PhD Student - Wheat Developmental Genetics

The culturally diverse Independent HEISENBERG-Research Group “Plant Architecture” is primarily interested in basic research questions on how do cereal inflorescences, called spikes, develop and how does this contribute to yield formation. 

Your Tasks 

• You are working in a project to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of spikelet/floret development and spike architecture in wheat using latest genetic, physiological and metabolic approaches.
• Discover, isolate and functionally characterize QTL or genes for spike/spikelet/floret traits.
• Utilize latest CRISPR-approaches and transgenic plants to study genes and their regulation during spikelet/floret development.
• Elucidate spatio-temporal patterns of metabolite and phytohormone distributions in spike and spikelet/floret sections using latest mass spectrometric methodology.

Your Qualifications and Skills 

• You have a master, diploma or equivalent degree in agriculture, biology or any related field.
• Knowledge of molecular, cytological and/or biochemical techniques, or genetic analyses (e.g. Linkage and QTL analysis); hands-on experience in working with plants (e.g. cereals) is desirable.
• You like phenotyping on all levels - from whole-plant over organ to cellular features.
• Readiness for field work is expected.
• Solid English skills are a prerequisite for effective work in our multicultural environment.

What we offer 

• The opportunity to work in a world class research center with state of the art facilities and scientists from all over the world.
• Friendly and productive working atmosphere.
• An employment starting at the earliest from July, 1st 2019 or later limited for 36 month.
• Gross salary will be up to 50% E13 TV-L.

For further information please contact PD Dr. Thorsten Schnurbusch (schnurbusch@ipk-gatersleben.de) or phone ++49-(0)39482-5341.

Please send your application, including CV, letter of motivation, copies of certificates (uni degrees) and three references, to our Recruiting Team (jobs@ipk-gatersleben.de) until 31st of March, 2019 citing the reference number 06/01/19. We are looking forward to receiving your online-application (http://www.ipk-gatersleben.de/en/job-offers/). If you have questions or require more information, please do contact us using the reference number in your correspondence.