The Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology – Hans Knöll Institute – (HKI) investigates the pathobiology of human-pathogenic fungi and identifies targets for the development of novel natural product-based antibiotics. The Marie Skłodowska Curie Innovative Training Network (ITN) BestTreat is seeking highly motivated and qualified Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) for obtaining a PhD degree in the fields of metabolism, endocrinology, physiology, biochemistry, computational & systems biology, microbiology and bioengineering. The Systems Biology & Bioinformatics (SBI) group of the Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology (Germany) is coordinating the BestTreat network that consists of 7 academic and 7 industrial partners from Germany, Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Austria. The SBI group will recruit 3 Doctoral Researchers (m/f) for the combined analysis of a large number of multi-meta-omic datasets for modelling the association of gut microbial communities and clinical phenotypes. A cutting-edge Training Program for young scientists has been developed including secondments within the industrial partners of the Network. Starting date of the positions is 1st of November 2018 or soon after. The positions are for 36 months.

Project description

The development of next-generation sequencing that enables obtaining thousands to millions of reads per run at affordable costs for the scientific community, has revolutionized the field of medical microbiology. By assessing much deeper layers of microbial communities researchers were able to explore in detail both “who’s there?” and “what are they doing?” and develop models that describe the interplay of hosts, commensal microbes and diseases. Since tools and statistical methodologies are becoming faster and more specialized for complex microbial communities we expect that soon metagenomics will allow a full characterization of the community that will subsequently shift the focus from descriptive to mechanistic modeling of the host-microbiome interactome. The primary goals of our group are to: (i) create spatially and temporally resolved maps of the microbial world of the human, built and natural environment, (ii) develop a roadmap for discovering how microbes travel between different parts in the body and between various environments we come into contact every day, and (iii) harness this knowledge to explain the rise of diseases in urbanized parts of the world.

Your profile:

• a strong interest in conducting collaborative research on the topic outlined above is paramount. Candidates are expected to be interested in working at the boundaries of several research domains
• MSc degree in Systems Biology, Computational Biology, Bioinformatics, Biophysics, Computer Science or a related discipline
• knowledge and experience in the analysis of biological high-throughput data
• knowledge in statistical methods in the context of biological systems
• experience with programming (Python, Perl, C++, R)
• well-developed collaborative skills

We offer:

The successful candidates will receive an attractive salary in accordance with the MSCA regulations for Early Stage Researchers http://ec.europa.eu/research/mariecurieactions. The salary includes a living allowance, a mobility allowance and a family allowance. The guaranteed PhD funding is for 36 months full-time. In addition to their individual scientific projects, all fellows will benefit from internships and secondments, a variety of training modules as well as transferable skills courses and active participation in workshops and conferences.

The successful candidates will be hosted at the SBI group of Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology, Hans Knoell Institute. We offer an international and multi-disciplinary environment with the required qualifications and a strong expertise in the proposed research field. Currently the group consists of >15 members at different levels of seniority; Post-doctoral scientists, PhD students, master students, scientific co-workers. More information for the research output of the group in the field of systems biology can be found here: http://www.leibniz-hki.de/en/systembiologie-und-bioinformatik.html

Further information:

Dr. Gianni Panagiotou | +49 3641 532 1759 | career@leibniz-hki.de
Complete applications in English should include a CV, certificates, transcripts, a brief statement of research experiences and interests, brief summary of Master’s thesis and the contact details of two possible referees, and should be submitted by September 13, 2018 via https://jobs.hki-jena.de/jobs/Doctoral-Researcher-mf-Systems-Biology-eng-j162.html