Leibniz Institute for Horticultural Sciences (IGZ), Großbeeren

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):

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

For questions, please contact: Dr. Stephanie Jurburg (jurburg(at)igzev.de).

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.

Please send your complete application, including a motivation letter, your CV, academic certificates, the contact details of two references and your earliest possible starting date by e-mail to bewerbung(at)igzev.de in a PDF document by November 22, 2026.