Neurophysiology/structural biology/microbiology PhD project: Bacterial infections targeting synaptic adhesion molecules: effects of bacterial adhesin binding to adhesive components of photoreceptor/retinal synapses

We are looking to recruit a highly motivated PhD student for a joint research project between the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS, Saarbrücken, Germany – a branch of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research) and Saarland Medical University (UKS, Homburg, Germany).

The project on bacterial adhesins binding to neuronal structures is highly interdisciplinary and ranges from molecular microbiology/structural biology to neurophysiology and will include bacterial and mammalian protein expression, crystallization studies, synaptic physiology using genetically engineered reporter mice, Ca2+ imaging, cell wall associated proteome studies, and different adhesion assays including single molecule force spectroscopy.

Further information on the three research groups of

Prof. Dr. Schmitz (https://www.uniklinikum-saarland.de/einrichtungen/fachrichtungen/anatomi…)

Prof. Dr. Köhnke (https://www.helmholtz-hzi.de/koehnke), and

Prof. Dr. Bischoff (https://www.uniklinikum-saarland.de/einrichtungen/kliniken_institute/inf…)

can be found online.

Prerequisite:

The ideal candidate has a MSc degree in Biology (or related) with previous MSc thesis research expertise in neurophysiology, structure biology, and/or microbiology. Willingness to routinely work under biosafety level S2 and with mice is essential.