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Tom Thirkell

@tomthirkell.bsky.social

Mostly mycorrhizas - Crop Science Centre, Cambridge. Trying to get crops and soil microbes to play nice. And highly questionable outings of every other kind.

450 Followers  |  1,492 Following  |  5 Posts  |  Joined: 24.01.2024  |  1.9022

Latest posts by tomthirkell.bsky.social on Bluesky

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We are searching for a 4- year postdoctoral fellow to work us on Microbial Ecology and Crop Disease Management.

More details below. The position will start next year.

Please circulate and repost.

jobs.smartrecruiters.com/WesternSydne...

02.10.2025 04:32 β€” πŸ‘ 20    πŸ” 22    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1

Does anyone have any good resources (or their own examples) for how to make a good scientific poster to share with students.

Please RT!

20.09.2025 17:38 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 6    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0
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ICOM 2026 Visit the post for more.

Get ready for Cairns! ICOM2026 (formally known as ICOM13) is now online. I’ll be there next year and I hope you’ll join us! (I’ve already planned my post-conference bike tour…in Samoa!). πŸ„πŸš²πŸŒŠ

icom2026.org

11.07.2025 02:00 β€” πŸ‘ 8    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0
APART-USA Stipendien & Preise der Γ–sterreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften

Are you in the USA, interesting in greater stability, and looking for a postdoc with excellent funding? Write me to discuss this opportunity to come to Austria under the APART-USA program from the Austrian Academy of Sciences and Uni Wien.

stipendien.oeaw.ac.at/en/fellowshi...

10.07.2025 08:02 β€” πŸ‘ 10    πŸ” 6    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
The effects of drought on Sphagnum moss species and the implications for hydrology in peatlands You have to enable JavaScript in your browser's settings in order to use the eReader.

Tansley Review now out @newphyt.bsky.social nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.... big team effort involving @garethclay.bsky.social @jpritson.bsky.social @em-shuttleworth.bsky.social @queenofpeat.bsky.social @peatofmind.bsky.social @mercury-ecohydro.bsky.social @adamjohnst.bsky.social (1/2)

07.07.2025 13:17 β€” πŸ‘ 11    πŸ” 6    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Hearing a lot about #intercropping - and its benefits - in this session at #rhizosphere6! Does anyone have some numbers on how widespread intercropping is in intensive agriculture? Or why it might not be utilized so much in practice?

19.06.2025 09:30 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 0
Research Assistant / Research Associate (Fixed Term) - Job Opportunities - University of Cambridge Research Assistant / Research Associate (Fixed Term) in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Cambridge.

A three year postdoctoral position is available in my group, investigating plant centromere structure, function and evolution @camplantsci.bsky.social
www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/51488/

30.05.2025 12:13 β€” πŸ‘ 50    πŸ” 60    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Research Fellow in Plant Evolutionary Ecology (postdoc) We are looking for a 2-year postdoctoral research fellow within the European Research Council project PlantSoilAdapt - β€œEco-evolutionary dynamics in plant-soil interactions during land use transition:...

We are looking for a research fellow to join our group for 2 years! Please share with anyone looking for a new position and interested in 🌱 local adaptation, plant-soil interactions and land use! euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/340833

08.05.2025 07:13 β€” πŸ‘ 8    πŸ” 14    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 2
Research Assistant / Research Associate (Fixed Term) - Job Opportunities - University of Cambridge Research Assistant / Research Associate (Fixed Term) in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Cambridge.

Join our group (www.luginbuehllab.com) at @camplantsci.bsky.social! Are you excited about mycorrhiza, (single-cell) transcriptomics, carbon physiology, and the model crop rice? We have a 2-year postdoc position available, starting ASAP. Closing date 23rd May 2025!

www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/51214/

04.05.2025 11:13 β€” πŸ‘ 26    πŸ” 25    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 4
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Optimising wheat-fungal symbioses for enhanced nutrition and sustainability at University of Sheffield on FindAPhD.com PhD Project - Optimising wheat-fungal symbioses for enhanced nutrition and sustainability at University of Sheffield, listed on FindAPhD.com

I'm looking for a mycorrhiza-motivated PhD student to start this project, fully funded by a Rank Prize Lord Selborne Scholarship, in October 2025 - please contact me via email for more information and forward on to potentially interested people... www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

18.04.2025 19:27 β€” πŸ‘ 19    πŸ” 26    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Research Assistant / Research Associate (Fixed Term) - Job Opportunities - University of Cambridge Research Assistant / Research Associate (Fixed Term) in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Cambridge.

We are advertising a new postdoctoral position in my group. 3 years of funding to work on a moonshot synthetic biology project funded by the Advanced Research + Innovation Agency (ARIA). Please apply and please RP! www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/50801/ @camplantsci.bsky.social

08.04.2025 07:26 β€” πŸ‘ 20    πŸ” 27    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1
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Plz Repost. We @slcuplants.bsky.social @uniofcam.bsky.social are looking for a postdoc with proven protein biochemistry & cell biology expertise & strong interest in plant processes targeted by Phytophthora effectors. (apply before 2 April) [Image: Alex Guyon]

www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/50570/

05.03.2025 15:56 β€” πŸ‘ 44    πŸ” 74    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 6

Exciting #FossilFriday as our preprint on @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social was picked up by @newscientist.com!

You can read the prepint here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

21.03.2025 18:18 β€” πŸ‘ 137    πŸ” 60    πŸ’¬ 5    πŸ“Œ 7
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Academic mentees thrive in big groups, but survive in small groups - Nature Human Behaviour Using longitudinal genealogical data on mentor–mentee relations and their publications, the authors find that mentees trained in larger groups tend to exhibit superior academic performance compared wi...

Lower survival rate among trainees in labs with highly productive mentors raises important concerns about what we value in academia. Many interesting things to stew over with this paper!

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

18.03.2025 11:39 β€” πŸ‘ 144    πŸ” 70    πŸ’¬ 4    πŸ“Œ 5
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A fungal sRNA silences a host plant transcription factor to promote arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis Cross-kingdom RNA interference (ckRNAi) is a mechanism of interspecies communication where small RNAs (sRNAs) are transported from one organism to another; these sRNAs silence target genes in trans ...

A must read for AM symbiosis afficionados
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

24.02.2025 01:23 β€” πŸ‘ 45    πŸ” 17    πŸ’¬ 4    πŸ“Œ 0
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Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal genotype and nuclear organization as driving factors in host plant nutrient acquisition and stable carbon storage It is crucial to develop strategies for reducing our continued excessive global increases in fertilizer applications and to offset CO2 emissions. The pervasive underground hyphal networks of arbuscul...

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal genotype and nuclear organization as driving factors in host plant nutrient acquisition and stable carbon storage

nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

14.02.2025 07:23 β€” πŸ‘ 12    πŸ” 5    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Rhizosphere 6 - Rooting for Earth Welcome to Rhizosphere 6 We are looking forward to welcoming the global rhizosphere research community to Edinburgh for Rhizosphere 6 in June 2025. The meeting will foster exchange, interaction and ...

❗️The abstract submission and registration for Rhizosphere 6 is now open! 🌾🌿
www.rhizo6.org/home
please join us in Edinburgh next year for what should be an exciting meeting.
@hutton.ac.uk
#rhizosphere6

09.12.2024 16:03 β€” πŸ‘ 25    πŸ” 28    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 1

Does anyone have experience with low-input high-throughput (96 well plate) RNAseq library preparation from plants (bonus points if it is with plant roots...)

03.02.2025 19:56 β€” πŸ‘ 7    πŸ” 15    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Hi Bala, add me please! πŸ™

03.02.2025 05:21 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Plant roots sense soil compaction through restricted ethylene diffusion Compacted soil restrains diffusion of the volatile plant hormone ethylene, increasing its signal strength and restricting root growth.

Welcome @bipinpandey.bsky.social to Bluesky! Check out his amazing #plantscience work on soil compaction 🌱

www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1...

27.01.2025 20:51 β€” πŸ‘ 46    πŸ” 15    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Post-Doc position for 3 years available jointly between University of Tartu (Estonia) and University of Aarhus (Denmark) on soil microbiome and biogeography. Skills required: bioinformatics, metagenome analysis, microbiology
Contact: leho.tedersoo@ut.ee

23.01.2025 06:54 β€” πŸ‘ 54    πŸ” 38    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Research Laboratory Technician - Job Opportunities - University of Cambridge Research Laboratory Technician in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Cambridge.

We have a research laboratory technician post available in my group - the role will support plant work, and molecular biology, associated with our research on centromeres.
www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/47342/

20.01.2025 13:57 β€” πŸ‘ 28    πŸ” 28    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Thanks Matthias!

30.11.2024 20:42 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Add me too please!

30.11.2024 16:31 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Royal Society Publishing Early Career Researcher Advisory Panel | Royal Society Are you interested in shaping the future of scientific communication? Apply to join our new ECR Advisory Panel.

πŸ“’Are you an early career researcher, interested in how science is communicated, reported, & the evolution of the scientific ecosystem? Applications are open for the Royal Society Publishing Early Career Researcher Advisory Panel.

Find out more: ow.ly/MaTk50U71W3 #ECRs

Please repost!

22.11.2024 12:18 β€” πŸ‘ 43    πŸ” 46    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 1
Postdoctoral Research Associate (Fixed Term) - Job Opportunities - University of Cambridge Postdoctoral Research Associate (Fixed Term) in the Department of Zoology at the University of Cambridge.

Excited to share a new opportunity in my new lab at Cambridge!

We are looking for a highly motivated, early-career, postdoctoral scientist to be part of a growing effort in #connectivity conservation.

3-yr position housed in the Cambridge Conservation Initiative!

www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/49330/

29.11.2024 12:50 β€” πŸ‘ 82    πŸ” 62    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 4

Take a look at this excellent array of PhD projects in plant and soil science that are nowopen for applications! Please share with potential students 🀩

29.11.2024 15:42 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 8    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Can I be added too please? πŸ™

24.11.2024 16:54 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Can I be added too please? πŸ™

24.11.2024 16:54 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

I've got 5-6 months money for a Postdoc ecological modeller, linking mathematical (translated via statistical) models to insect lab popn. time-series data; starts Jan 2025.
Must be UK-based (not cost/time effective for applicants to get such a short-term visa πŸ˜”).
Please contact me if interested!
🌍πŸ§ͺ

20.11.2024 14:53 β€” πŸ‘ 25    πŸ” 31    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

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