1 PhD position in Neurobiology / Cell biology / Imaging / Biochemistry

Institute for Biochemistry I, UKJ – Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany
Head: Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Britta Qualmann

We seek for a productive addition to our team. Applicants should have solid theoretical and practical knowledge of cell/neurobiology, biochemistry, molecular biology and/or imaging techniques. Candidates need to be distinguished by high motivation to succeed in science and by being kind, efficient and reliable team‐players able to integrate into our international team smoothly. Knowledge of the German language is not required because of the internationality of our group and of the lively university town of Jena. Fluent English, however, is a prerequisite.

The aim of our internationally well‐known research team is to gain a molecular understanding of how the topologies and shapes of the plasma membrane, cellular compartments and entire cells that are required for their biological functions are brought about and how such membrane shaping processes contribute to development, plasticity and function of cells and cellular networks, such as those formed by neurons in the brain.
Please feel free to check out some examples of first‐author papers of PhD students in the lab for getting an overview over the topic and the methods we apply (Ahuja et al. 2007 Cell; Dharmalingam et al. 2009 J. Neurosci.; Koch et al. 2011 EMBO J.; Schwintzer et al. 2011 EMBO J.; Schneider et al. 2014 J. Cell Biol.; Hou et al. 2015 PLoS Biology; Seemann et al. 2017 eLIFE; Izadi et al. 2018 J. Cell Biol.; Hou et al. 2018. Dev. Cell).

Project:
The polar and extremely arborized morphologies that neurons develop are a prerequisite for signal processing in neuronal networks. Their development seems to be promoted by local Ca2+ signals and by actin filament formation. Actin nucleators represent prime targets for regulatory mechanisms, as F-actin assembly requires tight temporal and spatial control. Complex formation of actin cytoskeletal components with calmodulin repre¬sents a mechanism for interconnecting signalling processes to structural organization and plasticity in neurons. By applying biochemical and cell biological approaches we aim for defining the role of calcium/calmodulin regulation of cytoskeletal components in particular of actin nucleator machineries (Review: Izadi M. et al. 2018) in neuronal morphology control.

The position: 3 years TV-L E13 (salary for public service employees; i.e. 50% of postdoc salary).
The position is funded by the IZKF (3 years) ‐ if required, an elongation for finishing the PhD may be possible from other funding of the group.

For further information:
https://www.uniklinikum-jena.de/biochemie/en/Biochemistry+I/Job+offers.html