The Center of Applied Space Technology (ZARM) at the University of Bremen is looking for a
Doctoral Researcher (f/m/d) in Space Microbiology
Salary Scale (German) 13 TV-L
with a full working time (39.2 hrs) at the next possible date.
The project is funded by the European Research Council and the position is for 3 years (according to § 2 WissZeitVG), starting at the latest in January 2026.
Part-time work is generally possible. Details may need to be agreed with the advertising department.
The project
The researcher recruited for the advertised position will be involved in ERC project MarCyano. This project stems from a goal, shared by the world’s major space agencies, of sending humans to Mars within the next few decades. A sustainable human presence there, akin to today’s presence in Antarctica, could indeed generate paradigm-shifting knowledge at an unprecedented pace. One major challenge lies in providing the food, oxygen and other necessary consumables: these cannot be shipped from the Earth over the long term. They should instead be produced on site and for this, Nostocaceae cyanobacteria can be instrumental: fed with materials available in the Martian ground and atmosphere, they could provide feedstock for a range of bioprocesses which, in turn, could produce a wide range of consumables. However, fundamental knowledge is lacking to turn this concept into practical solutions: the physiology of cyanobacteria in the foreseen cultivation conditions is poorly understood. These conditions combine low total pressures, low partial pressures of dinitrogen, interactions with a basaltic substrate from which nutrients are leached, and high concentrations of chaotropic salts.
In project MarCyano, our team will enable a deep understanding of cyanobacterial physiology in these conditions. For this we employ a unique approach combining cultivation assays in unique hardware previously developed in-house, adaptive laboratory evolution, cutting-edge “omics” technologies, the development of a mathematical model which can predict the productivity and efficiency of cyanobacterium cultivation from Martian resources, and the construction of a testbed for the experimental validation of this model. We will use the generated knowledge and tools to design, characterize and demonstrate the viability of bioprocesses which dramatically improve the odds that Mars exploration is done in a sustainable way. Finally, we will adapt the concepts developed for bioproduction on Mars to open new avenues for sustainability on Earth.
Your tasks include:
Minimum Requirements:
The University of Bremen offers among other things:
The University of Bremen is family-friendly, diverse and sees itself as an international university. We therefore welcome all applicants regardless of gender, nationality, ethnic and social origin, religion/belief, disability, age, sexual orientation and identity.
The University of Bremen intends to increase the proportion of female employees in academia, which is why women are expressly encouraged to apply. In the case of equal qualifications, women will be given priority, unless reasons relating to the person of a competitor prevail.
Disabled persons with essentially equal professional and personal qualifications will be given priority when applying.
Your application should include in one PDF document: academic CV (including publication list if applicable), copies of BSc and MSc university transcripts and work references if applicable, the contact addresses for 2 references, and a letter of motivation (maximum 2 pages) explaining what exactly motivated you to apply for this position, why you are particularly interested in the proposed topic, and what skills and experience qualify you for the position.
Please only send us copies (no folders) as we cannot return these. Once the selection process has been completed, your application documents will be stored in accordance with the legal requirements and then destroyed.
Any costs for the application process cannot be reimbursed.
For general questions about the personnel selection procedure and for questions about the content of the advertised position, please contact cyprien.verseux@zarm.uni-bremen.de .
Please send your application with your complete and meaningful documents by June 1st, 2025 as a PDF file by unencrypted electronic mail, quoting the reference number A157-25, to cyprien.verseux@zarm.uni-bremen.de or by post to