Society of Systematic Biologists

PLoS have recently released PLoS Currents: Tree of Life and PLoS Hubs: Biodiversity, and members of the Society of Systematic Biologists are heavily involved in both initiatives.

PLoS Currents: Tree of Life is a new open-access publication that reduces the delay between the creation of data and publication to a matter of days. The content is peer-reviewed, citable, publicly archived and included in PubMed. Tree of Life is edited by Keith Crandall (Brigham Young University, USA), Douglas Soltis (University of Florida, USA), and Pamela Soltis. For more details see the post on the official PLoS blog.

PLoS have also launched PLoS Hubs: Biodiversity, which aggregates open-access biodiversity articles from multiple journals (not just PLoS titles). You can find more details on the background behind the Hub in the guest blog post Aggregating, tagging and connecting biodiversity studies by David Mindell and others.

Evolution 2011, the 2011 meeting of the Society of Systematic Biologists (SSB) http://systbio.org, the American Society of Naturalists (ASN) http://www.amnat.org, and the Society for the Study of Evolution (SSE) http://www.evolutionsociety.org will be hosted by the University of Oklahoma and held at the John Q. Hammonds Embassy Suites Hotel and Convention Center, Norman, Oklahoma, USA, June 17-21, 2011.

The American Museum of Natural History seeks an outstanding scientist at the Assistant Curator & Professor level who will conduct research on the comparative biology of microorganisms, broadly defined to include bacteria, archaea and microbial eukaryotes. Applicants should demonstrate an established record of publication and extramural funding in areas of microbial taxonomy, phylogenetics, and evolution. The successful candidate will be expected to participate in the teaching of graduate courses in the Comparative Biology Ph.D. program at the Richard Gilder Graduate School at the AMNH. Candidates should have completed their Ph.D. degrees and postdoctoral experience is desired.
Interested candidates should electronically submit their application via a single email message sent to microbialsearch@amnh.org by February 4, 2011. Attached to this email, please include: (1) a curriculum vitae; (2) a statement describing your research program and goals and how you envision contributing to the curriculum of the graduate school; (3) PDF files of up to five recent publications; and (4) names and contact information for three referees.

San Diego State University's Department of Biology announces a tenure-track position in Genetics/Genomics at the associate or assistant professor level with the appointment beginning fall 2011. We seek a productive scientist who is addressing fundamental questions in genetics and/or genomics. We are especially interested in candidates who creatively bridge traditional boundaries between evolution and cell and molecular biology using state-of-the-art experimental approaches. A Ph.D. and postdoctoral experience in genetics, genomics, evolutionary biology, or a related field are required. Candidates at all levels should have a strong record of research accomplishments and funding, an active research program, current extramural (NSF, NIH, DOE, or comparable) funding, a strong publication record, and a commitment to undergraduate and graduate teaching.

Send curriculum vitae, separate statements of research and teaching interests, three representative publications, and arrange for three letters of reference to be sent to: Genetics/Genomics Search Committee, Department of Biology, SDSU, San Diego, CA 92182-4614. Review of applications will begin on 15 January and will continue until the position is filled. For more information, see http://www.bio.sdsu.edu

The deadline for early registration for BioSystematics Berlin 2011 (February 2011) has been extended to 14 November 2010. This meeting comprises the 7th International Congress of Systematic and Evolutionary Biology (ICSEB VII) of IOSEB (International Organization for Systematic and Evolutionary Biology), the 12th Annual Meeting of the Society of Biological Systematics (GfBS), and the 20th International Symposium "Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology" of the German Botanical Society (DBG).

Major Conference Topics:

• Trends in Taxonomy
• Evolution of Organisms in Time and Space
• The Evolutionary Thought: History, Philosophy and Society
• Evolution of Form and Function
• Inventorying and Managing Biodiversity

For full details please visit http://www.biosyst-berlin-2011.de/.

Postdoctoral Research Associate position available in the lab of Juan L�³pez-Bautista at The University of Alabama (http://www.as.ua.edu/phycolab/). Our laboratory is focused on the systematics, biodiversity and evolution of algae. The University of Alabama is located in Tuscaloosa, AL (50 min from Birmingham). This opportunity involves participation in an NSF-funded AToL project GRAToL: Assembling the Green Algal Tree of Life. This investigation is aiming to study the systematics and phylogenetic relationships of green algae, in particular the class Ulvophyceae, using a multi-gene dataset. Primary responsibilities will include DNA isolation, sequencing, and molecular phylogenetic analyses. Details on how to apply can be found at http://facultyjobs.ua.edu/applicants/Central?quickFind=56942.

The NSF is advertising for a Program Director in Systematic Biology and Biodiversity Inventories. Salary is $US105,211.00 - $US163,957.00, deadline is 1 December 2010. The program director is "responsible for the planning and administration of the programs relevant to Systematic Biology and Biodiversity Inventories." For more details on this post visit http://jobview.usajobs.gov/GetJob.aspx?OPMControl=2049289&org=NSF.

Applications are invited for two- to four-year Postdoctoral Fellowship associated with a NSF supported Research Coordination Network (RCN) on the malaria parasites of vertebrates. The position involves basic research on some aspect of malaria parasites, including phylogenetics and systematics, and assistance in administrating the RCN. Qualifications for the position include: a Ph. D. in biology, genetics, parasitology, or related field; a published record of research accomplishment in one of the disciplines represented in the RCN; fluency in English; and familiarity with web applications. Salary: $40K USD; deadline December 1, 2010, or until position is filled.

This joint Wellcome Trust-EMBL-EBI advanced course aims to provide researchers with the theoretical knowledge and practical skills required to carry out molecular evolutionary analysis on their own data, as well as on data drawn from sequence databases. The course will combine basic assumptions and ideas fundamental to the field with discussion of cutting-edge methodologies, and is therefore relevant to researchers with a range of different experience levels.

For more details please visit http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/Education-resources/Courses-and-conferences/Advanced-Courses/Courses/WTX060194.htm. Deadline for applications is 26 November 2010

NESCent is now including graduate training in its portfolio, by offering one-semester fellowships for graduate students to pursue research with a NESCent sabbatical scholar, a NESCent postdoctoral scholar, or a NESCent Working Group. Deadlines are January 1 (for a fall semester fellowship) and July 1 (for a spring semester fellowship). For more information, please see our website at https://www.nescent.org/science/proposals.php.