PhD opportunity - University of Florida

[Byron J. Adams]

Two NSF funded PhD fellowships are available for Fall 2002 to investigate
cellular, ultrastructural and molecular evolution of invertebrate pathogens.

General-  The Department of Entomology and Nematology seeks applicants for
two doctoral fellowships beginning summer/fall 2002.  Funds for these
assistantships, provided by National Science Foundation, will be used to
explore the structure, function and evolution of Helicosporidium, a novel
pathogenic alga.  Research assistants will rotate through three labs in
order to integrate aspects of cellular, ultrastructural, and molecular
evolution into their respective programs of study.  These labs are under the
direction of Drion Boucias, an insect pathologist, Jimmy Becnel, a mosquito
protozoologist, and Byron Adams, an evolutionary biologist.  Current plans
are to train graduate students in state-of-the-art imaging technology (DIC,
fluorescent, confocal, convolution, and electron microscopy) and in the use
of a variety of image analysis software needed to compile an electronic
database on the morphological and developmental features of the
Helicosporidium sp.  Graduate RAs will be trained to carry out PCR and DNA
sequencing reactions, database management (including sequence editing,
fragment assembly and analysis), phylogeny reconstruction, and formal
taxonomic proposals.

Requirements-  Applicants for these fellowships must apply for admission to
the University of Florida Graduate School.  Applications should include a
statement of research interests.  Applicants should have an undergraduate
GPA of at least 3.4 on a scale of 4.0, and a combined GRE (verbal and
quantitative tests) of at least 1300, although exceptions to these standards
may be made under special circumstances. Applicants should have a strong
background in biology, microbiology, biochemistry, or invertebrate zoology
and must be able to speak and write English fluently.

Stipends- The fellowships carry 12-month stipends of $15,000 per year, a
professional travel allowance of $500 per year, and funds to cover short
course training modules in structural and molecular biology.  Additionally,
a full tuition waiver may be available to supplement this stipend.

Application/Contact- Interested applicants (doctoral level) are encouraged
to send a letter of introduction and a brief resume to Dr Drion G. Boucias,
Department of Entomology and Nematology, University of Florida, 970 Natural
Area Road, Gainesville, Florida 32611 (dgb at gnv.ifas.ufl.edu).