The Zuber lab is looking for a highly motivated, curiosity-driven, and pro-active master student who would like to join our lab at the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP) for a minimum duration of 9 months (preferably one year). Besides working on an exciting project in translational cancer research, the student will participate in weekly lab meetings and journal clubs and be exposed to the vibrant research environment of the Vienna BioCenter with frequent lectures of world-renowned scientists and excellent training opportunities. The student will receive a monthly stipend.
Research in the Zuber group
The genetic complexity, heterogeneity and plasticity of human cancers pose daunting challenges for the development of effective targeted therapies. New functional genetic tools such as CRISPR/Cas9, RNAi and targeted protein degradation have fundamentally changed the way we can approach this problem. The Zuber lab develops and employs these tools to systematically identify and mechanistically study key regulators and dependencies in genetically engineered cancer models and tumor-associated immune cells.
Additional information: www.imp.ac.at/groups/johannes-zuber. Key publications: Pechincha et al. (Science, 2022), de Almeida & Hinterndorfer et al. (Nature, 2021); Michlits & Jude et al. (Nature Methods, 2020); Muhar et al. (Science, 2018); Rathert & Roth et al. (Nature, 2015).
The project
Beyond acquiring cell-intrinsic malignant traits, cancer cells reprogram their microenvironment, e.g. to meet their metabolic needs, to colonize distant tissues as metastases, and to evade anti-tumor immunity. While CRISPR screens in cultured cancer cell lines have been applied to map cell-intrinsic dependencies, such screens miss regulators and candidate targets in microenvironmental activities of cancer cells. The proposed project will use innovative cancer models and in-vivo CRISPR screening approaches to, for the first time, systematically identify and characterize cancer dependencies in a fully physiological, immunocompetent tumor microenvironment (TME). Beyond gaining skills in a wide range of basic molecular and cell biology techniques (e.g. molecular cloning, viral gene transfer, CRISPR-based genome engineering, FACS, NGS), the student will be introduced to cutting-edge in-vivo cancer models and CRISPR screening technologies.
The candidate
A strong interest in cancer biology is an essential pre-requisite, as is passion and perseverance. A successful candidate for this position should:
- Be highly motivated, curiosity-driven and have a pro-active mindset.
- Be enrolled in a Master's program that allows performing the Master thesis work at an independent research institution like the IMP.
- Have a critical mindset to analyse her/his results and be able to work independently, while receiving support and mentoring from supervisors.
- Previous experience in cell culture and molecular biology techniques is a plus.
- Be proficient in English (English is the working language in our lab and institute).
Our Environment
The Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP) in Vienna is a basic biomedical research institute largely sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim. With over 200 scientists from 40 countries, the IMP is committed to scientific discovery of fundamental molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying complex biological phenomena. The IMP is located at the Vienna BioCenter, one of Europe’s most dynamic life science hubs with 2,800 employees from 80 countries in six research organisations, two universities ,and more than 35 biotech companies (www.viennabiocenter.org; www.imp.ac.at).
Application
Interested candidates should send their CV, university transcripts, and a motivation letter to johannes.zuber[at]imp.ac.at.