APPLICATION

Highly qualified applicants from all over the world are invited to apply for the PhD Program "Biomolecular Technology of Proteins (BioToP)".

Information about entry conditions to Austria can be found at the homepage of Austria’s Agency for Education and Internationalisation

Application guidelines

• BioToP is a PhD Program of BOKU University, Vienna.
  General information about admission to doctoral programs of BOKU can be found here:
  domestic
  international

• Applicants must hold an undergraduate degree equivalent to a master (corresponding to 300 ECTS) which would qualify them to start a PhD thesis in their home country. Candidates who have not yet obtained their degree will be accepted if they will finish their studies latest by the end of August 2025.

• Applicants with only a bachelor degree (B.S.) or similar are not eligible.

• PhD students must have a master degree in biological sciences, biotechnology, chemistry, or closely related subjects. The corresponding curriculum and the diploma or master thesis have to include experimental investigations in one of these fields.

• Applicants must be fluent in both spoken and written English.

How to apply

1. Choose Projects
   Currently the following twelve PhD projects are available to apply for:
   1. Predicting protein complex binding affinity by integrating dynamic features and high-throughput screening data with deep learning
   2. Quantification of protein-protein interactions from molecular simulations
   3. Protein-protein interactions in prokaryotic heme biosynthesis: Substrate channeling, electron transfer and possibly more
   4. Identifying innovative binders for the purification of secretory immunoglobulin A from complex matrices
   5. Interplay of glycosylation & cell surface display of T9SS cargo proteins in oral pathogens – New avenues for treatment of periodontitis?
   6. Who does what – and where? Diverse roles of bacterial peroxidases and their location
   7. Targeting interactions of enzymes on cell wall polymers
   8. Constructing a self-assembling system for improved biocatalyst immobilization
   9. The interactome of multimeric recombinant proteins in yeast cells with modified ER morphology
   10. The impact of ER morphology on the assembly and interactions of sIgA in the endomembrane system of plants
   11. Boosting CAR T cell anti-tumor potency through endomembrane engineering
   12. Understanding protease selectivity for protein linker sequences
   
   When filling in the Application Form you will be asked to state your preferences for a maximum of three(!) of the twelve open research projects of BioToP.

2. Complete the Application Form and send it together with all enclosures to biotop.recruit@boku.ac.at

   Download Application Form

   Enclosures:
   
   • Copy of your diploma or masters certificate (if already available)
   • Copy of your certificates obtained for coursework including grades (transcript of records of bachelor and master studies)
   • Copy of your passport

   Please send all enclosures combined as a single pdf file (≤10 MB)!

   Please note: Documents in languages other than German or English must be submitted as English translations.

   Only fully completed application forms will be considered. Other forms of application will not be accepted.

   
   

3. Letters of recommendation are requested from two scientists. Your referees must hold an institutional email address. Applicants must forward the Letter of Recommendation Form to the referees and ask them to send the completed form directly to the BioToP PhD Program recruiting office by Email (biotop.recruit@boku.ac.at).
   
   Please note: It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure that the referees send the form within the application deadline.
   

   Download Letter of Recommendation Form

Deadline

The deadline for the submission of the completed Application Forms including all enclosures as well as the letters of recommendation is

February 16th, 2025

Selection

All applications will be pre-screened for formal requirements and completeness of the application form. After evaluation by the BioToP faculty, short-listed candidates will receive an invitation to our in-person BioToP hearing at BOKU in Vienna scheduled for March 26-28, 2025. Be aware that you need to be present during these three days.
For the hearing, candidates are asked to present their master thesis as well as a scientfic publication to a jury. Futhermore, candidates will have interviews with the PIs of the research projects they applied for. There will also be the chance to visit the research groups and the laboratories, and to meet current BioToP students in an informal evening setting to learn about the PhD program. Justifiable travel expenses will be reimbursed and accommodation will be provided.

Offers of admission will be made to the successful candidates within days after the hearing.

Financial Support

PhD students admitted to the BioToP PhD program will have a regular employment with full social security coverage. Students will receive funding according to the salary scheme of the Austrian Science Fund (net annual income after deduction of tax and social insurance approx. € 27.000,--). The salary is guaranteed for the proposed 3-year duration of the thesis work.

Furthermore students will receive financial support for participations at international conferences and for research stays abroad in collaborating international institutions.