The Leibniz Graduate School on Aging and Age-Related Diseases (LGSA) offers for the year 2007: 13 fellowships for PhD students

The LGSA is a joint activity of the Leibniz Institute for Age Research (FLI) and the Friedrich Schiller University (FSU) in Jena. The program started in fall 2006. The LGSA provides ambitious
training and research opportunities for graduates who wish to obtain a PhD in the fields of Molecular Biology, Molecular Genetics, Cell Biology, Developmental Biology, Neurobiology or Structural Biology. Training and research within the PhD program is interdisciplinary with the endeavor to understand the multifaceted mechanisms that cause the development of age-related diseases and those that cause senescence and aging. Lectures by resident and guest scientists, practical courses and lessons in presentation skills will accompany the program. Eligible are students that have obtained, or that will obtain within half a year, an academic degree comparable to the master degree or diploma in life sciences.

Interested candidates are encouraged to apply before 1st of June 2007 for the following projects:

• Marcus Fändrich / Uwe Horn: Mechanisms of amyloid fibril formation
• Marcus Fändrich: Cryo electron microscopy of Alzheimer amyloid fibrils
• Christoph Kaether: Functional analysis of the sorting receptor Rer1
• Matthias Görlach: Structure of Alzheimer A-beta oligomers by NMR spectroscopy
• Matthias Görlach: Structure of viral oncoproteins by NMR spectroscopy
• Peter Hemmerich / Stephan Diekmann: Molecular mechanisms of cellular senescence
• Heike Heuer: Neuroendocrine mechanisms in regulating body weight and food intake
• Peter Herrlich: Analysis of a new transcription factor
• Christine Müller / Cornelis Calkhoven: Translational control, Sirt1 and caloric restriction
• Aspasia Ploubidou: Centrosome instability in virally induced cancer
• Falk Weih / Andreas Habenicht: Vascular aging and atherosclerosis
• Falk Weih: Regulation of development and function of the thymic epithelium by NF-kB
• Jens Weise: Role of the prion protein in neuroneogenesis after focal ischemia

Training and Supervision

• salary TV-L E 13/2
• Mentorship and thesis comittee
• Annual retreat
• Seminar series with external speakers
• Lecture series on molecular basis of aging and age-related diseases schedule 2007/08
• Training in presentation skills

Guidelines for Applications
Applicants should carefully follow the guidelines. Incomplete or non-fitting applications will not be considered.

Please fill in the application form completely. Have two referees fill in the recommendation form and have them send the completed forms in time to LGSA at fli-leibniz.de
Until June 1st, send your completed application form to: LGSA at fli-leibniz.de ( LGSA@fli-leibniz.de)

For more information, please visit the official announcement’s page.