The Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) with its 1,100 employees has gained an excellent reputation as an international competence centre for environmental sciences. We are part of the largest scientific organisation in Germany, the Helmholtz community. Our mission: Our research seeks to find a balance between social development and the long-term protection of our natural resources.

Your application:

Equal opportunities are an integral part of our personnel policy, we therefore particularly welcome applications from qualified women. Severely disabled persons are given priority where applicants are equally qualified.

Your contact for any questions you may have about the job: Florian Centler

florian.centler@ufz.de

Place of work: Leipzig

Closing date for applications: March the 15th of 2015

Please use our online application system for your application:

www.ufz.de/career

Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research GmbH – UFZ

Permoserstraße 15

04318 Leipzig

To join the just started junior research group “McBiogas – Metabolism-centered predictive modeling of anaerobic digestion for biogas production” in the Department of Environmental Microbiology, we are looking for the setup, operation, and monitoring of lab-scale biogas reactors and their microbial communities for an enthusiastic and committed

PhD-Student (m/f) Microbial community dynamics in biogas reactors working time: 50% (19,5 hours per week), limited to 3 years Your duties:

Setup and operation of lab-scale biogas reactors Process analytics (incl. GC and HPLC) Characterisation of microbial reactor communities and their dynamics by

Amplicon-Sequencing, T-RFLP fingerprinting, and Flow cytometry Development and application of microcalorimetric methods Supervision of master students

Your profile:

Applicants must hold a Master degree in biotechnology, biochemistry, biology or a related field

The ideal candidate has a background in the microbiology of anaerobic digestion and experience in anaerobic cultivation techniques, biomolecular methods, and bioprocess-engineering

Ability to communicate in an inter-disciplinary team We offer:

Scientific training in a stimulating environment with local, national and international collaborations

The freedom you need to bridge the difficult gap between high-level basic research and application-oriented research & development

Work in an interdisciplinary, multinational team Excellent links with national and international research networks Excellent support and optimal subject-specific and general training with

UFZ’s HIGRADE graduate school Remuneration in accordance with the TVöD public-sector pay grade 13

including attractive public-sector social security benefits