As Austria's largest research and technology organisation for applied research, we are dedicated to make substantial contributions to solving the major challenges of our time, climate change and digitalisation. To achieve our goals, we rely on our specific research, development and technology competencies, which are the basis of our commitment to excellence in all areas. With our open culture of innovation and our motivated, international teams, we are working to position AIT as Austria's leading research institution at the highest international level and to make a positive contribution to the economy and society.

Our Center for Health & Bioresources invites applications for a Master Thesis for our location in Tulln (in immediate vicinity to Vienna). In the Center for Health & Bioresources we aim to solve challenges associated with demographic change, resource scarcity and environmental pollution and to develop innovative solutions, that enable early disease detection and support healthy and active aging.

As part of our team in the Bioresources Unit, you will support us within our research project on the role of wheat-associated microbiomes to improve drought stress resilience. Wheat is a highly important crop and a valued part of the human diet. However, drought periods, projected to increase due to climate change, pose a major risk to crop yields. One promising strategy to improve drought resilience in wheat is the application of microbiome-based improvement of the plant stress resilience:

• The main goal of this master’s thesis is to characterise microbial communities and test individual strains for their ability to colonise roots and enhance wheat drought tolerance.
• Under the guidance of our team, you will conduct molecular characterisation using various in vitro assays and molecular tools.
• You will perform plant experiments and analyse microbial communities and plant phenotype characteristics (root morphology traits, fresh and dry weight).
• You will learn to evaluate experimental results and apply them to further studies and potential real-world agricultural applications.

• You will broaden your skills in the fields of microbiology, molecular biology, and plant phenotyping.
• You will expand your knowledge of plant–microbe interactions, plant water relations, and microbial ecology.
• You will train in scientific work and critical thinking and have the opportunity to discuss your findings with interdisciplinary experts in plant sciences and microbiome research.
• Depending on your interests, you will be introduced to bioinformatic analysis of sequence data.