Research topic: Antibiotic resistance in the urban environment - the role of insects as vectors (Prof. Dr. M. Schloter)

Doctoral Candidate: antibiotic resistance in the urban environment (m/f/x) (Entg.-Gr. TV-L)

17.11.2024, Wissenschaftliches Personal

The Research Training Group “Urban Green Infrastructure - Training Next Generation Professionals for Integrated Urban Planning Research” aims to conduct inter- and transdisciplinary research into innovative approaches for liveable, sustainable and climate change resilient cities through green infrastructure. We are looking for a candidate for a 0.75 or 1.0 position (limited to three years) to be filled as of April 1, 2025 as part of a DFG-funded Research Training Group.

Insects are essential for maintaining the balance and functioning of ecosystems. They contribute to various ecological processes, such as pollination, seed dispersal, and nutrient cycling, which are crucial for the health and resilience of natural habitats. Additionally, insects play a crucial role in maintaining biodiversity by occupying specific niches within ecosystems and participating in complex food webs. Their presence ensures the stability and sustainability of ecosystems, making them vital for conserving natural environments. With increasing efforts to promote biodiversity in urban environments and the subsequent implementation of plants at different scales (from facades to parks), cities also become attractive more and more attractive for insects. Furthermore, as a result of climate change, there are strong indications for the invasion of new species, which so far were mainly described for warmer regions to cities in temperate areas. From the biodiversity perspective, this effect is highly desirable for promoting ecosystem services and resilience. From the human health perspective, this implementation of insects might be more problematic, as they may act as vectors for new zoonotic diseases in the future, and the contact with the urban human population might be closer than in rural areas, which strongly promotes the spread of such diseases. In addition, because of their lifestyle and co-selection, insects might harbor a large number of microbes that are resistant to antibiotics, which can, on the one hand, hinder the treatment of patients with new zoonotic diseases and, on the other hand, promote the spread of antibiotic resistance genes in urban environments.

Thus, this PhD project will analyze the microbiome of selected insect species that are typical for the urban environment of Munich. We collect insects of various species and describe their microbiome both assessing structural and functional aspects, with a strong focus on antimicrobial resistance genes. We will focus on in sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS), as here new hotspots for biodiversity should be created, resulting both an increase in abundance and diversity of insects. To assess the impact of different levels of urbanization, we will sample SUDS along a gradient from downtown Munich to its suburbs.

Your profile:
-Completed MSc degree in Biology, Biotechnology or Biochemistry
-Basic knowledge about microbiome analysis including bioinformatics
-Excellent knowledge of English, basic knowledge of German is preferred
-Interested in working in a highly interdisciplinary environment

The gender- and diversity-balanced filling of doctoral positions is a particular concern of ours.

Interested?
Send us your informative application documents (letter of motivation, CV, certificates) including a brief description of your previous activities as a single PDF file (file name: Research Topic_Lastname.Surename.pdf) to rtg.lapl@ls.tum.de

For technical and organizational questions about the Research Training Group, please contact the spokesperson:
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Stephan Pauleit, pauleit@tum.de
If you have any questions about the various research topics, the professors mentioned will be happy to answer them.

Note on data protection: In the course of your application for a position at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), you will transmit personal data. Please refer to our data protection information in accordance with Article 13 of the General Data Protection Regulation (DSGVO) regarding the collection and processing of personal data as part of your application. By submitting your application, you confirm that you have taken note of TUM's data protection information.
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Kontakt: rtg.lapl@ls.tum.de

Mehr Information

https://www.gs.tum.de/en/grk/urban-green-infrastructure/cluster-and-subprojects/cluster-3/subproject-12-soil-microbiomes/