Job advertisement
Vacancy ID: 190/2025
Closing date: 2025-08-31
The Friedrich Schiller University Jena is a dynamic and innovation-driven university centrally located in Germany. With a broad range of disciplines, it shapes the future through excellent research and teaching. Its scientific excellence is reflected in the profile areas Light – Life – Liberty, which provide pioneering insights and sustainable solutions for the society of tomorrow. Through close collaborations with leading research institutions, innovative companies, and renowned cultural organizations, it advances interdisciplinary developments. With around 17,000 students and approximately 10,000 employees, it defines Jena as a vibrant, internationally connected city of science and innovation.
The core mission of the Cluster of Excellence “Balance of the Microverse” of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena is to elucidate fundamental principles of the interactions and functions in microbial communities in diverse habitats, ranging from oceans and groundwater to plant and human hosts. We aim to identify the shared characteristics of disturbed or polluted ecosystems as well as infectious diseases on the microbiome level, and develop strategies for their remediation by targeted interventions. The affiliated early career program of the Jena School for Microbial Communication (JSMC) offers an ambitious, structured and interdisciplinary post-graduate training based on top-level fundamental research. The research group of Dr. Amelia Barber at the Cluster of Excellence Balance of the Microverse invites applications for a
Doctoral Researcher in the areas of Microbial Pathogens and Climate Change
commencing Autumn 2025 or upon agreement.
We offer a part-time position (65%, 26 hours per week), offered as a fixed-term position for 3.5 years.
Most fungal pathogens that infect humans originate from the environment. However, our understanding of how climate change will influence these pathogens remains limited. This project will explore how changing environmental conditions impact the evolution, behaviour, and potential infectivity of environmental fungal pathogens. Combining experimental approaches (e.g. environmental microcosm) with cutting edge bioinformatics, we will investigate the impact of climate change on the genomes and phenotypic behaviour of fungal pathogens and explore the potential emergence of novel pathogens in a warming world.

• Perform laboratory experiments and work independently towards your doctoral research project
• Analyse project results, generate figures for publications, write drafts of scientific manuscripts for publication
• Present your results at local, national, and international meetings and conferences
• Work closely together with other experimental and computational researchers in the group
• Assist with training and supervising other researchers (e.g. student assistants, BSc students)
• Contribute to the friendly, welcoming, and collaborative environment within the group