Project offers

Trainee position: EFSA

EFSA TRAINEESHIPS CALL 2025
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), based in Parma, Italy is opening positions for Trainees
(All units and departments)

Please send us your application by 2 April 2025 at 23.59 (Local Italian time)

IS THIS TRAINEESHIP FOR YOU?

Are you a dynamic and proactive young professional looking for an enriching experience in a truly international working environment? Are you curious to explore a career path within a European Agency? Would you like to contribute to protecting human life and health, animal health and welfare, and plant health and the environment? Then look no further and apply for a 12 month-traineeship at the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)!

The EFSA Traineeship Programme offers you a unique opportunity to join a team of professionals from all over the world working together in an international and multicultural environment on Science, Safe Food and Sustainability projects at the heart of European Food Safety activities.
We are looking forward to welcoming motivated young talents from different academic and professional backgrounds (scientists, communication and legal professionals, IT experts, etc.).

From scientists to communication specialists and the colleagues supporting our daily work, everyone at EFSA has a role to play in achieving our mission of keeping food safe in the EU.

Apply now and embark on a journey where your potential meets purpose, and together, we will make a difference in food safety, from farm to fork.

Apply here: EFSA Traineeships Call 2025 - EFSA Careers

PhD-position: RNA Binding Proteins and Iron Metabolism Diseases

There is an open PhD position in Barcelona on the topic of RNA Binding Proteins and Iron Metabolism Diseases, starting in October–November 2025. This opportunity is particularly relevant for students currently enrolled in the Master's Programme in Biology – Cell and Molecular Biology.

There are additional funds available to facilitate research stays at prestigious institutions such as EMBL in Heidelberg.

Interested candidates should send an email to Mayka Sanchez (msanchezfe@uic.es) with the following documents (indicate Subject: Predoc position 2025-MS-03):

• Motivation letter
• CV
• A list of three referees' emails (only the emails, no reference letters required at this stage)

Master thesis project: Bioinformatics at Evolutionary Biology, EBC

Are you interested in the molecular basis of animal behavior? In this project, you will explore how the expression of key genes shapes traits that drive natural and sexual selection in the guppy, a model species in behavioral and evolutionary research. With behavioral experiments already completed, you will focus on applying advanced bioinformatic tools to analyze transcriptomic data, visualize gene expression patterns, and develop a scientific manuscript. Longer projects can also include training in molecular lab techniques to generate transcriptomic data from specific tissues. More info on the research topics that you will be involved can be found on: https://larroca.github.io/

Previous experience with common bioinformatics tools and R will be an important merit, though enthusiasm to learn is also highly valued. Informal inquiries for further discussion of potential projects are very welcome!

Contact: alberto.corral@ebc.uu.se

Department: Evolutionary Biology Program, Ecology and Genetics Dpt
Place: EBC Uppsala
Start: Flexible; starting immediately works well

Project length: 30-60 hp
Application: Contact the supervisor!

Student fair: Jena, Germany

The Jena Alliance Talent Fair 2025 is your opportunity to get information, network and take the next step towards a PhD at FSU Jena, Germany.

Date: March 25, 2025
Location: Online

Why Join?

• Exclusive Insights – Learn about research areas, entry and career paths at the renowned Jena Alliance Graduate Schools: Jena School for Microbial Communication, Abbe School of Photonics, Max Planck School of Photonics, Jena School of Molecular Medicine
• Direct Networking – Connect with school coordinators, ask your questions, and get firsthand guidance.
• Practical Tips – Attend talks on funding options, application materials, and essential information for international students.

A number of open PhD positions are already being advertised on the website.

Register now: https://www.uni-jena.de/en/talent-fair
LinkedIn | YouTube

Student event: The BUP Student Conference 2025

The BUP's biggest annual student event is back. The BUP Student Conference 2025 is entitled 'Water and the Baltic City: Building Climate Resilience'. The conference takes place on 23-26 April in Tallinn, Estonia. The event is free of charge and open to bachelor and master students studying at BUP participating universities. At least 80 students will be selected to take part in the conference.

The Baltic University Programme’s Coordinating Secretariat at Uppsala University together with Tallinn University are co-organising the event.

This year’s theme explores the role of urban water systems in adapting to climate change challenges. Through keynote speeches, workshops, and field excursions in the historic city of Tallinn, the participants will learn about how water intersects with various disciplines such as urban planning, public health, ecology and public policy.

Students accepted to the conference will automatically become members of the Students' Parliament. The parliamentary session is a chance for all the students to run as a candidate as the BUP Student Representative to the BUP's International Board. It is a chance for participants to make their voices heard by submitting proposals, that if approved will be forwarded to the BUP International Board.

The learning objectives for the conference are:

• Develop students’ expertise in interdisciplinary and intercultural communication.
• Introduce and expand students’ skills in different academic activities; workshopping, discussions, moderating and presenting.
• Reflect on the role of water in building climate resilience in urban environments, with a focus on cities in the Baltic Sea Region.
• Encourage students to become problem-solving thinkers, with a view to the future and continuing a sustainable future/rebuilding.

The application deadline is 2 March.

Apply to attend the Student Conference.

Read more about the event, such as the preliminary program, via the BUP website.

PhD-positions: MENTOR project

MENTOR, an EU-funded Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Network (MSCA-DN) offering 18 fully funded PhD positions in cutting-edge biomedical research across Europe. This project is coordinated by Université Paris-Cité.

Our network brings together world-class institutions to train the next generation of scientists in mTOR signaling, metabolism, and their role in health and disease. This research is essential for understanding and treating cancer, metabolic disorders, and rare genetic diseases known as mTORopathies.

We would greatly appreciate your help in sharing this opportunity with your Master’s students and recent graduates who are interested in pursuing a PhD in biology, pharmacy, chemistry, medicine, or related fields.

Why Apply?

✔ 18 fully funded PhD positions with competitive salaries

✔ Research in cutting-edge areas: mTOR signaling, metabolism, rare diseases, drug development, and personalized medicine

✔ International mobility – join leading institutions in France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Greece, Spain, Poland, the Netherlands, and Belgium

✔ Multidisciplinary, high-impact research environment with academic and industry collaborations

✔ Training in transferable skills for careers in academia, biotech, and pharma

✔ Personalized mentorship from leading experts in biomedical research

Host Institutions

• France: Université Paris Cité, Brain Institute
• Italy: TIGEM
• Switzerland: University of Fribourg, University of Basel
• Germany: University of Essen, University of Tübingen
• Greece: FORTH
• Spain: CNIO
• Poland: IMOL PAS
• Netherlands: Mimetas, PD-value, University Medical Center Utrecht
• Belgium: KU Leuven

📅 Application deadline: March 28, 2025

🔗 More details & application: https://mentor-program.eu

Master thesis project: Multidimensional proteomics mapping of interferon response in immune cells

Background
Proteomics has revolutionized our understanding of biology and medicine at molecular detail. We have devised several proteomics techniques that can be employed to dissect the response of biosystems to therapeutics and biological agents. Our state-of-the-art proteomics tool called PISA-REX can be used to simultaneously monitor protein expression, stability/solubility or redox state at the depth of 9000 proteins in human cells. We have employed this tool to dissect the response of various human immune cells to interferons, which will serve as a resource for the community.

Specific aims
The project aims to understand the proteome remodeling in response to interferons (alpha, beta and gamma), and to decipher the differences in interferon signaling in different cell lines (monocytes and lymphoblasts).

Work plan
The data collection for this project is over (six experiments, 18 datasets). The prospective student will focus on bioinformatics analysis of the multidimensional proteomics data, data visualization, presentation and writing of a manuscript for publication. Similar data analysis and bioinformatics was performed in our recent study describing PISA-REX

The student will learn about the applications of proteomics in biomedicine, proteomics search engines and databases, data analysis workflows such as data extraction, cleaning, normalization and target ranking, data visualization, presentation and writing scientific papers.

Requirements
A good command of R (or python) and previous knowledge and hands on experience in programming and data analysis is a necessity.

Contacts
We are looking for one student who would like to join us and perform their master level degree project at the Saei Lab (https://saeilab.com/team) can contact amir.saei@ki.se. The prospective student can start immediately, but we are flexible with the starting date.

Master thesis project: Effects of the gut microbiome on the metabolic rate of hybrid flycatchers.

We have a MSc Project (60 ETC) to investigate the effects of the gut microbiome of pied and collared flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca and F. albicollis) and their hybrids on their metabolism, through an experimental approach. The project will involve carrying out FIELDWORK in Öland during the months of May and June, LABORATORY work to extract and amplify the gut microbiome of the individuals sampled, READING scientific papers, ANALYSING the data, and WRITE a thesis about the findings. The outcome of this MSc project will be published in a scientific journal.

Requirements: Interest in wildlife microbiome, and learning field, laboratory and bioinformatics techniques.

Duration: 60 ECTS

Start: Around April 2025

If interested, contact:
Ester Martínez Renau (ester.martinez.renau@ebc.uu.se)
Elin Videvall (elin.videvall@ebc.uu.se)
Yishu Zhu (yishu.zhu@ebc.uu.se)

Read more in this PDF. Pdf, 613 kB.

Master thesis project: Establish a novel biological method for ammonia production using a marine photosynthetic microorganism

Nitrogen fertilizer is indispensable in agriculture as plants are unable to use atmospheric nitrogen (N ). Ammonia is one of the most produced inorganic chemicals in the world because it is the major nitrogen fertilizer precursor. Unfortunately, the current industrial production of NH relies on natural gas and a process that results in high energy consumption and pollution. The goal of this project is to establish a novel biological method for ammonia production using a marine photosynthetic microorganism. We are now looking for 2-3 master students to be involved in this large project, in two sub-fields:

1. Synthetic biology - genetic engineering tools development and nitrogenase expression in fast growing marine cyanobacteria
2. High-throughput screening on genome scale gene repression and expression library of cyanobacteria.

Duration: Master thesis 30hp or 45hp with a preference of a combination of research training (10/15hp) in the beginning.

Outcome of projects:

1. Theoretical and hands-on knowledge about synthetic biology and system biology in photosynthetic microorganisms.
2. Get to know state-of-the-art research methods in the field.
3. Being involved in international collaborations among my group and Carnegie Institute in the US and Max Plank Institute in Berlin. Research visiting opportunities are available.

Requirement: Interests in photosynthesis and synthetic biology. Background knowledge on synthetic biology and microbiology.

Knowledge on bioinformatics and R are merits.

Application can be sent in from 2025-Feb-1st to 2025-May-10th. Promising candidates will be invited to 1-to-1 interview. In the application, please send in your CV and transcripts of courses you have taken in UU.

Contact: Rui Miao, Micobial Chemistry at Kemi-Ångström
E-mail: rui.miao@kemi.uu.se

PhD positions in Molecular Technologies and Systems Medicine

CeMM, the Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna are recruiting students for their International PhD Program in Molecular Technologies and Systems Medicine. They have 15 open positions and are looking for students with a keen interest in interdisciplinary teamwork and science that nurtures the precise, personalized, predictive and preventive medicine of the future.

The deadline for applications is 21st January 2025 and a pdf with full details of the opportunity can be found here.

Interested students can apply quickly and easily via our online recruitment platform.

They also have an online open day on Wednesday, 8th January 2025 that interested students can sign-up for here.

Master thesis project: Seasonal effects on the Przewalski's horse gut microbiome

Tasks include:
Analyse microbiome DNA sequence data, interpret results, reading scientific papers, and write a thesis about the findings. The results will be published in a scientific journal.

Requirements: An interest in learning about wildlife microbiomes and coding in R.

Duration: ~20 weeks ( 30 hp )

Start: Anytime.

For more information, please contact Elin Videvall at Animal
Ecology, EBC, Uppsala University (elin.videvall@ebc.uu.se).

Read more in this PDF. Pdf, 212 kB.