PhD studentship in cell biology of tissue architecture / live-imaging of liver development and regeneration

Location: Division of Developmental Biology at Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany

Closing deadline: 10th June 2024

The Ober group is looking for talented and highly motivated PhD students for exciting projects studying the formation of the hepatic tissue architecture and its cellular micro-environment in all its complexity in development and its restoration after injury, using cutting-edge technologies.

We seek to decipher the molecular and cellular interactions of the different hepatic cell types and their functional niches that direct hepatocytes and the endothelial and biliary networks into the intricate cellular organization of a functional liver and how this architecture is restored during regeneration using zebrafish genetics and advanced imaging methods. This will set the stage for manipulating 3D organ niches towards stimulating endogenous repair and engineering hepatic cells for regenerative medicine.

Applicants should have a MSc degree in the life sciences or related fields. We wish to address projects focusing on cell communication and novel ECM interactions driving cell polarity, de novo tube formation for setting up network connectivity during liver development, and what are theirs roles in guiding the integration of new hepatocytes into remnant tissue during repair.

The Ober group is an interactive and dynamic team at the Division of Developmental Biology at Friedrich-Alexander University (FAU) Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany. FAU and surrounding institutes provide an outstanding research environment for development, cell biology and regeneration with all facilities essential for this ambitious research program.

Interested candidates should contact Elke Ober (elke.ober[at]fau.de) for further information. Please send your CV, letter of motivation/research interests, transcripts and contact information for two references. See also the job advert: https://www.jobs.fau.de/jobs/phd-student-in-liver-development-and-tissue-architecture-assembly-95670455/

The positions will be available from July 2024, or upon agreement.

Information on the group, research topics and publications can be found on the laboratory website: https://www.entwbio.nat.fau.de/forschung/ag-prof-dr-elke-ober/