Scholarship: Fully-funded
Degree: Bachelor, Master.
Nationality: International Students
Location: Germany
Application deadlines: January or February 2022
Scholarship Description:
Molecular evolution is not only responsible for the emergence of life but also for the development of higher organisms. Evolution is a powerful tool that continuously provides innovative solutions to adapt to environmental changes. However, it is also responsible for many problems. The rise of antibiotic resistance and diseases such as cancer are the direct consequence of molecular evolution. The Becker group aims to better understand and utilise the fundamental principles of evolution to provide innovative molecular tools for both diagnostic and therapeutic applications. In line with the group’s scientific goals, the successful candidate will work on a multidisciplinary project to chemically synthesise and incorporate unnatural base pairs into DNA and RNA. The expansion of the genetic alphabet may lead us to understand why natural genetic systems have selected the four building blocks, adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C) and thymine (T), during evolution.
The candidate will be part of the International Max Planck Research School for Living Matter that provides an amazing environment for young, talented and ambitious scientists to start an academic career in the field of life sciences.
Financial compensation will be carried out according to the guidelines of the Max Planck Society for PhD students.
The Max Planck Society is committed to increasing the number of individuals with disabilities in its workforce and therefore encourages applications from such qualified individuals. The Max Planck Society strives for gender equality and diversity within its workforce.
Furthermore, the Max Planck Society seeks to increase the number of women in those areas where they are underrepresented and therefore explicitly encourages women to apply.
Available Subjects:
Organic chemistry
Eligibility criteria:
We are looking for an enthusiastic, highly motivated and creative team player with an organic chemistry background to join our team.
Ideally, the candidate has experience with nucleic acid chemistry and is fluent in English. Although, the starting date is flexible we aim for January or February 2022.
Application Process
Applications should be sent to Dr. Sidney Becker, email: recruitment.becker@mpi-dortmund.mpg.de in digital form (e.g. as PDF).
In your application include:• a motivation letter• recent CV• copies of your transcripts of the BSc and MSc studies• two names of reference.