About Osnabrück University: Higher education began in Osnabrück in 1632, when the Gymnasium Carolinum was upgraded into a Jesuit university. Then the government of the state of Lower Saxony, Germany decided to set up a university in Osnabrück in 1970, and by 1973 had laid down the legal basis for such an institution. It opened officially in 1974, with the main building located in a baroque castle that was built in 1667, and was once the office to the Prince-Bishop of Osnabrück.
The project will study the role of metabolic and regulatory drivers of metabolic cross-feeding interactions in microbial communities: The Department of Ecology at the School of Biology/Chemistry is seeking to appoint 2 Research Assistants (m/f/d) (Salary grade E 13 TV-L, 65% and 50%) to commence work at the earliest possible date. Each position is limited for three years.
Your Duties:
Project A:
Participate in the DFG-funded research project (E13 TV-L, 65%):
“Metabolic trade-offs and regulatory changes as drivers of metabolic cross-feeding interactions in simple microbial communities”
- Perform coculture experiments with different bacterial strains
- Quantify amino acid production rates and perform metabolic flux analyses (isotopically-labelled substrates) using LC-MS/MS
- Analyse transcriptomes and proteomes of auxotrophic bacterial mutants
- Generate and characterize bacterial mutants
- Work together with collaboration partners in India (Sunil Laxman, inStem, Bangalore und Sandeep Krishna, National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore) and other group members
- The successful candidate will have the opportunity to work towards a PhD
Project B:
Participate in the DFG-funded research project (13 TV-L, 50%):
“Altruistic suicide in multicellular clusters of bacteria: causes and consequences“
- Perform coculture experiments with different bacterial strains
- Spatio-temporal analysis of the rate of cell death in multicellular aggregates of bacteria by using microfluidics and fluorescence microscopy
- Analyse transcriptomes and proteomes of auxotrophic bacterial mutants
- Generate and characterize bacterial mutants
- Work together with collaboration partners (Alexander Grünberger, Bielefeld University; Knut Drescher, University of Basel) and other group members
- The successful candidate will have the opportunity to work towards a PhD
Requirements:
- Completed degree (M.Sc. or comparable) in biology or a related field
- Solid practical experience in microbiological techniques and molecular biological methods
- Excellent command in written and spoken English
- Strong motivation and curiosity
- Ability to work in an interdisciplinary team
- Structured and independent way of working
- Experience in mass spectrometric methods (Project A)
- Working knowledge in using programming languages (e.g. Python) and experience in using high-resolution fluorescence microscopy (Project B)
Additional Qualifications:
- An excellent university degree
- Creative way of working
- Sound knowledge of ecological and evolutionary theory
- Knowledge of quantitative working methods and statistical analysis procedures
- Ability to develop and analyse theoretical models (metabolic modelling, population dynamics, individual-based models) is a plus
- Practical experience in the generation and analysis of transcriptomic and proteomic data (Project A)
We offer:
- An exciting and highly topical research project
- Collaboration with national and international partners and opportunity to spend time abroad
- Working in an interdisciplinary and international research team
- Participation in the excellent graduate education programs at Osnabrück University (ZePrOS, IRTG)
- Access to the state-of-the-art research infrastructure at the School of Biology/Chemistry (CellNanOs)
- Live and work in the vibrant and liveable city of Osnabrück
Osnabrück University is a family-friendly university and is committed to helping working/studying parents balance their family and working lives. Osnabrück University seeks to guarantee equality of opportunity for women and men and strives to correct any gender imbalance in its schools and departments. If two candidates are equally qualified, preference will be given to the candidate with disability status.
Please submit your application (including a letter of motivation, CV, copies of certificates) by February 10, 2023 as one PDF file via email to the Dean of the School of Biology/ Chemistry (Email: bewerb-bio@uni-osnabrueck.de). Please indicate in your cover letter for which of the two positions you are applying for (project A (65% position) or project B (50% position)).
Please contact Prof. Dr. Christian Kost (email: christian.kost@uni-osnabrueck.de. We are very much looking forward to receiving your application.