About the Project
Keywords: molecular genetics, statistical physics, aging, transcriptomics, stochastic processes, biodemography, graph theory, reliability engineering, high throughput imaging.
Aging involves a set of physiologic changes that accumulate throughout life. The nature and magnitude of these changes vary between individuals, producing substantial variation in the timing of death even within genetically homogeneous populations. As a result, contemporary experimental biologists wrestle with conceptual questions foundational to the disciplines of thermodynamics and statistical physicists. How can we best relate microscopic changes (such as changes to DNA, cells, and tissues) to shifts in macroscopic properties (such as stress resistance, athletic performance, and lifespan)? How does physiologic variation between individuals (at the molecular and cellular level) determine demographic quantities such as the lifespan distribution and the relative prevalence of different diseases? Our young, interdisciplinary research group at the CRG weds concepts and approaches from physics like ergodicity, separation of timescales, and coarse-graining with modern molecular genetic experimental techniques, seeking to unravel the complex physiologic dynamics of aging.
Notably, the recent discovery of temporal scaling in the lifespan distribution of C. elegans nematodes ( https://goo.gl/KA3Ngz ) provides a invariant property of aging systems that we can leverage to explore the relationship between molecular, systems, and population-level aging phenotypes. Our new technology, the Lifespan Machine ( http://goo.gl/qyNnbo ) supports classical genetic screening techniques for novel classes of genetic contributors to aging.
Applicants must have obtained a University Degree and a Masters Degree in a field of life sciences, engineering and/or physics within the European Higher Education System (minimum 300 ECTS) .
Applications must be submitted online. Candidates must register in order to use the online application system.
Should you have specific questions on the scientific project, please contact [Email Address Removed] before submitting your application.
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