline as a result. One potential driver of reduced bee health is agrochemicals.
While laboratory and semi-field studies suggest that such chemicals negatively impact bee health, their
importance and relevance in the real world remains unclear. PoshBee is a consortium of academics,
governmental organisations, industry, and NGOs that will address the issue of agrochemicals to ensure the
sustainable health of bees and their pollination services in Europe. PoshBee will provide the first comprehensive
pan-European assessment of the exposure hazard of chemicals, their mixtures, and co-occurrence with
pathogens and nutritional stress for bees. Integrated studies across the lab-to-field axis will determine the
effect of chemicals, their mixtures, and interactions with pathogens and nutrition on bee health. We will
combine the skills of commercial bumble bee and solitary bee producers, ecotoxicological industry, and
academics to develop new model species and innovative protocols for testing chemicals in bees.
Using proteomics, we will produce new molecular markers for assessing bee health and enabling long-term
monitoring schemes”.
You will be a key player within the WorkPackage (WP) dedicated to these studies.
What will be your mission?
Directly reporting to the Scientific Coordinator of the proteomics WP, you will be in charge of the following
tasks:
* Coordinate the follow-up of the biological samples from the different partners for an effective
traceability
* Prepare the biological matrices (entire bodies, tissues-organs, body fluids) for proteomics studies
* Perform mass spectrometry analyses (MALDI, LC-ESI-MS/MS and eventually GC-MS) with a special
focus on developing models of molecular mass fingerprints according to the recognized clinical microbiology
BioTyping approach
* Establish robust procedures for molecular mass imaging on honeybee, bumble bee and solitary bee
* Process and manage the acquired data in a specific and specialized PoshBee database (friendly
database)
* Develop processes that meet the requirements and respect the good laboratory practices and ethical
issues regarding the animal models you will have to manipulate (honeybees, bumble bees, solitary bees, etc.)
* Reporting, laboratory notebooks and meeting supports will be in English
* Present project results during progress meetings and reviews organized in the frame of the Grant
Agreement of PoshBee, and through valorization of the results to scientific workshops or symposia.
* Write scientific manuscripts for Peer Scientific Journals
What we are looking for?
A collaborator with:
* Knowledge or experience in biological sample preparation, peptide and protein biochemistry, mass
spectrometry (MS) and liquid chromatography (LC), experience in database analysis and data processing &
management
* Advanced skills in sample preparation (biological matrices), MALDI-MS, and LC-ESI-MS/MS
(preferentially used in high resolution MS such as an OrbiTrap). Trained in BioTyping of microorganisms by
MALDI MS would be an asset
* Abilities for research work with a real team spirit and qualities to integrate rapidly the team (2 project
managers, one PhD student, Master 2 students, and an external consultant specialized in apiculture).
* Real and proved skills in English language, to communicate fluently with the partners of the
consortium and write extensive reports and scientific manuscripts for Peer Scientific Journals.
To conclude, we are looking for a solid stature able to communicate – in English and French – pro-actively with
the team, who shows initiative when appropriate and takes responsibility for the decisions. You typically have a
“never give up” mentality combined with the ability to work independently but always keeping in mind a team
spirit. You are excellent communicator towards different stakeholders (with different cultural backgrounds).
Experience in writing scientific publications for peer reviewed journals will be an asset.
Keywords: Pollinators, Omics (i.e. peptidomics, proteomics), mass spectrometry, imaging, bee health,
biological matrices, innate immunity, biomarkers
Languages (oral and writing)
A bilingual (French and English) collaborator is expected. Fluency in English language is unavoidable.
If you have any questions about this position or on our Plateforme BioPark, please contact
Dr Philippe BULET, Research Director at CNRS, Operating Manager
Tel: +33 (0)4 50 43 25 21, E-mail: philippe.bulet@biopark-archamps.org
You will work at the following location:
Plateforme BioPark d’Archamps
260 avenue Marie Curie, Archamps Technopole, 74160 Archamps (France)
Application should include: Resume, cover letter, recommendation letters. Salary is fixed by the Contract
Agreement signed within the frame of the EU Project “PoshBee”.
This full-time and permanent position for 40 months needs to be filled as soon as possible.
Warning: For safety reasons, as you will have to work with pollinators you will need to be insensitive to their
venoms.