Opportunities
Table of Contents
Our group is based at the Helmholtz Institute for Functional Marine Biodiversity (HIFMB) in Oldenburg, Germany, with affiliations to the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI), the Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment (ICBM) at the University of Oldenburg, and the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen.
We study microbial life by combining our expertise in microbial ecology and computation, and make our tools and resources available to the community.
We are a diverse group of scientists with backgrounds in computer science, microbiology, ecology, and biogeochemistry, and we welcome applicants from all disciplines who are interested in studying marine systems and agree with the contents of our Lab Culture and Expectations.
Visiting Scientists
We often welcome visiting scientists for short- or long-term research stays, and HIFMB offers a great environment to learn from a wide range of scientists with distinct backgrounds who focus on marine systems.
You can find a list of past visitors of our group at the end of this page). If you are interested in spending time in our group for art or science collaborations, please get in touch with any of the members of our group to start the conversation.
Post-doctoral Researchers
We are always interested in hearing from motivated post-doctoral researchers who wish to join our group. We would love to hear from you if our research interests resonate with yours. Germany offers several excellent funding mechanisms for post-doctoral researchers:
- Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowship — for international researchers of all disciplines to carry out long-term research in Germany.
- Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships — EU-funded fellowships for researchers moving to a new country, including Germany.
- DFG Walter Benjamin Programme — supports post-doctoral researchers in the early stages of their academic careers at a host institution of their choice.
HIFMB also maintains its own post-doc pool (HIPP), which you may want to explore.
If you are interested, please send an e-mail to Meren with a brief description of your research interests and a CV. We are happy to discuss project ideas and help with fellowship applications.
Ph.D. Students
Our group supervises doctoral students through multiple graduate programs, including those at the University of Oldenburg, the POLMAR graduate school at AWI, and the International Max Planck Research School for Marine Microbiology (MarMic). Funded positions are advertised when available, but we also welcome inquiries from students who wish to bring their own funding or apply for scholarships with our group.
If you are interested in pursuing a Ph.D. with us, please send an e-mail to Meren with a brief description of your research interests and your CV. Meren responds to every single email as long as they are not copy-pasta from LLMs with zero relevance to our group or its current priorities.
M.Sc. Students
Our group regularly offers projects for M.Sc. thesis students (~6 months) and M.Sc. rotation students (~6 weeks) at the ICBM and MPI-MM. Typically these projects provide hands-on research experience in computational microbiology, microbial ecology, or both.
Master Thesis Projects (~6 months)
This is a placeholder project. Replace this entry with a real master thesis project. A good description explains the scientific question, the approach, and what makes the project exciting.
Rotation Projects (~6 weeks)
This is a placeholder project. Replace this entry with a real rotation project. Rotation projects are shorter (~6 weeks) and are a great way to explore a topic before committing to a full thesis.
Undergraduate Students and Interns
We rarely have room to support undergraduate students or interns. But if you are on this page, and convinced that our group is the right match for you to gain experience, please feel free to send us an email.