Open PhD position
Project outline
Approximately 80 % of human bacterial infections involve biofilm-associated organisms yielding common diseases like dental caries but also chronic wounds,
urinary tract and lung infections.
The aim of this project is to investigate the inactivation and protection mechanisms of spores and biofilms of the Gram-positive model organism Bacillus subtilis
treated by low-pressure plasmas and cold atmospheric pressure plasmas.
Besides spores, which are used as biological indicators to monitor the performance of sterilization systems due to their high resistance towards outer stressors,
biofilms are the most common form of bacterial life. Similar to spores, biofilms exhibit advanced protection mechanisms making them a major issue in the medical, pharmaceutical, and food sector.
Utilized methods
- Cultivation of different Bacillus strains
- Production of bioindicator samples (biofilms, spores)
- Cell survival assays
- Biochemical characterization
- Biofilm analyses
- Light & fluorescence microscopy
- DNA damage analyses
- Spore resistance assays
PhD position requirements
- Microbiology-background (Bacillus)
- Highly motivated , hard-working
- Fluent English (writing & reading)
- Open for interdisciplinary research
- Interest in space research
- Team player
Interest?
Send your application (motivation letter, copies of education certificates, CV, publication record, two letter ofrecommendation) to:
Dr. Ralf Moeller (ralf.moeller@dlr.de) Cologne (Köln), Germany.