Thinking of doing your PhD in the Life Sciences? The International PhD Programme (IPP) Mainz is offering
talented scientists the chance to work on
cutting edge research projects within the open call on “Molecular Mechanisms in Genome Stability & Gene Regulation”. As an IPP PhD student, you will join a
community of exceptional scientists working on diverse topics ranging from how organisms age or how our DNA is repaired, to how epigenetics regulates cellular identity or neural memory.
PhD position: Computational Biology of Nucleic Acid Modifications (m/f/d)
Activities and responsibilities
The research group of
Christof Niehrs offers the following PhD project:
Nucleic acid modifications, such as cytosine methylation and its oxidized derivatives (e.g., 5-formylcytosine [5fC]), play essential roles in gene regulation and epigenetic programming. These modifications can affect DNA structure, gene expression, and genome stability. Cytosine methylation (5mC) has been extensively studied, but less is known about the biological roles of its oxidized forms, including 5fC, which is implicated in active DNA demethylation (Parasyraki et al., 2024). Similarly,
Adenosine PARylation represents a newly recognized DNA modification that involves the addition of poly-ADP-ribose (PAR) to adenosine residues, which we discovered (Musheev et al., 2022). This reversible process may be crucial for regulating DNA repair, replication, and transcription, further underscoring the importance of understanding these epigenetic mechanisms.
The integration of diverse DNA sequencing technologies has opened exciting avenues for studying nucleic acid modifications at unprecedented resolution. Through computational biology and bioinformatics approaches, it is now possible to identify, quantify, and characterize these modifications across the genome. This project aims to push the boundaries of what is known about nucleic acid modifications using state-of-the-art sequencing techniques and advanced computational methodologies.
PhD project: Bioinformatics / Computational Biology of Nucleic Acid Modifications The successful candidate will:
- Analyze and integrate multiple sequencing data types (DNA-seq, ChIP-seq, RNA-seq, Methyl-seq, DRIP-seq) to study nucleic acid modifications and related epigenetic regulatory processes.
- Develop analysis pipelines for pre-processing, normalization, and statistical modeling of high-throughput sequencing data.
- Integrate and mine public datasets to complement in-house generated data and extract novel biological insights.
- Visualize complex data using advanced techniques for clear and informative presentation of results.
- Collaborate with experimental biologists and bioinformaticians to identify critical biological parameters and refine experimental designs through computational analysis.
Requirements: Applicants should have a strong background in bioinformatics, computational biology, or a related field. Proficiency in scripting languages (e.g., Python, R), and a solid understanding of high-throughput sequencing technologies are highly desirable. Familiarity with nucleic acid biology, epigenetics, or statistical modeling is a plus.
If you are interested in this project, please select
Niehrs (Bioinfo) as your group preference in the IPP application platform.
Qualification profile
Are you an ambitious scientist looking to push the boundaries of research while interacting with colleagues from multiple disciplines and cultures? Then joining the IPP is your opportunity to give your scientific career a flying start!
All you need is:
- Master or equivalent
- Interactive personality & good command of English
- 2 letters of reference
We offer
- Exciting, interdisciplinary projects in a lively international environment, with English as our working language
- Advanced training in scientific techniques and professional skills
- Access to our state-of-the-art Core Facilities and their technical expertise
- Fully funded positions with financing until the completion of your thesis
- A lively community of more than 200 PhD students from 44 different countries
For more details on the projects offered and how to apply via our online form, please visit
www.imb.de/phd.
The deadline for applications is 24 October 2024. Interviews will take place at IMB in Mainz on 20-22 January 2025.
Starting date: 1 March 2025 - 1 July 2025