BIF-IGS Germany PhD Program 2010 (50 Positions)

Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe GmbH
BioInterfaces International Graduate School (BIF-IGS)
Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1
76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen
Germany

The BioInterfaces International Graduate School BIF-IGS provides the recruitment and training platform for the BioInterfaces Programme. It aims to attract outstanding students and to provide them with research opportunities at the interface of biology, chemistry and physics.

The BioInterfaces Programme relies on interdisciplinary research that encompasses a breadth of disciplines including biology, chemistry, physics, engineering and informatics. Thus BIF-IGS offers education and training in trans- and multi-disciplinary research areas that allow students to prepare for future careers in professional fields such as health sciences, biotechnology, physics, chemistry and environmental science. Students will gain experience by working in a stimulating environment using state-of-the-art technology.

Aim of the school

BioInterfaces is an interdisciplinary research programme of the Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe (FZK) in collaboration with the Universities of Heidelberg and Karlsruhe. In a team effort, researchers from different scientific fields and disciplines systematically examine the interactions of living cells with natural and technical environments. In this way we learn from nature and so rationally design new tools to control living systems. The aim is to bridge the gap between fundamental research and the development of new technologies in order to establish new tools for controlling living systems. The ultimate applications for these tools range from new therapies to tackle human diseases such as cancer or neurodegenerative diseases to the control of the growth of bacterial biofilms.

The aim of the BioInterfaces research school is to provide an interdisciplinary environment in which the students will be introduced to various major research fields. The BioInterfaces International Graduate School aims to attract outstanding students from different countries. The teaching language will thus be English and all courses and lecture series will be held in English. Furthermore, the University of Karlsruhe and the University of Heidelberg have both agreed to permit thesis defences in English.

The BioInterfaces research school will have a strong commitment to promote women in science. Thus, as a step towards gender equality, the school aims to invite an equal percentage of female and male applicants for interviews.

Open Positions

Selection

All complete applications that have been received by the deadline will be subjected to a multi-step evaluation. An initial assessment and pre-selection of applicants will be carried out by the PIs in the institutes selected by the candidates. We will also take advantage of the HGF offices in Beijing and Moscow to pre-assess candidates (if appropriate). Based on this pre-selection, the Graduate Committee Assembly will invite the short-listed candidates as a group for interviews.

The interviews will start with a panel interview to evaluate the general scientific knowledge and intellectual capacity of the candidate. This panel consists of PI representatives from all institutes. This will be followed by one-to-one interviews with the potential PhD supervisors from the institutes selected by the candidate. At the end of the review process, both the candidates and the PI, will express their preferences. The Graduate Committee Assembly will then select the best matches, make the final assignment of students to PIs, and accept the selected candidates to the school. Admission letters will go out shortly after the interview process.

Final admission

Within the first year all PhD students must complete the predoctoral introductory course of the BioInterfaces Programme. Six months after commencement, the student must also propose a ‘Thesis Advisory Committee‘ (TAC) that consists of three members including the PhD supervisor and a faculty member of one of the associated universities. Finally, within six months, the PhD student must submit a project proposal that describes the PhD project and introduces the experimental approach as planned to be undertaken. This proposal will be presented by the student, evaluated by the TAC and submitted to the Dean, who will then confirm the official standing of the student as a BioInterfaces PhD student.

The online application is open from May 15 until June 30, 2010. 

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