PhD in Quantitative Biology of Development and Aging
100 %
Two PhD positions in Quantitative Biology are available in the group of Prof. Benjamin Towbin at the Institute of Cell Biology (ICB), University of Bern (http://www.towbinlab.org). The PhD students will be part of an interdisciplinary project combining live imaging, genetics, and computational approaches using C. elegans.
Project 1: Growth and Aging
Nearly all animals live longer when dietarily restricted. The mechanism causing this slow-down of aging is not understood but is thought to stem form an optimal adjustment of metabolism and growth to nutritional conditions. This project will test this hypothesis and ask how animals compute an optimal response to dietary conditions. The project will use imaging of hundreds of individual animals in highly parallelized microscopy farms from birth to death, advanced computational image analysis, quantitative genetic manipulations,
and modelling of optimal control.
Project 2: Growth and Development
Tissue overgrowth causes many prevalent diseases, and the correct size of organs is crucial for their function. To ensure the faithful development of correct size proportions, different body parts must coordinate their growth with each other in space and time. This project will define the molecular mechanisms and regulatory networks responsible for this coordination. The project will combine high throughput live microscopy, AI-driven analysis of images and large datasets, advanced genetic manipulation, and single cell transcriptomics.
see also: Stojanovski et al., 2022 & 2023, Nature Communications
- Motivation letter explaining why you want to join our lab, what you know, and what you want to learn.
- Detailed CV
- A short summary (half a page) of your MSc research
- Contact information for 2-3 academic references
- Copies of University transcripts
Contact and further information:
http://www.towbinlab.org, http://www.izb.unibe.ch