Stellenticket Freie Universität Berlin

Chem­ical Eco­logy

The Inter­na­tional Max Planck Research School (IMPRS) "The Explor­a­tion of Eco­lo­gical Inter­ac­tions with Molecu­lar and Chem­ical Tech­niques" in Jena, Ger­many, invites applic­a­tions for 5 PhD pos­i­tions begin­ning in Septem­ber 2021 – Janu­ary 2022. The over­arch­ing research topic is the use of molecu­lar, chem­ical and neuro­bi­o­lo­gical tech­niques to exper­i­ment­ally explore eco­lo­gical inter­ac­tions under nat­ural con­di­tions. The main focus is on the rela­tion­ship between plants, microbes and herb­i­vores, and their envir­on­ment, as well as the evol­u­tion­ary and beha­vi­oral con­sequences of these inter­ac­tions. We offer 5 excit­ing pro­jects focus­ing on dif­fer­ent organ­isms and approaches. The com­plete list of pro­jects offered includ­ing pro­ject descrip­tions is avail­able on our web­site (http://imprs.ice.mpg.de/ext/index.php?id=420#header_logo).

We are look­ing for enthu­si­astic PhD stu­dents with strong interests in the above-described cent­ral topic. Applic­ants should have or be about to obtain a Mas­ters or equi­val­ent degree in one of the fol­low­ing fields: ento­mo­logy, neuro­bi­o­logy, molecu­lar bio­logy, bio­chem­istry, ana­lyt­ical chem­istry, plant physiology, genet­ics, eco­logy, evol­u­tion­ary bio­logy, bioin­form­at­ics, and math­em­at­ics and com­puter sci­ence. All our pro­jects are highly integ­rat­ive and require will­ing­ness to closely col­lab­or­ate with research­ers of dif­fer­ent back­grounds.

The Research School is a joint ini­ti­at­ive of the Max Planck Insti­tute for Chem­ical Eco­logy and the Friedrich Schiller Uni­versity.

We offer state-of-the art equip­ment, an excel­lent research envir­on­ment, super­vi­sion by a thesis com­mit­tee and a struc­tured train­ing pro­gram includ­ing sci­entific courses, train­ing in trans­fer­able and out­reach skills and par­ti­cip­a­tion in research sym­po­sia. Suc­cess­ful can­did­ates will receive a Max Planck sup­port con­tract. There are no tuition fees and the work­ing lan­guage is Eng­lish.

Pro­jects offered in 2021
Please find below a list of pro­jects we offer for this year's recruit­ment. All pro­jects are highly integ­rat­ive and require the col­lab­or­a­tion between dif­fer­ent research groups. Applic­ants can identify up to three pro­jects of interest.

Pro­ject 1: Mon­it­or­ing the rhizo­sphere via the integ­rity of the cell wall
Super­visors: Prof. Dr. Ralf Oelmüller, Plant Physiology, Mat­thias Schleiden Insti­tute, Friedrich Schiller Uni­versity Jena, Priv. Doz. Dr. Axel Mithöfer, Depart­ment of Bioor­ganic Chem­istry, Max Planck Insti­tute for Chem­ical Eco­logy, Jena

Pro­ject 2: The con­tri­bu­tion of micro­bi­ome com­munit­ies in the gut of the mealybug Pseudo­coc­cus jack­beard­s­leyi to the detox­i­fic­a­tion of cocaine and other tro­pane alkal­oids
Super­visors: Dr. John D'Auria, Leib­niz Insti­tute for Plant Genet­ics and Crop Plant Research (IPK), Gatersleben, Prof. Dr. Jonathan Ger­shen­zon, Depart­ment of Bio­chem­istry, Max Planck Insti­tute for Chem­ical Eco­logy, Jena

Pro­ject 3: The effect of cli­mate-rel­ev­ant tem­per­at­ure shifts on leaf micro­bi­ota col­on­iz­a­tion
Super­visors: Dr. Matt Agler, Plant Micro­bi­osis, Friedrich Schiller Uni­versity Jena, Prof. Dr. Jonathan Ger­shen­zon, Depart­ment of Bio­chem­istry, Max Planck Insti­tute for Chem­ical Eco­logy, Jena

Pro­ject 4: Meta­bolic host-sym­biont integ­ra­tion in a cuticle sup­ple­ment­ing sym­bi­osis
Super­visors: Dr. Tobias Engl, Depart­ment of Insect Sym­bi­osis, Max Planck Insti­tute for Chem­ical Eco­logy, Jena, Prof. Dr. Mar­tin Kal­ten­poth, Depart­ment of Insect Sym­bi­osis, Max Planck Insti­tute for Chem­ical Eco­logy, Jena

Pro­ject 5: Loc­al­iz­a­tion and logist­ics of alkal­oids bio­syn­thesis in medi­cinal plants using single cell meta­bolo­m­ics and tran­scrip­tom­ics
Super­visors: Prof. Dr. Sarah O'Con­nor, Depart­ment of Nat­ural Product Bio­chem­istry, Max Planck Insti­tute for Chem­ical Eco­logy, Jena, Dr. Lorenzo Cap­uti, Depart­ment of Nat­ural Product Bio­chem­istry, Max Planck Insti­tute for Chem­ical Eco­logy

Please apply online at: https://imprs-reg.ice.mpg.de/ until May 14, 2021.

For detailed inform­a­tion on the IMPRS, pro­jects offered and applic­a­tion require­ments, please visit our web­site: http://imprs.ice.mpg.de/.