The work is part of the AMMOFIT project. The place of work is the Thünen Institute in Braunschweig, Germany.
The Thünen Institute is a German research institution linked to the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture. The Institute pursues research for safeguarding and sustainably using natural resources and providing results for political decision-making. The Institute of Biodiversity investigates biological processes in agro-ecosystems. The position is within the working group "Microbiology and Molecular Ecology” headed by Prof. Christoph Tebbe.
The AMMOFIT project is a cooperation of the Thünen Institute with the University of Applied Science and Art (HAWK) in Göttingen, Germany. The efficiency of agricultural biogas production of organic waste is low in presence of high nitrogen loads. The objective of this project is to select and optimize this process by taking advantage of ammonium tolerant microbial communities and optimize their incubation conditions. The implications of different incubation conditions and adaptation strategies on the structural and functional diversity of the evolving microbiomes will be analyzed by cultivation-independent, nucleic acid-based technologies utilizing experimental biogas reactors.
The position includes the following tasks:
- Extraction of nucleic acids (DNA, RNA) from samples collected from biogas reactors and enrichment cultures for the analyses of microbiomes utilizing quantitative (RT-)PCR and high throughput DNA sequencing
- Preparation of PCR products for high-throughput DNA sequencing
- Characterization of the structural and functional diversity of microbial communities from biogas reactors and enrichment cultures utilizing bioinformatic analyses
- Application of multivariate statistical tools and network analyses to reveal potential patterns of interactions and their most important modulating factors
- Preparation of reports and presentations of own research results at internal and external meetings as well as national and international conferences
- Preparation of manuscripts for publication of own research results in peer-reviewed international journals
Required qualifications:
- A PhD or equivalent in Biology or similar disciplines demonstrating the capacity to successfully conduct research, as also documented by publications in peer-reviewed international scientific journals
- Excellent knowledge in one of the following fields: Microbial ecology, agricultural biotechnology, bioinformatics, population biology, omics-technologies
- Great interest in molecular ecology and evolution
- Excellent knowledge in utilizing bioinformatic methods for the analyses of DNA-sequences
- Knowledge of statistical data analysis using R
- Independent working ability, high organizational talent, strong cooperation capacity
- Very good communication skills
- Very good knowledge of spoken and written English
We offer the opportunity to work in an active and stimulating research environment on socially highly relevant issues at the interface between science and practice, and to make use of contacts with national research institutions. Because the professional and personal development of our employees is important to us, we offer a family-friendly work environment, flexible working time models and comprehensive offers of professional training and further education.
The employment is within the context of the regulation of the collective agreement for the civil service (TVöD, up to salary group 13).
The Thünen Institute promotes the professional equality of women and men and therefore welcomes the application of women. Handicapped people are given special consideration if they are equally fit for work; from them, a minimum of physical fitness is required. For further information you may contact Prof. Dr. Christoph Tebbe (phone +49 531-596-2553; christoph.tebbe@thuenen.de). Applications with a curriculum vitae in tabular form, presentation of training and professional development, addresses for two references as well as copies of certificates should be submitted combined into a single (!) pdf-file to bd@thuenen.de until May 10, 2020, quoting code number 2020-072-BD.
Please also visit the official job announcement at the website www.thuenen.de for some more details.