PhD positions in "Molecular Evolution in Prebiotic Environments"
LMU Munich
Our workplace is centrally located in Munich, Germany and is very easy to reach by public transport. Our team welcomes new members and we offer you a dynamic, international and academically stimulating environment. LMU Munich is an equal opportunity employer and committed to enhancing the diversity of its faculty. We encourage female candidates to apply. This project is funded by DFG (75% TV-L-E13) for a fixed time period of three years with a probation period of six months. People with disabilities who are equally as qualified as other applicants will receive preferential treatment.
Review of applications will start immediately until the position is filled.
Geochemistry, Mineralogy, Petrology & Volcanology (GMPV)
Planetary and Solar System Sciences (PS)
The newly funded cross-disciplinary network CRC 392 “Molecular Evolution in Prebiotic Environments” (https://www.molecular-evolution.de/index.html) aims to experimentally demonstrate a cascade of mechanisms creating robust Darwinian evolution and the first sequence information of life from molecules in a prebiotic setting. This collaborative effort is funded by German Research Foundation (DFG) and brings together several traditionally stand-alone disciplines: astrophysics, biochemistry, biophysics, chemistry, geosciences and theoretical physics as well as several renowned German universities and institutions: LMU Munich, TUM, Augsburg University, Heidelberg University, JMU Würzburg, MPI of Biochemistry, TU Dortmund, and University of Stuttgart. More information on the research center can be found here:
https://www.molecular-evolution.de/index.html
We aim to answering the following key questions over the course of the CRC:
What chemical, physical, and geological constraints are required to trigger the molecular evolution of RNA to create and maintain the first genetic information of biochemistry? What are the primitive selection pressures that establish molecular evolution through a pool of sequences and provide a transition from prebiotic chemistry to Darwinian evolution? Can we extrapolate from prebiotic evolution to novel biotechnological approaches that run molecular evolution autonomously in a synthetic system? Can our experiments define the requirements for early life on other planets?The doctoral candidates working the CRC projects are connected through the Graduate Program designed to assist both the doctoral candidates and the PIs in getting familiar with the often complex and multi-faceted details of the Origins of Life field. This effort includes a student-driven public outreach in collaboration with the Deutsches Museum in Munich.
Understanding molecular evolution in prebiotic environments is a multi-faceted topic that requires prebiotic and evolutionary modelling by applying a diverse and state-of-the-art set of physical, chemical, biological, geological, astronomical, and theoretical techniques in a cross-disciplinary and highly collaborative approach. The Integrated Research Training Group (IRTG) offers to its doctoral candidates a dense and interdisciplinary network using the cross-disciplinary and collaborative approach as the main path.
The Graduate Program is based on state-of-the-art and internationally established standards of excellent doctoral education and designed to train the doctoral candidates to become independent, highly interactive, communicative and collaborative researchers beyond the comfort zone of their home disciplines. The comprehensive qualification program includes general scientific training as well as tailored modules like method trainings and transferable skill courses, and career development workshops to prepare the doctoral candidates for an academic career as well as a career outside academia.
To support the early independence, the doctoral candidates will be involved actively in planning and organization of the IRTG and CRC 392 events— their tasks will include suggesting and inviting guest speakers, and they will have access to the funds to organize conferences, workshops, exchange programs, or to plan short term lab visits and host researchers. The doctoral candidates will also receive both practical and methodical training in science communication through their active involvement in the CRC outreach project where they will develop the concepts and contents for the public outreach activities of the CRC 392.
There are multiple open PhD positions advertised for the various individual projects within the CRC 392 on Molecular evolution in prebiotic environments. The CRC will start in April, please use our online tool to review the various projects and apply to them, which is available here:
https://www.molecular-evolution.de/positions/index.html
Using the application tool in the above link, candidates can select which projects from the CRC they are most interested in. We hope to come back to you in 2-3 weeks, depending on the reaction time of the PIs of two research projects you select there.
There are multiple open PhD positions advertised for numerous projects within the CRC 392 “Molecular evolution in prebiotic environments”. The CRC will start in April, please use our online tool to apply, which is available here:
https://www.molecular-evolution.de/positions/index.html
Using the application tool in the above link, candidates can select which projects from the CRC they are most interested in. We hope to come back to you in 2-3 weeks, depending on the reaction time of the PIs of two research projects you select there.