PhD Thesis “Drug-Host-Microbiome Interaction and Microbiome Engineering”

AIT Austrian Institute of Technology; Wien; On-site; EUR 29,000 - 34,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Canteen and meal allowance

Flexible work models incl. home office

Pension fund

Travel support for conferences

Career development opportunities

Job summary

The AIT Austrian Institute of Technology in Vienna invites applications for a PhD Thesis position in the Molecular Diagnostics unit. You will work on microbiome-host-drug interactions using omics data, develop molecular tools to modulate tissue-resident microbiota, and apply in silico and wet lab approaches in collaboration with clinical and university partners.

You will join the Center for Health & Bioresources and contribute to AI-driven data analysis, experimental validation, and

Qualifications

• Completed studies (Master) in Bioinformatics, Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Life Science, Biomedical Engineering or similar
• Experience in cell culture and molecular biology
• Good programming skills in R, Python, bash
• Interest in reading and writing scientific publications and a passion for applied research questions from industry
• High level of commitment and team spirit.

Responsibilities

• Explore open data from public repositories to identify tissue-resident microbial communities using in-house bioinformatics pipelines.
• Characterise abundance and functional activity of microbiota as well as host interaction in relation to disease progression and drug response.
• Employ state-of-the art bioinformatical and AI methods to integrate experimental data with pre-existing domain know-how.
• Use AI-based molecular engineering tools.
• Set up in vitro models to verify findings through perturbation experiments.

Skills

Bioinformatics

Molecular biology

Laboratory techniques

Programming (R, Python, Bash)

Scientific writing

Team player

Education

Master's degree in Life Sciences / AI in Life Science

Tools

R

Python

Bash

Job description

The AIT Austrian Institute of Technology is Austria’s largest Research and Technology Organisation (RTO). We aim to transform scientific excellence into innovation with impact. Together with our partners, we develop technologies and solutions for a sustainable, resilient, and digitalized future, strengthening Europe’s competitiveness and technological sovereignty. Our international teams combine cutting-edge research with strong implementation expertise to create measurable value for industry and society.

Our competence unit Molecular Diagnostics, located in Vienna (Giefinggasse, 1210), invites applications for a PhD Thesis position. Our competence unit works closely with industrial and academic partners to develop and validate advanced omics-based biomarkers (e.g., miRNA, DNA/RNA sequencing) and diagnostic assays for precision medicine, environmental health, and infectious disease monitoring, combining cutting-edge lab technologies with bioinformatics and AI-driven data analysis.

This PhD focuses on the following: Patients differ in their responses to drug treatment, and the factors underlying this variability are not yet fully understood. A better understanding of these differences could help improve treatment efficacy. The human microbiota is one contributing factor, but its role in shaping drug responses remains incompletely understood. You will characterise microbiota entities in different compartments of the human body and investigate their interactions with the host, disease processes and drugs. You will develop molecular tools to modulate tissue-resident microbiota and investigate how these interventions influence drug response. Your work will combine computational (in silico) and experimental (wet lab) approaches and will be carried out in close collaboration with clinical and university partners.

PhD Thesis “Drug-Host-Microbiome Interaction and Microbiome Engineering”

CENTER FOR HEALTH & BIORESOURCES

• You will explore open data from public repositories to identify tissue-resident microbial communities using our in-house bioinformatics pipelines.
• You will characterise abundance and functional activity of microbiota as well as host interaction in relation to disease progression and drug response.
• You will employ state-of-the art bioinformatical and AI methods to integrate experimental data with pre-existing domain know-how.
• You will use AI-based molecular engineering tools.
• You will setup in vitro models to verify your findings through perturbation experiments.

Your qualifications as an Ingenious Partner:

• Completed studies (Master) in Bioinformatics, Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Life Science, Biomedical Engineering or similar
• Experience in cell culture and molecular biology
• Good programming skills in R, Python, bash
• Interest in reading and writing scientific publications and a passion for applied research questions from industry
• High level of commitment and team spirit.

Details:

• Duration of the PhD project: 3 years

What to expect:

• EUR 2.832,10 gross per month (14 times / year), for 30 h / week
• Highlights of our employee benefits include a canteen and meal allowance, organic coffee, tea and fruit baskets, preventive healthcare benefits and company doctor, pension fund, additional days off for various life events, family benefits (including two weeks of paid paternity leave “Papa-Weeks” and leisure subsidies), voucher programme, sports, cultural and socialising events and many more, as well as flexitime models (incl. home office possibilities), travel support for conferences and individual training and career development opportunities. In addition to this, you will also join our AIT PhD Programme with around 150 students, benefiting of networking events and various workshops.

At AIT, we create an inclusive and family-friendly working environment that promotes equal opportunities and actively strengthens diversity across our workforce and in leadership positions. Among other initiatives, we are committed to increasing the proportion of women in our company and therefore particularly welcome applications from female applicants.