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Information on Jobs in M4C
Administrative positions
- We are looking for a Coordinator Science Communication & Outreach
This position is advertised for 7 years within the M4C Cluster of Excellence.
Deadline for application is November 11th, 2025. - We are looking for an Administration Assistance (Verwaltungsangestellte*r)
This position is advertised for 7 years within the M4C Cluster of Excellence.
Deadline for application is November 11th, 2025.
Applications are highly welcome. Please find more information here
PhD and PostDocs positions
at Marburg will be published soon here
one Position at Münster (Project7) will be published soon here
For these positions we have prepared the descriptions for the respective projects below:
- Project 1: Chloroplast protein homeostasis under stress in the chloroplast of Chlamydomonas.
Investigating how the chloroplast of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii provides a robust chassis for CO2 converting enzymes, with focus on protein biogenesis, complex assembly and subcellular distribution of protein machineries.
Your profile: Doctoral degree in Molecular Plant Biology, Synthetic Biology, Structural Biology or a related area. Comprehensive knowledge of protein biochemistry, molecular genetics or plant cell biology. Previous hands-on experiences with Chlamydomonas, chloroplasts processes and Cryo-EM analyses are beneficial. Ideally the candidate has experiences with Cryo-electron tomography or is familiar with data processing of structural data.
The project will be based primarily in Marburg.
PIs: Felix Willmund, Jan Schuller, Georg Hochberg - Project 2: Cell biology of cyanobacterial chassis cells for light-driven CO2 conversions.
Investigating the cell biology of cyanobacteria to understand the mechanisms underlying cell growth & division, membrane organization and metabolic compartmentalization, using a combination of cell biological, biochemical and bioinformatic approaches, combined with (high-resolution) fluorescence imaging and cryo-EM tomography.
Your profile: Doctoral degree in the field of Microbiology or a related area. Comprehensive knowledge of molecular microbiology, bacterial genetics and bacterial cell biology. Expertise and hands-on experience in the analysis of cyanobacteria, using current genetic tools, physiological assays, fluorescence microscopy and protein biochemistry.
The project will be based primarily in Marburg.
PIs: Martin Thanbichler, Jan Schuller - Project 3: Stress nucleotides as metabolic integrators: Coordinating Rubisco and Nitrogenase activity with phosphate and nitrogen metabolism in Cyanobacteria.
Uncovering how cyanobacteria coordinate nitrogen fixation, phosphate metabolism, and carbon flux under diurnal cycles and environmental stress, focusing on stress nucleotides as key regulators. By linking ancient regulatory logic to environmental function, the project bridges molecular mechanism to global biogeochemistry.
Your profile: Doctoral degree in Microbiology, Biochemistry, or related field. Proven expertise in microbial genetics and enzyme biochemistry; experience with signaling nucleotides, structural biology, or cyanobacterial systems is an advantage. Curiosity for connecting molecular mechanisms to environmental processes is expected.
The project will be based primarily in Marburg.
PIs: Gert Bange, Judith Klatt - Project 4: Development of bacterial Synbio chassis.
Tailoring bacterial chassis by genome editing, refactoring and reduction to enable or facilitate implementation of new-to-nature CO2 fixation pathways.
Your profile: Doctoral degree in Microbiology, Molecular Biotechnology, or related area. Comprehensive knowledge of bacterial genetics, metabolism and gene regulation. Expertise and hands-on experience in bacterial genome engineering applying state-of-the-art genome editing methods, concepts of synthetic biology, and laboratory automation technologies.
The project will be based primarily in Marburg.
PIs: Anke Becker, Tobias Erb, Johannes Rebelein - Project 5: Chemical synthesis of key cofactors such as tetrahydromethanopterin (H4MPT) and affinity-based probes to enable mechanistic studies of methanogenesis at molecular resolution.
Your profile: Doctoral degree in the field of Organic Chemistry or a related area. Expertise and hands-on experience in multi-step synthesis, purification and characterization with a solid background in designing synthetic routes for complex molecules. An understanding of basic notions of Chemical Biology, ideally with some experience with biological techniques such as enzymatic assays, pull-down assays and protein expression.
The project will be based primarily in Marburg.
PIs: Olalla Vázquez, Jan Schuller
Open level doctoral or postdoctoral projects
- Project 6: Metabolite channeling and microcompartment formation for carbon flux adaptation.
The project focuses on the molecular regulation of carbon flux through direct enzyme-enzyme interactions. These mechanisms are not only fundamental for understanding bacterial cell biology, but are also highly relevant for the targeted influencing of microbial metabolic pathways or medical issues, e.g., in the context of antibiotic resistance. As a second aspect, carbon fixation pathways using microcompartments will be implemented using synthetic biology. Using the latest high-resolution fluorescence microscopy and automated image analysis, substrate-dependent, dynamic formation of microcompartments is studied at a single-molecule level in living cells.
Your profile: For doctoral candidates - MSc (or equal) degree in the field of biology, biochemistry or chemistry; for postdoctoral candidates - a doctoral degree in these fields with a focus on biochemistry and/or microbiology and high-profile publications; extensive experience in dealing with different microorganisms (ideally including Bacillus subtilis); ability to carry out molecular biological (cloning) and biochemical experiments (protein purfication); experience with cell biological techniques (e.g. super resolution fluorescence microscopy and/or single molecule tracking); knowledge on or interest in computer programming (e.g. MATLAB, Python, or others); independent, autonomous thinking
The project will be based primarily in Marburg.
PIs: Peter Graumann, Tobias Erb, Jan Schuller
Doctoral projects based in Münster
- Project 7: Biochemical characterization and phylogenetic analysis of methyltransferases within the methylamine methyltransferase family.
Investigating the biochemical properties and the evolutionary history of uncharacterized MTs within the methylamine methyltransferase family as well as identifying novel methylated substrates for methane and CO2 production
Your profile: MSc (or equal) degree in Microbiology, Biochemistry, or related area. Comprehensive knowledge of/expertise and hands-on experience in microbial physiology and protein biochemistry. Additionally, knowledge of/experience in working with anaerobic microorganisms and phylogenetics is advantageous.
The project will be based primarily in Münster.
PIs: Julia Kurth, Georg Hochberg
Doctoral projects based in Marburg
- Project 8: Carbon under stress: Bridging mechanism and function in harsh soils.
Investigating how soil microbes maintain carbon and nutrient fluxes under combined chemical and biological stress, linking microbial and plant-microbe interactions across fluctuating environmental conditions.
Your profile: MSc (or equal) degree in Microbiology, or a related area. Expertise in microbial cultivation, microbial stress physiology, plant-microbe interaction and soil systems; hands-on experience with molecular and biochemical techniques (e.g. PCR, proteomics and lipidomics, enzymatic stress assays). Knowledge of contaminant and phage assays, and familiarity with cyanobacteria and symbiotic nitrogen-fixing bacteria (e.g. rhizobia) are an advantage.
The project will be based primarily in Marburg.
PIs: Judith Klatt, Gert Bange
Project 9: Long-range gene regulation and genome reduction of microalgal chassis cells.
Design and application of Class I CRISPR interference and genome reduction strategies to implement and optimize new-to-nature CO2 fixation pathways.
Your profile: MSc (or equal) degree in Genetics, Microbiology, or related areas. Comprehensive knowledge of CRISPR biology, bacterial genetics and gene regulation. Expertise and hands-on experience in genome engineering and transfection of eukaryotic cells and a solid background in synthetic biology approaches.
The project will be based primarily in Marburg.
PIs: Lennart Randau, Felix Willmund, Tobias Erb
If you have questions, please reach out to: bettina.happel@synmikro.uni-marburg.de
