Job ID: 114220

PhD student position “Gating and Function of Heteromeric Glutamate Receptors”

Position: Ph.D. Student

Deadline: 31 July 2023

Contract Length: 3 years

City: Bochum

Country: Germany

Institution: Ruhr University Bochum

Department: Cellular Neurobiology, Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology

Description:

The Chair of Cellular Neurobiology at the Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology, Ruhr-Universität Bochum is seeking to fill a PhD student position (m,f,x) – 3 years, TV-L E13, 65% “Gating and Function of Heteromeric Glutamate Receptors”.

Position

For our interdisciplinary team we are looking for a motivated coworker, who is interested in pursuing experimental studies in the area of receptor physiology and pharmacology. The PhD project will focus on the formation and gating mechanism of heteromeric glutamate receptors, which play a key role in synaptic signaling in the central nervous system (see e.g., Reiner & Levitz, Neuron 2018; Pollok & Reiner, PNAS 2020; Selvakumar et al, Cell Rep 2021; Herbrechter et al, Cell Mol Life Sci 2021). The main techniques used will be patch-clamp electrophysiology, advanced imaging techniques, and tailored optical and chemo-optogenetic methods. In addition, pharmaceutical compounds will be used and characterized. A broad spectrum of biochemical, biophysical and physiological state-of-the-art methods as well as excellent local and international cooperation partners are available to support the project, thereby offering excellent perspectives for your scientific development. A better mechanistic and pharmacological understanding of heteromeric glutamate receptors will also allow to better assess their involvement in pathological processes (cf. DFG FOR2795: Synapses under Stress and DFG Research Training Group: Monoaminergic Neuronal Networks & Disease).

Your profile

Required is an excellent university degree in Biology, Biochemistry, Molecular Medicine, Biophysics, or a related discipline. Further mandatory skills are a very high motivation to engage in independent scientific research, the ability to work in a team, and very good English skills. Candidates should also have experience in the areas of molecular biology/neurobiology, electrophysiology, fluorescence microscopy or medicinal chemistry.

Further information

For the full announcement see https://jobs.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/jobposting/cd3a713505c986bdd71240daa92f5c5997ad29840?ref=homepage. The contract is initially limited to 3 years with salary and social benefits according to German/NRW TV-L E13/65%. Upon request of the applicant, the staff council can be involved in selection interviews. The position will be associated with teaching obligations (§3 Lehrverpflichtungsverordnung NRW). Travel expenses for interviews cannot be refunded.

Contact – Prof. Dr. Andreas Reiner

In case you are interested to join our team, we kindly ask you to send us your detailed motivation letter, CV, transcripts and the contact details of two referees, who are willing to provide a reference letter, as a single PDF file by July 31, 2023 (position ANR2143) to cellneuro@rub.de.

https://www.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/cellneuro/