PhD scholarships in Brain Aging and Neurodegeneration at Germany

The German Research Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) in Tübingen and the Graduate Training Center of Neuroscience at the University of Tübingen, Germany, invite applications for 8 PhD Scholarships in Brain Aging and Neurodegeneration.

Highly qualified graduate students are invited to apply for this 2-years scholarship that can be extended to a third year. The scholarships are funded by the German Helmholtz Research Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases. The research topics of the PhD projects must therefore be in line with the Center’s mission to investigate the causes and consequences of neurodegenerative diseases of the aging human brain, in particular Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, and to explore why aging is a risk factor for neurodegeneration. The research findings should eventually translate into novel diagnostic, preventive, and therapeutic strategies.

The applicants are requested to apply to the Graduate Training Center for one or two of the proposed research projects, which are listed below. Independet research proposals by the applicants are also highly welcome. Please write a letter (max. 1 page for each project) stating why you have chosen this particular project and what qualifies you for the project. Furthermore, applications should include a completed application form, a CV, transcript, degree certificate, and at least one recommendation letter, preferably from a former supervisor. Please ask your supervisor to send the letter of recommendation directly to tlampe@neuroschool.uni-tuebingen.de.

Application deadline is February 05, 2010. Applications should be sent electronically as a single pdf-file to tlampe@neuroschool.uni-tuebingen.de. In case you have further questions, please contact Dr. Tina Lampe. Incomplete applications will not be further processed. The invitations for the interviews will probably be annonced at the beginning of March and we are planning to have the interviews in the week from the 22nd -26th of March, 2010.

In the following, you will find doctoral projects that were proposed by Faculty Members of the Graduate Training Centre of Neuroscience. The respective faculty members will also act as supervisors of the project.

PROPOSED PHD PROJECTS

Alzheimer / Amyloidosis / Memory
1. Mechanisms of cerebral amyloidosis (Jucker)
Contact: Mathias Jucker
mathias.jucker@uni-tuebingen.de
www.hih-tuebingen.de/en/departments/zellbiologie/

2. Multiphoton microscopy to image Alzheimer lesions in transgenic mice (Jucker)
Contact: Mathias Jucker
mathias.jucker@uni-tuebingen.de
www.hih-tuebingen.de/en/departments/zellbiologie/

3. Central nervous system homeostasis and pathologies in the absence of microglia (Varvel)
Contact: Nicholas Varvel
nicholas.varvel@googlemail.com
www.hih-tuebingen.de/en/departments/zellbiologie/

4. Model systems to analyze spreading of amyloid lesions between cells (Baumann)
Contact: Frank Baumann
f.baumann@medizin.uni-tuebingen.de
www.hih-tuebingen.de/en/departments/zellbiologie

5. NO-cGMP signaling and Alzheimer`s disease (Feil)
Contact: Robert Feil
robert.feil@uni-tuebingen.de
www.ifib.uni-tuebingen.de (see under “Research/Feil group”)


6. Cell-specific modulation and visualization of neuronal signaling in the aging brain (Feil)
Contact: Robert Feil
robert.feil@uni-tuebingen.de
www.ifib.uni-tuebingen.de (see under “Research/Feil group”)

7. Neuronal hyperactivity in mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease (Garaschuk)
Contact: Olga Garaschuk
olga.garaschuk@uni-tuebingen.de
http://www.physiologie.uni-tuebingen.de/dep2/home

8. Functional properties of activated microglia in mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease (Garaschuk)
Contact: Olga Garaschuk
olga.garaschuk@uni-tuebingen.de
http://www.physiologie.uni-tuebingen.de/dep2/home

9. Functional characterisation of hippocampal granule cells after modulation of Neurofascin-expression (Guenther)
Contact: Elke Guenther
guenther@nmi.de
www.nmi.de

10. Modeling age-dependent proteotoxicity in adult Drosophila (Rasse)
11. Synaptic Plasticity in functionally impaired synaptic circuits (Rasse)
Contact: Tobias Rasse
tobias.rasse@uni-tuebingen.de
www.hih-tuebingen.de/synaptic-plasticity/

Parkinson / Ataxia / Motor Neuron Diseases
12. Genetic risk factors for sporadic Parkinson’s disease (Gasser)
Contact: Thomas Gasser
Thomas.gasser@uni-tuebingen.de
www.hih-tuebingen.de/en/departments/nd/

13. “Exome Sequencing” to identify new Parkinson’s disease causing genes (Biskup)
Contact: Saskia Biskup
saskia.biskup@medizin.uni-tuebingen.de
www.hih-tuebingen.de/en/departments/nd/

14. Common pathomechanisms leading to neurodegeneration (Riess)
15. The role of parkin in NMDA-mediated excitotoxicity (Riess)
Contact: Olaf Riess
Olaf.riess@med.uni-tuebingen.de
http://www.uni-tuebingen.de/Klinische_Genetik/

16. Analyzing the intracellular localization of ataxin-3 (Schmidt)
Contact: Thorsten Schmidt
thorsten.schmidt@med.uni-tuebingen.de
http://www.uni-tuebingen.de/Klinische_Genetik/en/sca3.html

17. (Patho)physiological Mechanisms of the Frontotemporal Dementia / Motoneuron Disease Associated FUS (Kahle)
Contact: Philipp Kahle
Philipp.Kahle@uni-tuebingen.de
http://www.hih-tuebingen.de/abteilungen/nd/research/funct-neurogenet/

18. Regulation of leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 activity and cellular signalling (Kahle)
Contact: Philipp Kahle
Philipp.Kahle@uni-tuebingen.de
http://www.hih-tuebingen.de/abteilungen/nd/research/funct-neurogenet/

19. The role of mitochondrial dynamics in neurodegeneration in Parkinson’s disease (Krüger)
Contact: Rejko Krüger
rejko.krueger@uni-tuebingen.de
http://www.hih-tuebingen.de/en/gen/

20. The role of gap junction function in motor learning (Thier)
Contact: Peter Thier
thier@uni-tuebingen.de
www.hih-tuebingen.de/en/departments/kn/

Axonal Regeneration
21. Viral overexpression of a p53 acetyl mimic to promote axonal regeneration following spinal injury (Di Giovanni)
Contact: Simone Di Giovanni
simone.digiovanni@medizin.uni-tuebingen.de
http://www.hih-tuebingen.de/en/neuroregeneration_re/

Visual System / Retina
22. Retinal insulin signaling and degeneration (Schaeffel)
Contact: Frank Schaeffel
frank.schaeffel@uni-tuebingen.de
http://www.uak.medizin.uni-tuebingen.de/frank/

23. Cell death mechanisms in Retinitis Pigmentosa (Paquet-Durand)
Contact: François Paquet-Durand
francois.paquet-durand@klinikum.uni-tuebingen.de
http://www.uak.medizin.uni-tuebingen.de/?q=francois-paquet-durand

24. Identification of expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) in retinal expressed (disease) genes (Wissinger)
25. Genetic risk factors in glaucoma (Wissinger)
Contact: Bernd Wissinger
wissinger@uni-tuebingen.de
www.mgl-eye-tuebingen.de

Click here to download the application form.