Projects offered within the Recruitment Call 2022/01
We are curently offering several doctoral and postdoctoral researcher positions. We are seeking motivated and engaging candidates who strive to collaborate widely and look beyond traditional disciplines to further our mission.
Application deadline: 21 February 2022
Applications for these positions are accepted via the JSMC Online Application Portal: apply.jsmc.uni-jena.de
Doctoral Projects
Genomics of Virus-Host Interaction
Microverse Doctoral Researcher Project No: 10/2022
Over the past decade, viromics has revealed an unprecedented diversity of viruses in many biomes. Each virus specialises in infecting specific hosts. In response, micro-organisms have evolved a wide array of resistance mechanisms. The virus-host interface is a fascinating evolutionary hotspot that has led to a plethora of genetic and molecular innovations. Using model organisms and cutting-edge experimental and computational tools, you will characterize these mechanisms, investigate the evolutionary processes that led to their emergence, and measure their activity in diverse biomes. Do you want to contribute to the future of viral ecology research? Join our team!
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Bas Dutilh
Molecular communication involving membranes and lipid rafts in infection biology
Microverse Doctoral Researcher Project No: 23/2021
In this project, we will address two important aspects of intercellular communication in particular with emphasis on infection biology of fungi: 1) the importance of lipid rafts for signal perception from outside and signal transduction within a cell (e.g. Schmidt et al. 2020 Cell Reports); and 2) the analysis of changes in membrane fluidity and lipid raft composition by super-resolution and spectral imaging during communication processes. This project will collaborate with researchers from the project Microverse PhD 22/2021.
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Axel Brakhage
Natural products shaping microbial communication (RaMiCo)
Microverse Doctoral Researcher Project No: 26/2021
The aim of this project is to characterize and detect with sophisticated optical methods natural products that are important molecules for communication between microorganisms and shaping of microbial consortia (microbiomes). At the same time many of them are important dugs like antibiotics. In the project the doctoral researcher will collaborate with an expert on optical technologies in particular on Raman spectroscopy (project Microverse PhD 27/2021).
PhD Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Axel Brakhage
Postdoctoral Projects
High-throughput Microbial Ecology
Microverse Postdoctoral Researcher Project No: 11/2022
In Microbial Ecology, some processes are best described by stochastic models, while others are highly deterministic. Adressing the fundamental question, which microbial ecology processes are stochastic or deterministic, is critical to predictively model microbiome dynamics, understand why and how microbial communities adapt to different environments, and design interventions for remediation of diseased plants and animals or restoration of polluted sites. To address this question, we are looking for a postdoctoral fellow to set up a new research line “High-throughput Microbial Ecology” within the new Viral Ecology and Omics Group of Prof. Bas E. Dutilh at the Microverse Cluster in Jena.
Supervisors: Prof. Dr. Bas Dutilh
Innate Immunity
Microverse Postdoctoral Researcher Project No: GWP 01/2022
A postdoctoral position is available to study host-microbe interactions focusing on extracellular vesicles, innate immunity, and inflammasomes in the context of infectious and inflammatory diseases including sepsis. This two-year postdoctoral position is jointly supervised by Vijay Rathinam (UConn Health) and Michael Bauer (Jena University Hospital). Most of the postdoctoral research will be conducted in Dr. Rathinam’s lab at UConn Health and some in Jena.
Supervisors: Dr. Vijay Rathinam, Prof. Dr. Michael Bauer