Research Scientist / PhD Student (m/f/d) CATCH-ALL

Department of Internal Medicine II, Section for Special Hematological Diagnostics

The Department of Internal Medicine II primarily treats patients with haematological and oncological diseases. The department maintains a large hemato-oncological therapy outpatient clinic. The Section for Special Hematological Diagnostics includes a young international multidisciplinary team of medical doctors, biologists and bioinformaticians, with many national and international collaborations. We perform routine multiparametric flow cytometry and molecular genetic diagnostics for hematological malignancies and reference diagnostics for clinical trials, and also work on many exciting research projects in the field. Within a DFG-funded Clinical Research Unit CATCH-ALL we are looking for talented PhD student with a high level of commitment, willingness to learn and teamworking skills.

The project is focused on understanding of leukemia-specific and immunological mechanisms of MRD persistence and by back-translation of clinical observations and aims to define clinically applicable biomarkers of T-cell fitness in the setting of immunotherapy. In addition, the role of clonal hematopoiesis in leukemogenesis and response to chemo- and immunotherapies will be investigated. Combined genomic and epigenetic analyses at the single cell level will be used to get insights into the role of epigenetics in leukemogenesis in the context of clonal hematopoiesis but also allow lineage tracing to study clonal evolution of ALL and impact of clonal hematopoiesis in distinct immune compartment, including T cells. Experience with single-cell sequencing and multiparametric flow cytometry is advantageous.

Start in our team

We are looking for professional and competent support to start as soon as possible, limited for four years.

What we offer:

• The salary will be based on the German E13 TV-L scale (65%) if terms and conditions under collective bargaining law are fulfilled
• Currently 38.5 hours/ week. Part-time employment may be compatible within the Framework of certain working time models
• Many employee discounts on various online platforms and with various companies
• University sports and fitness at a company rate as a balance to work
• You can find more attractive UKSH benefits here: Benefits (uksh.de)

Your role:

• As part of a multi-center collaborative project, you will perform single-cell sequencing, do sorting, quantitative molecular assays and methylation profiling
• You perform T-cell functional assays and correlate functional T-cell readouts with clinical data
• The project will be embedded in a national multicenter treatment study on ALL in adults

Your profile:

• The call is addressed to scientists in the field of biology / medical life science / computational biology with the appropriate qualifications
• Completed university studies (master / diploma) in a natural science subject or a comparable qualification
• Experience in multicolor flow cytometry and the analysis of high-throughput sequencing data is an advantage
• Experience in the field of hematology is an advantage
• You are a team-oriented person and can communicate safely English and have basic command in German

We are looking forward to your application until 31 December 2025 quoting the reference number 27488.

Further details can be provided upon request per email by Prof. Dr. med. Monika Brüggemann (monika.brueggemann@uksh.de) and Dr. med. Dr. rer. nat. Guranda Chitadze (guranda.chitadze@uksh.de). Further information about the UKSH and our team can be found at www.uksh.de and https://www.uksh.de/haematologielabor-kiel/.

Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein, DE, 24105

Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein, DE, 24105