EMBL-HZI Postdoctoral Fellowship Programme

This programme leverages the expertise of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in the field of human microbiota research. Postdoctoral Research fellows will be granted salary funding for two years to carry out research projects between a group at EMBL and a group at HZI, located at the multiple sites of both institutes. Fellows will have a main host lab at EMBL or HZI, where they will be employed, and spend at least a total of 3 months at the partner institution. Research activities must address the following topic:

“The human microbiome: From molecular understanding to exploiting these microbial ecosystems for human health”  

Humans are hosts to diverse and dynamic assemblages of microorgansims. Alterations in these communities have been linked to many human diseases, including the susceptibility and treatment outcome of infectious, metabolic-, immune-mediated diseases and cancer. Understanding the causal molecular elements and underlying mechanisms of these associations is instrumental for developing novel interventional strategies based on rational and effective microbiota editing. To address this challenge, scientists from EMBL and HZI will work together to understand the functional diversity of microbes living in these communities, to dissect the interactions and properties of the complex communities they assemble, and to study the molecular interactions with the host. The two institutes will combine their expertise in bacteriology, genetics, molecular and cell biology, multi-omics approaches and systems biology, immunology, natural product research, bioinformatics and modelling. 

General Information

Humans are hosts to diverse and dynamic assemblages of microorgansims. Alterations in these communities have been linked to many human diseases, including the susceptibility and treatment outcome of infectious, metabolic-, immune-mediated diseases and cancer. Understanding the causal molecular elements and underlying mechanisms of these associations is instrumental for developing novel interventional strategies based on rational and effective microbiota editing. To address this challenge, scientists from EMBL and HZI will work together to understand the functional diversity of microbes living in these communities, to dissect the interactions and properties of the complex communities they assemble, and to study the molecular interactions with the host. The two institutes will combine their expertise in bacteriology, genetics, molecular and cell biology, multi-omics approaches and systems biology, immunology, natural product research, bioinformatics and modelling. 

Successful postdoctoral fellows will have a primary lab (at EMBL or HZI), but will be jointly mentored by scientists from both institutions to harness the complementary expertise of the research centres. They will also have access to state-of-the-art core facilities for sequencing, imaging and omics approaches, and cutting-edge expertise in a number of areas related to microbiome research, including the generation of disease-specific gnotobiotic models, advanced genetic tools for commensal bacteria, automated platforms for the high-throughput phenotyping of microbes and their communities, and computational resources and tools for leveraging the large amounts of data being generated.  

You are invited to propose a project of your own design with at least one PI per institute. Please contact the participating groups beforehand to discuss and formulate a successful project. Here you can see the participating group leaders with areas of interest and potential collaboration partners at the other institution. Feel free to propose new collaborations if you believe they will be advantageous for the project.  

Duration of fellowship:

24 months   (with a total of 3 months in the other institute)

Number of fellowships:

4 (2 at each institute)

Proposed timeline:

The 2022 call has expired.

Research Institutes

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