Research projects for students

We regularly have projects on virus ecology and evolution for bachelor or master students to participate in.
If you are interested in joining the group, you can directly contact Sebastian Lequime with your CV and motivation to explore possibilities.
Here are some available projects:

Endogenous viral elements in marine mammals
This project aims to explore the presence of endogenous viral elements derived both from RNA and single-stranded DNA viruses in the publicly available genomes of marine mammals, such as cetaceans, sea cows, seals, walruses, or otters. These results will shed light on past interaction between these animals’ evolutionary history and viruses, as well as giving insights into viral genetic diversity.
Requirements: basic knowledge in phylogenetics, interest in learning basic bioinformatics (previous knowledge is a plus).

Global screening of insect-specific viruses
This project aims to explore the distribution and prevalence of ISVs on a global level. For this, the student will perform a bioinformatical analysis, which will include screening publicly available mosquito high-throughput sequencing datasets for ISVs found in the international Sequence Read Archive. Further on, as there is currently no information on the ISV prevalence in the Netherlands, the student will also screen local mosquito species in the province Groningen.
Requirements: basic knowledge in molecular biology techniques; interest in learning basic bioinformatics (previous knowledge is a plus).