Postdoctoral Researcher (f, m, div.) in the Field of Metabarcoding Data Curation and Bioinformatics

Leibniz-Institute for Horticultural Sciences (IGZ) e.V.; Deutschland; On-site; EUR 55,000 - 75,000; Part time

Benefits offered by this job

30 Tage Urlaub pro Jahr

VBL Ost Pensionskasse

Zuschuss ÖPNV / Deutschland-Ticket

Gleitzeit und mobiles Arbeiten bis 50%

Job summary

Das Leibniz-Institut für Gartenbauwissenschaften (IGZ) in Deutschland sucht ab dem 1. Februar 2027 eine/n Postdoktoranden/ Postdoktorandin (f/m/div) im Bereich Metabarcoding-Datenpflege und Bioinformatik.

Die Stelle ist auf zwei Jahre befristet und Teil des MuCoME-Projekts zur Erweiterung der MiCoDa-Datenbank. Zu den Aufgaben gehören die Erstellung eines Referenzdatensatzes, Automatisierung von Datenbereinigungen und die Veröffentlichung von Forschungsergebnissen in internationalen

Qualifications

• Abgeschlossenes PhD mit Schwerpunkt Bioinformatik oder Naturwissenschaft.
• Erfahrung in bioinformatischer Analyse von 16S rRNA metabarcoding-Daten (z. B. dada2) und Arbeiten mit öffentlichen Sequenzarchiven (ENA/INSDC).
• Erfahrung mit statistischen Analysen (idealerweise gemischte Effekte) und HPC-Umgebungen.
• Programmierung in R und/oder Python; idealerweise Erfahrung mit Workflow-Management.
• Fließende Englischkenntnisse; Deutschkenntnisse von Vorteil.

Responsibilities

• Zusammenstellen eines Referenzdatensatzes aus 16S rRNA-Metabarcoding-Daten.
• Untersuchung, wie technikbedingte Unterschiede die Vergleichbarkeit beeinflussen.
• Automatisierte Bereinigung und Harmonisierung von Metabarcoding-Daten.
• Betreuung einer studentischen Hilfskraft in der Datenaufbereitung.
• Verfassen wissenschaftlicher Publikationen und Präsentation auf Konferenzen.
• Beiträge zur Kommunikation mit European Nucleotide Archive (ENA).

Skills

Bioinformatics analysis

Statistics (mixed-effects models)

R

Python

Workflow management

Fluent English

German knowledge (advantage)

Teamwork / Interdisciplinary work

Education

PhD in bioinformatics or related field

Tools

dada2

ENA/INSDC

Job description

Leibniz-Institute for Horticultural Sciences (IGZ) e.V.

Organisation/Company Leibniz-Institute for Horticultural Sciences (IGZ) e.V. Research Field Biological sciences » Biology Researcher Profile First Stage Researcher (R1) Recognised Researcher (R2) Established Researcher (R3) Positions Postdoc Positions Application Deadline 22 Nov 2026 - 00:00 (Europe/Berlin) Country Germany Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Part-time Hours Per Week 32 Offer Starting Date 1 Feb 2027 Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Not funded by a EU programme Reference Number 18/2026/2 Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? Yes

Offer Description

The Leibniz Institute for Horticultural Sciences (IGZ) conducts excellent basic research in plant sciences with applications in horticulture focusing on vegetables and the use of plant diversity. The IGZ is a member of the Leibniz Association and is based in Grossbeeren. For further information, please visit our website: www.igzev.de .

The following position is available at the institute from February 1, 2027 for a fixed term of two years in the research group ‘Plant-Microbe Systems’ within the DFG-funded collaborative project 'Multi-level Corpus for Microbial Ecology' (MuCoME, funded within the Scientific Library Services and Information Systems (LIS) programme of the DFG):

Postdoctoral Researcher (f, m, div.) in the Field of Metabarcoding Data Curation and Bioinformatics

Reference number: 18/2026/2

The salary will be based on qualification and research experience according to the wage agreement TV-L, up to pay scale 13, 80% of regular working hours.

The project expands the Microbial Community Database (MiCoDa, https://micoda.idiv.de/ ) into a comprehensive, AI-ready data corpus for microbial metabarcoding research. Together with partners at IOW (Warnemünde) and Hochschule Wismar, the project develops methods for extracting and harmonising unstructured metadata from publications, as well as for curating and harmonising 16S rRNA metabarcoding sequence data, aiming to expand MiCoDa to at least 200,000 samples (v3) and improve public access via MiCoDa, GBIF, and ENA.

Tasks include

• compiling a reference dataset of 16S rRNA gene metabarcoding mock community data from INSDC databases and through structured literature searches
• examining how technical choices affect the comparability of archived datasets
• automating curation and harmonization of metabarcoding data
• supervising a student assistant in data curation tasks
• writing scientific publications in peer-reviewed international journals and presenting results at conferences
• contributing to communication with the European Nucleotide Archive

Your profile

• a completed PhD with a focus on bioinformatics or a related natural science field
• experience in the bioinformatic analysis of 16S rRNA metabarcoding data (e.g. dada2) and working with public sequence archives (ENA/INSDC)
• experience with statistical analyses (ideally mixed-effects models) and with high-performance computing environments
• programming skills (R and/or Python) and ideally experience with workflow management
• fluent English language skills; knowledge of German is an advantage
• an open, flexible and positive person who can work in an interdisciplinary, international team but is also able to take the initiative

We offer

• an attractive workplace at a modern research institute for horticultural sciences
• a committed and competent team and a challenging position at the interface of bioinformatics, data management, and microbial ecology
• integration into a consortium with partners at IOW and Hochschule Wismar, as well as connections to the NFDI4Biodiversity and NFDI4Microbiota consortia
• flexible and family-friendly working time models and the possibility of mobile working (up to 50% of working time)
• VBL Ost company pension scheme for public sector employees, as well as a collectively agreed annual bonus and 30 days' vacation per year
• subsidy for the company ticket for local public transport or for the Deutschland-Ticket

We support the reconciliation of work, family and caring responsibilities and are committed to equal opportunities and diversity. Applicants with disabilities are given preference where equally qualified. We welcome applications regardless of age, gender, nationality, sexual orientation, religion, beliefs, or ethnic or social background.

Requirements

Research Field Biological sciences » Biology Education Level PhD or equivalent

Languages ENGLISH Level Excellent

Additional Information

Work Location(s)

Number of offers available 1 Company/Institute Leibniz Institute für Horticultural Sciences Country Germany City Großbeeren Postal Code 14979 Street Theodor-Echtermeyer-Weg 1 Geofield