PhD-Student (m/f) Microbial community dynamics in biogas reactors working time: 50% (19,5 hours per week), limited to 3 years

1. The Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) with its 1,100 employees has
gained an excellent reputation as an international competence centre for environmental
sciences. We are part of the largest scientific organisation in Germany, the Helmholtz
community. Our mission: Our research seeks to find a balance between social
development and the long-term protection of our natural resources.
Your application:
Equal opportunities are an integral part of our
personnel policy, we therefore particularly
welcome applications from qualified women.
Severely disabled persons are given priority
where applicants are equally qualified.
Your contact for any questions you may have
about the job:
Florian Centler
florian.centler@ufz.de
Place of work: Leipzig
Closing date for applications: March the 15th of
2015
Please use our online application system for
your application:
www.ufz.de/career
Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research
GmbH – UFZ
Permoserstraße 15
04318 Leipzig
To join the just started junior research group “McBiogas – Metabolism-centered
predictive modeling of anaerobic digestion for biogas production” in the
Department of Environmental Microbiology, we are looking for the setup,
operation, and monitoring of lab-scale biogas reactors and their microbial
communities for an enthusiastic and committed
PhD-Student (m/f)
Microbial community dynamics in biogas reactors
working time: 50% (19,5 hours per week), limited to 3 years
Your duties:
 Setup and operation of lab-scale biogas reactors
 Process analytics (incl. GC and HPLC)
 Characterisation of microbial reactor communities and their dynamics by
Amplicon-Sequencing, T-RFLP fingerprinting, and Flow cytometry
 Development and application of microcalorimetric methods
 Supervision of master students
Your profile:
 Applicants must hold a Master degree in biotechnology, biochemistry,
biology or a related field
 The ideal candidate has a background in the microbiology of anaerobic
digestion and experience in anaerobic cultivation techniques,
biomolecular methods, and bioprocess-engineering
 Ability to communicate in an inter-disciplinary team
We offer:
 Scientific training in a stimulating environment with local, national and
international collaborations
 The freedom you need to bridge the difficult gap between high-level
basic research and application-oriented research & development
 Work in an interdisciplinary, multinational team
 Excellent links with national and international research networks
 Excellent support and optimal subject-specific and general training with
UFZ’s HIGRADE graduate school
 Remuneration in accordance with the TVöD public-sector pay grade 13
including attractive public-sector social security benefits