Two Postdoctoral Fellowships in Synthetic Cell Research

Two Postdoctoral Fellowships in Synthetic Cell Research

The Centre for Synthetic Biology at TU Darmstadt, together with the collaborating Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Polymer Research, invites applications for two Postdoctoral Fellowships (two-year appointments). The fellow’s research program should broadly be in the domain of synthetic cells. Example domains include but are not limited to (i) polymer chemistry for novel membranes and their targeted functionalization with protein components, (ii) gene-circuit and protein circuit design for cell-free synthetic biology, (iii) high-throughput generation of synthetic cells using novel microfluidic structures and robotics automation, (iv) interaction of synthetic cells with biological cells for therapeutic applications, (v) biophysical, computational models of membrane structures and/or of cell-free reaction networks. Fellows will be based at TU Darmstadt and are free to develop their own research agenda within the above topical boundaries. They can also become part of the Max Planck Graduate Center (MPGC) and profit from the top-tier research environment at the MPI for Polymer Research in Mainz.

Candidates will be co-advised by two Principal Investigators (PI) of the Centre for Synthetic Biology. In their application, candidates should provide the preferred hosting labs together with a short research proposal (max. one page) justifying the choice. The following PIs can serve as hosts: Andreas Blaeser (3D-/4D-bioprinting), Nico Bruns (polymer chemistry), Heinz Koeppl (comp. synthetic biology), Benno Liebchen (soft matter theory), Fatemeh Mirzapour (microfluidics), Ulrike Nuber (tissue engineering), Viktor Stein (protein engineering), Beatrix Suess (RNA synthetic biology) and Regine von Klitzing (soft matter). At the MPI for Polymer Research, the directors Katharina Landfester and Tanja Weil are possible co-advisors for the candidates.