Zoological Institute, TU Braunschweig
Division for Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology
(Köster Lab)
Background: The cerebellum of the vertebrate brain controls body posture, balance, motor coordination and motor learning and is involved in the occurrence of numerous motor and psychiatric diseases. Moreover the cellular composition, neuronal connectivity and function of the cerebellum have been highly conserved during evolution from fish to humans. The principal neuron of the cerebellar cortex is the Purkinje cell (PC). It has been proposed that cerebellar PCs are organized in functional subcompartmens with specific projection patterns [1-3]. Yet, individual PC morphologies and projection patterns are not well understood.
A major goal of our research is to elucidate the morphology, projection and function of cerebellar Purkinje cells in zebrafish larvae. To achieve this aim, a new method needs to be established which mediates cell-type specific, inducible transgene expression in a sparse manner to allow for the visualization of individual PCs using high-resolution confocal microscopy. With this method, the projection patterns of PC axons should be mapped across the PC population to identify groups of PCs projecting to similar targets. Finally, harnessing procotols of primary neuronal cell culture established in our research group, the development of cerebellar cell culture and circuits in specialized cell culture chambers should be established for investigating cell biological mechanisms of cerebellar neuron hoemostasis.
Project: We are looking for an enthusiastic PhD student to generate and characterize PC specific expression vectors for achieving inducible sparse transgene expression. You will conduct microinjections into zebrafish embryos and perform in vivo confocal microscospy recordings. Furthermore, you will screen for fluorescent proteins reporters targeted to axons of PCs for monitoring their projection patterns to eventually generate a projection map of the zebrafish PC population. In addition, you will collaborate with microfluidic and electronic engineers to develop cell culture chambers for establishing cerebellar circuits from cultured cerebellar neurons for longterm microscopy and electrophysiological recordings. Therefore, you should be interested establishing new techniques and in working in an interdisciplinary and cutting-edge research area together with engineers, biologists, and data scientists.
The goals of the PhD project are 1) to establish cell-type specific, inducible single cell expression of one or several transgenes for investigating cell-autonomous cellular mechansisms of neuronal differentiation and homeostasis, 2) to provide a comprehensive PC axon projection map in the cerebellar cortex, and 3) to establish cerebellar neuronal cultures for studying axon projection, synaptogenesis and neuronal communications under defined conditions.
You should provide a very good knowledge in molecular and cell biology in general, while knowledge in neurobiology is highly welcome. Ideally, you already have experience in molecular cloning procedures, cell culture techniques and confocal microscopy. Prior knowledge in working with zebrafish is not necessary, but a keen interest in neuroscience is encouraged. Furthermore, you should enjoy to establish new techniques for which knowledge in python programming and 3D printing are highly advantegous. You will work in an international team together with neurobiologists and microfluidic engineers; thus solid conversation skills in English are required.
The PhD position is offered in the Köster Lab at the Zoological Institute (https://www.tu-braunschweig.de/en/zoology) in Braunschweig, Germany. The preferred starting date is the 01.01.2026 and the duration is 3 years. The position is part-time suitable, but should be occupied 100% and is aimed to lead to a PhD degree as Dr. rer. nat. at the Life Sciences Faculty of the Technical University (TU) of Braunschweig.
The payment is made according to task assignment and fulfillment of personal requirements to salary group EG 13 TV-L, 50% (approximately: 1.750 €/month net). Applicants from non-EU countries may have to successfully complete a visa process before hiring can take place and are welcomed to apply.
The TU Braunschweig aims to increase the share of women in academic positions. Applications from female candidates are very welcome. Where candidates have equal qualifications, preference will be given to female applicants. Candidates with handicaps will be preferred if equally qualified. Please enclose a proof when applying for the position.
Applications: should be sent directly by e-mail to Reinhard Köster (r.koester@tu-bs.de), and must contain the following documents.
All documents should be in the PDF format; preferably, please provide the entire application in a single file. Personal data and documents relating to the application process will be stored electronically. Please note that application costs cannot be refunded. Deadline for applications: until position is filled.
For any questions, please contact: Prof. Dr. Reinhard Köster
Email: r.koester(at)tu-bs.de
Further reading:
[1] Matsui, H., Namikawa, K., Babaryka, A., Köster, R.W. (2014). Functional regionalization of the teleost cerebellum analyzed in vivo. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 111: 11846-11851. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1403105111.
[2] Chang, W., Pedroni, A., Hohendorf, V., Giacomello, S., Hibi, M., Köster, R. W., Ampatzis, K. (2020). Funcionally distinc Purkinje cell types show temporal precision in encoding locomotion. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 117: 17330-17337. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2005633117.
[3] Dorigo, A., Valishetti, K., Hetsch, F., Matsui, H., Meier, J. C., Köster, R. W. (2023). Functional regionalization of the differentiating cerebellar Purkinje cell population occurs in an activitiy-dependent manner. Frontiers in Molecular Neurosciences 16: 1166900. doi: 10.3389/fnmol.2023.1166900.