- work environment: The DIADE (Diversity, Adaptation and Development of Plants) research unit at the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD) in Montpellier, in collaboration with the University of Montpellier, is offering a three-year PhD position on the molecular basis of pearl millet adaptation to drought stress.

The project will combine natural variation resources with genomics analyses (DNA methylation, cistrome analysis) in order to identify non-coding variants underlying stress resilience and to identify target variants for genome editing and smart breeding. 

The DIADE research unit offers a dynamic interdisciplinary work atmosphere where excellent training for all parts of the project will be provided. The project will further benefit from national and internal collaborations and technical/greenhouse support from the IRD.

- main mission: 

Identification and characterisation of stress related cis-regulatory regions in pearl millet

- activities: 

- Whole genome sequencing of a collection of pearl millet

- DNA methylation analysis in a collection of pearl millet

- Plant cultivation and phenotyping

- Molecular biology work (e.g. cistrome analysis and preparation of NGS libraries)

- Data analysis of NGS data (transcription factor binding, DNA methylation, RNA-seq, pangenomics)

- Development of custom bioinformatic analysis pipelines 

The gross salary is €2,200 month

Contract duration: 3 years

Contract date from 01/11/2025 to 31/10/2028