Projects offered in 2012

Please find below a list of projects we offer for this year's recruitment. All projects are highly integrative and require the collaboration between different research groups. If you apply to the program you should choose up to three projects you are interested in. If you are invited to Jena for the recruitment event it is possible to change your preferences after talking to the supervisors. 

Project 1: Do plants improve their fitness via exudate-mediated management of root surface microbes?
Main supervisors: Prof. Ian T. Baldwin, Dorothea Meldau, Dr. Matthias Erb, Department of Molecular Ecology, MPI-CE

Project 2: Chemical analysis of signal molecules and cell wall alterations at the interface between arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and Nicotiana attenuata roots Main supervisors: Prof. Ian T. Baldwin, Dr. Karin Groten, Department of Molecular Ecology, MPI-CE

Project 3: How are herbivore-induced plant volatiles (HIPVs) taken up and perceived by neighboring Nicotiana attenuata plants?
Main supervisors: Prof. Ian T. Baldwin, Meredith Schuman, Department of Molecular Ecology, MPI-CE

Project 4: Computational Imaging Mass Spectrometry
Main supervisor: Prof. Sebastian Böcker, Department of Bioinformatics, FSU

Project 5: Closing the door on trouble: The role of insect gut membranes in avoiding the toxicity of plant defenses
Main supervisor: Prof. Jonathan Gershenzon, Dr. Daniel G. Vassao, Department of Biochemistry, MPI-CE

Project 6: Interaction of behaviorally active odor molecules with the surface of the insect antenna
Main supervisor: Prof. Bill Hansson, Department of Evolutionary Neuroethology, MPI-CE

Project 7: Interaction of behaviorally active odor molecules with the surface of the sensory neuron
Main supervisor: Prof. Bill Hansson, Department of Evolutionary Neuroethology, MPI-CE

Project 8: Control of pheromone synthesis and release at the surface of the female moth pheromone gland
Main supervisor: Prof. David Heckel, Department of Entomology, MPI-CE

Project 9: Identification of cellular cost-benefit trade-offs in biofilm formation on various surfaces
Main supervisor: AsstProf. Christoph Kaleta, Department of Bioinformatics, FSU

Project 10: Molecular cross-talk in the defensive symbiosis on the surface of wasp cocoons
Main supervisor: Dr. Martin Kaltenpoth, Insect Symbiosis, MPI-CE

Project 11: The evolution of metabolic interactions in bacterial biofilms
Main supervisor: Dr. Christian Kost, Microbial Evolution, MPI-CE

Project 12: Pheromone recognition in mushrooms: lipopeptides surfing a surface
Main supervisor: Prof. Erika Kothe, Institute of Microbiology, FSU

Project 13: Perception of low molecular mass bioeffectors from root-colonizing fungi and their early signaling events at the root plasma membrane of Arabidopsis thaliana
Main supervisor: Prof. Ralf Oelmüller, Institute of General Botany and Plant Physiology, FSU

Project 14: Complex interactions during biofilm formation by benthic diatoms:
Main supervisor: Prof. Georg Pohnert, Institute of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry, FSU

Project 15: Response of Musa plant’s surface to its pathogenic fungus, Mycosphaerella fijiensis
Main supervisor: Dr. Bernd Schneider, NMR group, MPI-CE

Project 16: Game-theoretical modelling of biofilms on various biological surfaces and their interactions with the host
Main supervisor: Prof. Stefan Schuster, Department of Bioinformatics, FSU

Project 17: Sex on the surface - pollen-pistill interactions and the risks of sexually transmitted diseases in plants
Main supervisor: Dr. Tim Sharbel, Apomixis Research Group, IPK Gatersleben

Project 18: Laser-assisted ESI methods for plant spatially resolved metabolomics
Main supervisors: Dr. Ales Svatos, MS group, MPI-CE, Prof. Hans-Peter Saluz, HKI Jena

Project 19: How do bark beetles and their mutualistic fungi “stick” together to colonize host trees?
Main supervisors: