1 PhD position in Plant Cell and Molecular Biology (m/f/d)

24.09.2025, Wissenschaftliches Personal

A funded PhD student position is available at the Chair of Plant Systems Biology at the School of Life Sciences of the Technische Universität München in Freising-Weihenstephan.

• Polarity regulation by protein kinases

We seek a highly motivated PhD student to strengthen our interactive and collaborative team. The project is founded on the well-established and highly visible track record of the laboratory in the analysis of plant growth processes regulated by AGC1 kinases.

The Chair of Plant Systems Biology has strong expertise in all relevant molecular, cell biological, biochemical, physiological and genetic techniques and access to a broad range of techniques and facilities on the TUM-Weihenstephan campus and beyond.

Please send a letter of motivation and CV in a single PDF to: claus.schwechheimer@tum.de

The position is available instantly and will remain open until filled.

Further information: https://www.mls.ls.tum.de/en/plasysbio/home/

Selected recent publications

Xiao, Y., Zourelidou, M., Bassukas, A.E.L., Weller, B., Janacek, D.P., Schulz, L., Brajkovic, S., Šimura, J., Ljung, K., Kuster, B., Hammes, U.Z., Li, J., and Schwechheimer, C. (2025). KIPK and KIPK-LIKE1 suppress overbending during negative hypocotyl gravitropic growth. Plant Cell https://academic.oup.com/plcell/article/37/4/koaf056/8117847

Graf, A., Bassukas, A.E.L., Xiao, Y., Barbosa, I.C.R., Mergner, J., Grill, P., Michalke, B., Kuster, B., and Schwechheimer, C. (2024). D6PK plasma membrane polarity requires a repeated CXX(X)P motif and PDK1-dependent phosphorylation. Nature Plants https://www.nature.com/articles/s41477-023-01615-6

Janacek, D.P., Kolb, M., Schulz, L., Mergner, J., Kuster, B., Glanc, M., Friml, J., Ten Tusscher, K., Schwechheimer, C., and Hammes, U.Z. (2024). Transport properties of canonical PIN- FORMED proteins from Arabidopsis and the role of the loop domain in auxin transport. Developmental Cell https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1534580724005690

Hammes, U.Z., Murphy, A.S., and Schwechheimer, C. (2022). Auxin Transporters - A Biochemical View. Cold Spring Harbour Perspectives in Biology https://cshperspectives.cshlp.org/content/14/2/a039875.long

Koh, S.W.H., Marhava, P., Rana, S., Graf, A., Moret, B., Bassukas, A.E.L., Zourelidou, M., Kolb, M., Hammes, U.Z., Schwechheimer, C., and Hardtke, C.S. (2021). Mapping and engineering of auxin-induced plasma membrane dissociation in BRX family proteins. Plant Cell https://academic.oup.com/plcell/article/33/6/1945/6159622

Marhava, P., Bassukas, A.E.L., Zourelidou, M., Kolb, M., Moret, B., Fastner, A., Schulze, W.X., Cattaneo, P., Hammes, U.Z., Schwechheimer, C., and Hardtke, C.S. (2018). A molecular rheostat adjusts auxin flux to promote root protophloem differentiation. Nature https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0186-z

Kontakt: claus.schwechheimer@tum.de