PhD Position in Synthetic Biology and Metabolic Engineering (m/f/d)

The Bacterial Metabolomics Group of the Cluster of Excellence "Controlling microbes to fight infections" at the University of Tübingen advertises a

PhD Position in Synthetic Biology and Metabolic Engineering

to be filled as soon as possible. The position is initially limited to three years.

The research group headed by Prof. Dr. Hannes Link at the University of Tübingen invites applications for a PhD position. The project will focus on engineering dynamic control systems in microbial metabolism (so-called growth switches and metabolic valves) to optimize the production of bio-based products in E. coli and other industrially relevant bacteria. You can find more information about our group at https://www.linkmetabolism.com.

Your tasks:

• Design and implementation of synthetic regulatory circuits to dynamically reprogram bacterial metabolism.
• Development and application of tools such as CRISPRi/a, inducible promoters, and temperature-sensitive proteins for growth and flux control.
• Engineering and optimization of microbial strains for production of bio-based products.
• Integration of metabolomics (targeted and untargeted), transcriptomics and proteomics to probe metabolic states and function of control mechanisms.
• Analysis of strain performance and control mechanisms using computational tools (e.g., flux balance analysis, kinetic models, network component analysis).
• Preparation of manuscripts for peer-reviewed journals and presentations at conferences.
• Active collaboration with an interdisciplinary team in microbiology research.

Our requirements:

• Master degree in biotechnology, microbiology, molecular biology, or a related field.
• Background in metabolic engineering, microbial genetics or synthetic biology.
• Experience with molecular cloning and bacterial strain engineering is a plus.
• Data analysis skills (e.g. in Python, MATLAB or similar) are a plus.
• Excellent communication skills in English, both written and spoken
• Strong motivation to work on fundamental and applied biological problems.

Send your application as one pdf file by email to hannes.link@uni-tuebingen.de. The pdf file should contain: a cover letter, your CV and relevant certificates.

The review of applications will begin in June 2025 and will continue until the position is filled.

Equally qualified applicants with disabilities will be given preference. The university is committed to equal opportunity and diversity. The university aims to increase the proportion of women in research and teaching and therefore encourages qualified female scientists to apply.

The hiring process is carried out by the central administration of the university.