IT Administrator / Scientific Programmer
The post-holder will be responsible for installation, maintenance and administration of the IT infrastructure of the research group ‘Quantitative and Theoretical Biology’. The tasks include planning the infrastructure, installation and configuration of Linux operating systems, installation and configuration of software. The successful candidate will also support the research group by the development scientific software and user-friendly interfaces to software developed in-house.
The position is offered in the context of the German Excellence Initiative which promotes outstanding research at German universities. CEPLAS is a joint effort of University of Cologne, HHU Düsseldorf, Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research and Forschungszentrum Jülich. Researchers of these institutions are pursuing inventive strategies for sustainable plant production (www.ceplas.eu).
Job description: The successful candidate will work in the research group ‘Quantitative and Theoretical Biology’ (75%) and the ‘Centre for Advanced Imaging’ (25%). A central task is to administer and maintain the computing infrastructures. This involves communication with the central computing facility at HHU, regular installation of security updates, purchasing new hardware and software, overseeing functionality of the internal communication tools (slack, Wiki, etc.) and in general staying in close with the group members and discuss their specific computational requirements.
Your profile:
Experience in IT-Administration (Hard- and software)
Experience in the Administration of Unix/Linux operating systems
Knowledge in IT security
Programming skills (e.g. Python, C++, Julia, etc.)
Reliability and Responsibility
Good communication skills in German and English
Payment is according to the German civil servant payscale TV-L E11. The position is permanent.
Applications from disabled persons are welcome. Disabled persons with equal qualifications will be given priority. Applications from women are expressly welcome. Women with comparable qualifications will receive particular consideration, unless another applicant displays compelling reasons to prefer this person.
Please send letter of application, CV, publication list, transcripts, and letters of recommendation electronically as one PDF document to Dr. Oliver Ebenhöh (oliver.ebenhoeh@hhu.de) who may also be contacted for further information.
We wish to recruit as soon as possible.
Interested candidates please contact Oliver Ebenhöh
PhD "Mathematical Modelling of Microbial Communities"
The advertised project is integrated into CRC 1535 MibiNet “Microbial networking – from organelles to cross-kingdom communities” and the associated graduate research training group “MibiNeⓍt”. The CRC 1535 includes five cooperation partners, including the Research Center Jülich (FZJ), the Technical University of Aachen (RWTH), the University of Bielefeld, the University of Cologne and the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research (MPIPZ) in Cologne.
Phototrophic microorganisms such as green algae interact synergistically with heterotrophic bacteria and fungi in their environment. These organisms assemble into stable communities in the regions neigh-bouring unicellular algae, known as the phycosphere, and play roles in global carbon and energy cycles. However, the fundamental principles that govern phycosphere community assembly and dynamics are relatively poorly understood, particularly in terrestrial ecosystems. We aim to use the eukaryotic, photo-synthetic model organism Chlamydomonas reinhardtii to build computationally designed, stable and ro-bust synthetic consortia to establish a solid quantitative theory to explain fundamental principles govern-ing microbial ecosystem establishment, dynamics and resilience.
Job description: The successful candidate will develop mathematical models to theoretically investigate of the dynamics of microbial communities. A major goal is to obtain a quantitative understanding how environmental factors determine the stability, resilience and diversity of a community. This requires to also understand the interaction mechanisms between species and how these lead to community properties, such as stability and resilience. For this, differential equations-based models will be developed. The initial approach will be based on extended MacArthur consumer-resource models, which describe ecosystem dynamics based on resource availability, metabolic competition and cross-feeding. During the course of the project, the models will evolve from abstract to highly quantitative and calibrated with experimental data. The models will be developed in direct collaboration with the experimental partners Ruben Garrido-Oter (MPIPZ) and Bart Thomma (UoC), who provide high-quality, time-resolved data on dynamic communities, and perform dedicated experiments to determine the metabolic functions of the community members. Model predictions will guide experimental design to challenge the model and optimise information gain.
Your profile:
- A completed scientific university education (M.Sc./Diploma) in a a natural science discipline (physics, chemistry, biochemistry, etc.)
strong mathematical background
experience with differential equations
some programming skills
a keen interest in the biological questions addressed in this project
A spoken and written command of the English language is desirable
Affinity to teamwork
Good communication skills and enthusiasm for interdisciplinary exchanges are appreciated
Applications from disabled persons are welcome. Disabled persons with equal qualifications will be given priority. Applications from women are expressly welcome. Women with comparable qualifications will receive particular consideration, unless another applicant displays compelling reasons to prefer this person.
Please send letter of application, CV, publication list, transcripts, and letters of recommendation electronically as one PDF document to Dr. Oliver Ebenhöh (oliver.ebenhoeh@hhu.de) who may also be contacted for further information.
This job offer is no longer available!
One PhD position in the Marie-Curie Initial Training Network "INNOTARGETS": Modelling the metabolism of S. aureus in conjugation with the host
Background
The aim of INNOTARGETS is to train a new generation of early stage researchers (ESRs) in highly innovative approaches to identify metabolic drug targets in pathogenic bacteria, withtechnical skills which are attractive to both industry and academia. In addition to state of the approaches to target identification, they will be equipped with complementary skills deemed important for research team leaders. Each ESR will have an individual profile according to his/her own career dream, and they will be capable of life-long self-directed learning. Twelve ESRs will work closely together in the INNOTARGETS network solving scientific questions related to metabolism of bacteria in the host, mathematical modelling for target identification and toxicity prediction, adaptation of resistant bacteria to treatment, spread of resistance and improved methods for target identification.
Opportunities for one Early Stage Researcher
The Institute of Quantitative and Theoretical Biology at the Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf is seeking outstanding candidates for one Early Stage Researcher (ESR).
The successful candidate will develop a genome-scale metabolic model of Staphylococcus aureus. The basis for model development will be more than 50 fully sequenced and published genomes. The model will be interrogated with constraint-based techniques, such as Flux Balance Analysis (FBA), to answer relevant medical questions. These include the prediction of putative targets how metabolism of S. aureus can be interrupted without affecting the human host cells, for which reason the metabolism of host cells will also be considered. Moreover, available expression data will be integrated into the model to assess how metabolic activities change during the course of infection, and how it differs between different S. aureus clones. As part of the project, the student will carry out research at University of Copenhagen to validate model predictions, and he/she will further participate in development of in situ toxicity-prediction-tools during a visit to the pharmaceutical company, ABAC, Barcelona, Spain. The ESR will also participate in network-wide training activities.
Your profile
- MSc in Systems Biology, Bioinformatics, Physics, or any other natural science
- Strong mathematical skills
- A keen interest in biology and medicine
- Curiosity and open-mindedness
- Ability to work individually as well as a member of a team
We offer
- A motivated international team working at cutting-edge research questions in quantitative and theoretical biology
- A pleasant and constructive working environment
- An attractive salary
- Numerous local and international collaborators
- The ideal environment to follow your curiosity and perform excellent research
Definition of Early-State Researcher by the European Commission:
Early-Stage Researchers (ESRs) must, at the date of recruitment by the beneficiary, be in the first four years (full-time equivalent research experience) of their research careers and have not been awarded a doctoral degree.
Mobility rule by the EU
For ITNs, successful candidates must fulfil the mobility criteria defined by the European Commission:
At the time of recruitment by the host organisation, researchers must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of their host organisation for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to the reference date.
Specifically, for the ESRs to be recruited at the Heinrich-Heine University, this means that they cannot have lived/worked for more than 12 months in Germany during the 3 years prior to the recruitment date.
We wish to recruit as soon as possible.
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