Free Education PhD position Fungal response to transient humidity at University Eindhoven

The Technische Universiteit Eindhoven (TU/e) has the following vacancy
PhD position Fungal response to transient humidity (V34.304)
at the Group Transport in Permeable Media, Department of Applied Physics.

The Department of Applied Physics at the Eindhoven University of Technology has 25 professorial chairs with about 65 academic and 60 technical specialists, as well as 110 graduate and 375 undergraduate students. The leading research themes cover functional materials, gas and fluid dynamics, and plasma and radiation physics. The department has extensive national and international partnerships, including industrial partners. It participates in several national (top) research schools, and in the national top technology institute for polymers, the Dutch Polymer Institute.The Eindhoven University of Technology is one of the three participants in the Dutch 3TU Federation of Universities of Technology.
Fungi form a unique group of organisms, different from all others in organization and activities. As such, fungi have the status of a separate kingdom, equivalent to the plant and animal kingdoms. Fungi play an important role in many practical situations: they can act as pathogens of humans and crops; they produce important metabolites for medicine, they degrade organic materials, etc. As holds for every organism, water plays a key role in the life processes of a fungus. In order to be able to stimulate or to inhibit fungal growth, depending on the preferred situation, the interaction of the fungal organism with water has to be known. The present day knowledge about the relation between growth and the availability of water is limited to steady state situations. However, in most natural habitats of fungi the water supply is far from static and fluctuates in space and time. Little is known about the effect of such fluctuations on fungal growth. It is known that the fungal response on transient humidity can not be extrapolated straight forward from static conditions. In addition, substrate porosity introduces absorption as well as the potential of water retention. This reservoir function may play a pivotal role in the biophysical interaction between fungi and substrates.

Tasks
This project aims to investigate how fungi, growing on porous substrates, respond to transient humidity. The following tasks are foreseen. Firstly, the macroscopic growth patterns have to be characterized. Microscopy and image analysis will be used to visualize the patterns. By techniques like Monte Carlo or Cellular Automata the growth patterns will be modeled. Second, the behavior of water in the porous substrates has to be studied. Dedicated Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) will be used to observe the water household dynamics in the substrate. The outcomes will be modeled with transport equations. Finally, models of macroscopic growth patterns and substrate water will be coupled.

The work will be performed in the group Transport in Permeable Media (TPM) at the Technical University of Eindhoven. It will be done in close cooperation with the Fungal Biodiversity Centre (CBS) of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Science, which has an outstanding reputation in fungal biology, and TNO Built Environment and Geo Sciences. Contacts with the microbiology group of the University of Utrecht are also foreseen.

Requirements
For this position we are looking for a highly motivated candidate with a master in biology, physics or other relevant scientific disciplines. The candidate should have a strong interest in biophysical processes, good experimental skills and experience with modeling of (bio)physical processes of stochastic nature. Experience with image processing and knowledge of statistics is an advantage. Having practical skills in microbiology is an advantage, but specific training in this area at the CBS will be offered within the framework of this project.

Appointment and Salary
The PhD student will get a full-time employment for 4 years, with an intermediate evaluation after 1 year. He/she will be offered a salary of € 2000,- per month (gross) in the first year, increasing to € 2558,- per month (gross) in the fourth year.

Information
More information can be obtained from: Dr. ir. H.P. Huinink (H.P.Huinink@tue.nl / +31 40 2475375).

Application
Applications have to be sent by email or normal mail: Department of Applied Physics, Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, P.O. Box 513, NL-5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands.

You can apply for this job before 31-03-2008

http://vacatures.tue.nl/web/Vacature.aspx?VacatureNummer=V34.304&Taal=English