Laboratory Assistant at UPSC

Department of Forest Genetics and Plant Physiology

The Department of forest genetics and plant physiology is part of Umeå Plant Science Centre (UPSC, https://www.upsc.se) which is a centre of excellence for experimental plant research and forest biotechnology in Northern Sweden. Our mission is to perform excellent and innovative basic research and generate knowledge that benefits forestry, agriculture, environment and society. We work across a wide range of disciplines in plant science reaching from cell biology to ecophysiology and from basic research to industrial applications. Our common goal is to understand the plants’ ability to grow, adapt and acclimate to a changing world and how we can breed better plants.

About the position

Comparative co-expression analysis of abiotic stress.
We are looking for someone who wants to work on a project aiming to identify conserved regulators of abiotic stress response in conifers.

Your responsibilities will include analysis and interpretation of RNA-Seq data profiling cold and drought stress in Norway spruce and Scots pine and comparative co-expression analysis of the data. The work requires advanced skills in data science and visual representation of complex, large-scale datasets.

Your profile

You must hold a Master’s degree in molecular biology, bioinformatics, plant science or similar. You must have existing bioinformatics skills, including experience in running comparative co-expression anlaysis approaches, the use of pseudo-alignment to quantify RNA-Seq data, knowledge of Norway spruce and Scots pine genomics and strong competence in running bioinformatics pipelines including next-flow and expertise in python and R, including the DESeq2 packages and advanceed skills in producing graphics using ggplot, and general familiarity with bioconductor and working using tidyverse. You must have good knowledge of English, both spoken and written.

About us

UPSC belongs to two universities, the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and Umeå University. About 200 people from more than 40 different nationalities work here. We host some 30 principal investigators, and our researchers have access to state-of-the-art analytical platforms, unique tree germplasm resources and plant growth facilities. We strive for a collaborative work environment and support our scientists throughout all career stages by providing professional training opportunities and individual career mentoring.

Read more about our benefits and working at SLU by visiting: https://www.slu.se/en/about-slu/work-at-slu/

Location:

Department of Forest Genetics and Plant Physiology, SLU, Umeå.

Form of employment:

Fixed-term employment 3 months.

Scope:

100%

Start date:

7 November 2025 or as agreed. 

Application:

Please submit your application before deadline 4 Nov 2025. You can submit your application by clicking the button below.

Union representatives:

https://internt.slu.se/en/my-employment/employee-associations/kontaktpersoner-vid-rekrytering/

 

The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) has a key role in the development for sustainable life, based on science and education. Through our focus on the interaction between humans, animals and ecosystems and the responsible use of natural resources, we contribute to sustainable societal development and good living conditions on our planet. Our main campuses are located in Alnarp, Umeå and Uppsala, however, the university also operates at research stations, experimental forests and teaching sites throughout Sweden. SLU has around 3,000 employees, 5,000 students and doctoral students and a turnover of over SEK 3 billion. We are investing in attractive environments on all of our campuses. We strive to provide a work environment characterised by inclusivity and gender equality, where different experiences generate conversations between people and pave the way for science, creativity and development. Therefore, we welcome applications from people with diverse backgrounds and perspectives.