◼ Research Department (Group/Team): Molecular Spectroscopy

◼ Research Field: Chemistry, Physics, Bio chemistry

◼ Required Research Field of Study

  - Chemistry, Physics

◼ Duties to be Performed During the Dispatch

  - Research project in line with interns' skills

◼ Research Equipment or Software to be Used

  - Individual, tbd according to interns' skills

◼ Website: https://www.mpip-mainz.mpg.de/de/bonn

◼ Research Department (Group/Team):

    - Department of Molecular Neurobiology, Neurophysiology Group

◼ Research Field

    - Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience and Neurophysiology

◼ Required Research Field of Study

    - Development and function of nerve cell synapses, synaptogenesis, neurotransmitter release, synaptic plasticity, synaptopathies

◼ Duties to be Performed During the Dispatch

    -  Project work: Learning primary nerve cell culture and culture of human iPSC-derived neurons, immunolabeling and microscopic imaging,
patch-clamp electrophysiology

◼ Research Equipment or Software to be Used

    - General wet lab instrumentation, patch-clamp electrophysiology set-ups, confocal and super-resolution microscopy

◼ Website : https://www.mpinat.mpg.de/de/rhee https://www.mpinat.mpg.de/de/brose

◼ Research Department (Group/Team): HPC Applications

◼ Research Field

  - Computer science, High-performance computing, Computational physics

◼ Required Research Field of Study

  - Computer science, high-performance computing (HPC)

◼ Duties to be Performed During the Dispatch

  - Various projects and activities related to HPC, depending on the applicant's qualification and preferences

◼ Research Equipment or Software to be Used

  - Access to MPCDF computers and scientific software, as required

◼ Website: https://www.mpcdf.mpg.de/services/application-support

【04-A. Dept. of Systems and Synthetic Microbiology】

◼ Research Department (Group/Team)

  - Small proteins in bacterial signaling network (RG Yuna)

◼ Research Field: Biology

◼ Required Research Field of Study

  - Molecular biology/Microbiology

◼ Duties to be Performed During the Dispatch

  - Cloning, protein variant construction and characterization

◼ Research Equipment or Software to be Used

  -  Pipette, PCR thermocycle, incubator, FPLC, electrophoresis apparatus

◼ Website: https://www.mpi-marburg.mpg.de/systems-and-synthetic- microbiology/jingyuan

【04-B. Dept. of Biochemistry and Synthetic Metabolism】

◼ Research Department (Group/Team)

   - Synthetic Cofactors and orthogonal Metabolism

◼ Research Feild: Synthetic biology, Biochemistry

◼ Required Research Field of Study

   - For this project, we are looking for a highly motivated student with a background in natural sciences (preferably related to biology or biochemistry). Previous laboratory experience is a bonus, but not required.

◼ Duties to be Performed During the Dispatch

   - The project will focus on generating short biochemical (enzymatic) cascades for the production of valuable chemicals. Mainly, the enzymes required for efficient catalysis will be developed. Here, you will purify enzymatic candidates, compare their activities, and develop high-throughput screens and screen mutant libraries to find improved variants.
Towards the end of the project, the variants generated will be characterized biochemically via kinetic assays based on UV-Vis, fluorescence or HPLC-MS analytical methods.

◼ Research Equipment or Software to be Used

   - You will gain experience with advanced biochemical assays and learn to operate Photometers, Plate Readers and/or mass spectrometers.
Software for the evaluation of data (bespoke softaware of instrument manufacturers or plotting software like GraphPad Prism) as well as for cloning (Geneious Prime) will be available to you.

◼ Website: https://www.mpi-marburg.mpg.de/1484346/Maren-Nattermann

【04-C. Dept. of Systems and Synthetic Microbiology】

◼ Research Department (Group/Team)

  - Biophysics of environment sensing by motile microorganisms

◼ Research Feild: Microbiology, Biophysics

◼ Required Research Field of Study

  - Physics or Microbiology

◼ Duties to be Performed During the Dispatch

  -  In the lab, bacteria are typically studied as homogeneous populations growing in well-mixed batch cultures. In contrast, natural bacterial populations present a wide diversity of phenotypes that interact with each other and live in highly structured environments, both physically and chemically (e.g. the soil). There, they are exposed to and they shape gradients of various environmental conditions, notably of nutrients, which they can navigate thanks to flagellated motility, coupled to the chemotaxis sensory pathway, to migrate towards more favorable conditions. Active motility also leads to physical interactions, both short range collisions and long range hydrodynamic interactions (via the fluid they displace). In most microbial communities, a fraction of the species is motile, the other not. Our lab studies how the physical and biochemical interactions that emerge from motility and chemotaxis affect and control the spatiotemporal organization of such mixed bacterial populations.

     Several projects are available to the student, depending on their preferences. One project focusses on studying the interplay between chemotaxis in gradients and long-range hydrodynamic interactions in the organization of B. subtilis bacterial communities. A second project involves developing microfluidics chips to mimic the soil microenvironment. A third would focus on studying the inner workings of the chemotaxis pathway, in particular how the pathway noise, which is believed to generate behavioral variability in clonal populations, depends on the size of chemoreceptor arrays.

◼ Research Equipment or Software to be Used

  - Equipment: Microscopy (phase contrast, dark field, epifluorescence, FRET, confocal, depending on project), Microfluidics. Software: ImageJ, Matlab and/or python

◼ Website: https://www.mpi-marburg.mpg.de/colin

【05-A. Dept. Inorganic spectroscopy】

◼ Research Department (Group/Team): Inorganic spectroscopy

◼ Research Field: Chemistry, Biochemistry, Spectroscopy, Electrochemistry

◼ Required Research Field of Study

  ∘ Project 1: Spectroscopic and biochemical studies of the mechanism of Nitrogenase enzymes

      - Nitrogen (N2) reduction into ammonia (NH ), a bioavailable form, is a critical step in the biogeochemical nitrogen cycle and has an essential agronomic and economic impact. Even with a high conversion efficiency, the Haber-Bosch process (HBP) remains energy intensive, consuming up to 2% of the world’s annual energy production. Biological Nitrogen fixation (BNF), in contrast to HBP, occurs at ambient temperature and pressure. The catalyst for BNF is the enzyme nitrogenase(N2ase) which falls into three subclasses by the composition of their cofactors: Mo, V, and Fe N2ases. All three are two-component protein systems, with a [4Fe-4S] cluster containing iron protein (FeP) acting as an ATP-dependent reductase and a catalytic protein called MFe (M=Mo/V/Fe).
A key property of N2ases is their ability to reduce the number of alternaƟve substrates other than N2 and H+, such as acetylene, CO2, and CO. In this internship, we aim to study the differences in reactivities of the different N2ases towards different substrates and the role of their respective reductase proteins. We hope understanding these reduction mechanisms will serve as a foundation not only for creating better, more efficient catalysts for the respective processes but also for improving the rate and stability of these enzymes. The intern will gain skills in biochemical, analytical, and spectroscopic techniques. This internship might pave the way to future doctoral training.

      - References: Chem. Rev., 2020, 120, 12, 5005-5081.

      - Prerequisites: Students majoring in Chemical Science, especially in Inorganic Chemistry. Preliminary knowledge of spectroscopy (like EPR) and interest in metalloenzyme chemistry is desirable.

  ∘ Project 2: Time-resolved absorption spectroscopy

     - Transient spectroscopy allows tracking of the lifetime of excited species as they are pumped with optical light and probed with X-rays.
Until recently, optical pump/X-ray probe spectroscopy was the preserve of large-scale facilities, but advances in stand-alone pulsed X-ray sources have brought it down to the laboratory scale, where it can be combined with dispersive X-ray absorption spectroscopy for element sensitive studies of molecular complexes. The energy range of our setup allows us to address the K-edges of light elements and the L-edges of 3d transition metals. The instrument will be complemented by an optical transient absorption system, which will provide molecular-level information and allow dedicated preparation of the X-ray probe- based experiments. Applicants will have the opportunity to perform experiments on bioinorganic and photochemical systems selected to benchmark and validate the developed experimental methodology. The trainee will gain skills in transient spectroscopy on solid and liquid samples with the perspective of participating in experiments at synchrotron radiation facilities. The intern will receive the scientific training necessary to develop state-of-the-art instrumentation for more routine use in high-quality experiments and gain skills in (X-ray) spectroscopy techniques.
This internship might pave the way to future doctoral training.

   - References
: Anal. Chem. 2020, 92, 23, 15611–15615, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.0c03845
: Optica 2024, 11, 6, 744-752, https://doi.org/10.1364/OPTICA.517698

    - Prerequisites: Students majoring in Physical or Chemical Science, experience with laser-based systems, and knowledge about the fundamentals of XAFS would be an asset.

  ∘ Project 3: Quantum chemical investigation of spin-forbidden reactivity in C-H activating copper enzymes

     - Activation and functionalization of C-H bonds is a key challenge to use renewable chemical feedstocks. Lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases (LPMOs) employ a monocopper active site to break down recalcitrant polysaccharide chains.[1] The elusive reactive intermediate according to computational mechanistic studies has unpaired electrons despite being possible to form from close-shell species such as Cu(I) and hydrogen peroxide.[2] The change in spin multiplicity along the reaction pathway is kinetically unfavorable[3] but seems intriguingly relevant for the reactivity of LPMO and other biochemical/biomimetic systems where the two-state reactivity concept is key. The probability of singlet-triplet crossings bears strong implications on the reactive species formation and decay rates, impacting decisively the definition of strategies to experimentally detect it and the proposition of kinetic models.
The intern will gain skills on computational reactivity and electronic structure with strong insights from and to experiments. By working in association not only with Prof. Serena DeBeer but also with Prof. Frank Neese, the intern will pave the way to doctoral training with multiple possibilities of associating cuƫng-edge experiments and high-level theory.

    - References: [1] A. Munzone et al., Nat. Rev. Chem. 8, 2, 2024, 106-19. [2] M. M. Hagemann, E. D. Hedegård. Chem. Eur. J., 2022, e202202379. [3] J. N. Harvey, WIREs Comput. Mol. Sci. 4, 1, 2014, 1-14.

    - Prerequisites: Students majoring in Chemical Science, focusing on Inorganic or Physical Chemistry. Previous experience with quantum chemical software packages such as ORCA, Gaussian or Turbomole, for example, is an asset.

◼ Duties to be Performed During the Dispatch

    - Research duties

◼ Research Equipment or Software to be Used

    - Will be provided by the institute

◼ Website: www.cec.mpg.de

【05-B. Dept. Electrosynthesis】

◼ Research Department (Group/Team): Electrosynthesis

◼ Research Field: Chemistry - Electrosynthesis

◼ Required Research Field of Study

  - Organic Chemistry

◼ Duties to be Performed During the Dispatch

  - Synthesis of Organic Molecules using both traditional and electrochemical techniques

  - Analysis of Reaction mixtures

  - Planning and execution of screening campaigns

◼ Research Equipment or Software to be Used

  - Galvanostats, Classical Synthesis Equipment, Spectroscopy and Chromatography devices

◼ Website:

- https://www.cec.mpg.de/de/forschung/elektrosynthese/prof-dr-siegfried-waldvogel

※ 5-A의 경우, 지원하고자 하는 연구주제(Project) 기재 필수

【06-A. Dept. Gutjahr】

◼ Research Department (Group/Team): Root Biology and Symbiosis

◼ Research Field: Plant Biology

◼ Required Research Field of Study

  - Molecular Biology (best, if Plant Biology)

◼ Duties to be Performed During the Dispatch

  - PLant growth, plant symbiosis phenotyping, different molecular biology and/or cell biology methods related to arbuscular mycorrhiza symbiosis.

◼ Research Equipment or Software to be Used

  - Various equipment related to plant growth and molecular biology, microscopes

◼ Website: https://www.mpimp-golm.mpg.de/2168/en

【06-B. Dept. Gutjahr】

◼ Research Department (Group/Team)

  - Receptor structures at the plant-microbe interface (Förderer)

◼ Research Field: Plant science, Structural biology

◼ Required Research Field of Study

  - Protein Biochemistry, Structural Biology or Plant Science

◼ Duties to be Performed During the Dispatch

  - Protein Purification, SDS Page, Chromatography, Affinity Purification, (Cryo)-EM sample preparation, molecular cloning, protein expression in Nicotiana benthamiana, plant protoplasts, E.coli and Sf21 insect cells

◼ Research Equipment or Software to be Used

  - Transmission electron microscope (TEM), FPLC/Äkta, Freeze-Plunger, CryoSPARC, Alphafold

◼ Website: https://www.mpimp-golm.mpg.de/2761268/foerderer

【07-A. Dept. of Structure and Nano-/Micromechanics of Materials】

◼ Research Department (Group/Team)

     - Atomistic Modelling of Material Interfaces

◼ Research Field: Materials Science

◼ Required Research Field of Study

     - Materials Science, Physics, Chemistry, Engineering

◼ Duties to be Performed During the Dispatch

     - A common defect in virtually all engineering materials is the grain boundary (GB), which strongly affects many material properties. This topic is concerned with the atomistic computer simulation of GBs: How does the structure of the defect at the atomic level affect properties at the macroscopic level? The intern will independently use state-of-the-art computational tools (see below) to investigate GBs in fcc metals (Cu, Al, ...), explore their structures, and find how these structures affect, e.g., mechanical properties or heat transport. Here, computer simulations can model and elucidate nanoscale mechanisms that are inaccessible to experimental work and thereby complement it. The intern will be supervised by an expert in the field and the exact duties will be matched with their prior experience/interests. Interactions with colleagues at the institute using other methodologies are possible.

◼ Research Equipment or Software to be Used

     - We use multiple simulation tools: molecular dynamics (MD), molecular statics, and Monte Carlo simulations using the open source software LAMMPS; density-functional theory (DFT) calculations with VASP; in-house scripting using Python. Interns do not require prior knowledge of these methods, although it could be advantageous. Experience with Linux, programming, and/or prior usage of compute clusters/supercomputers is helpful. Training in the methods will be provided.

◼ Website: https://www.mpie.de/4431355/atomistic_modelling

【07-B. Dept. of Structure and Nano-/Micromechanics of Materials】

◼ Research Department (Group/Team): Mechanics at Chemical Interfaces

◼ Research Field: Materials Science

◼ Required Research Field of Study

     - Materials Science, Physics, Chemistry, Engineering

◼ Duties to be Performed During the Dispatch

     - Hydrogen has emerged as a major green energy source, facilitating the transition towards a sustainable economy and reducing the dependence on traditional carbon intensive processes. A successful hydrogen-based economy requires the development of efficient hydrogen storage materials. This project focuses on investigating the hydrogen storage behavior of the intermetallic materials and its influence on mechanical properties.
The intern will perform microscopic characterization to understand grain structure and morphology of a technologically important intermetallic material, conduct hydrogen charging, followed by small scale mechanical testing using state-of-the-art experimental facilities available at the institute. This will contribute to mechanistic understanding governing hydrogen-interaction and storage behavior of intermetallic materials. The intern will be additionally supervised by experts in this research field and interact with other scientists at the institute.

◼ Research Equipment or Software to be Used

     - We use standard sample preparation techniques and scanning electron microscopy to observe the grain structure of the materials; small scale mechanical testing using nanoindentation will be used to obtain standard mechanical properties such as hardness and modulus; basic electro-chemical charging techniques for hydrogen charging will be used to conduct experiments related hydrogen-interaction in materials. The intern does not require any prior experience with these experimental techniques, and support will be provided to train the student during the internship.

◼ Website:   https://www.mpie.de/sn
https://www.mpie.de/mcg

◼ Research Department (Group/Team)

   - Nano-Systems from Ions, Spins and Electrons (Dept. NISE)

◼ Research Field: Physics

◼ Required Research Field of Study

   - Physics, Materials Science, Engineering, Chemistry

◼ Duties to be Performed During the Dispatch

   - Preferably, internships are offered on the following research topics, where cooperation with Korean colleagues on site would be possible: Race Track Memory, 2D Materials, Spin-Orbit Torque, Nano-device fabrication.

   - In principle, however, all other research topics of the department are also considered for inclusion in an internship,
see: https://www.mpi-halle.mpg.de/nise/research

◼ Research Equipment or Software to be Used

   - optical or ebeam lithography; sputtering; MBE; PLD

◼ Website: https://www.mpi-halle.mpg.de/

◼ Research Department (Group/Team): Behavioral Evolution

◼ Research Field: Animal Behavior

◼ Required Research Field of Study

   - evolutionary biology, computational ethology, computer animation, video game design

◼ Duties to be Performed During the Dispatch

   - Develop a pipeline to convert real-world tracking data to 3D animated virtual avatar, generate 3D renders of underwater animals

◼ Research Equipment or Software to be Used

   - Unity, Python

◼ Website: www.ab.mpg.de

◼ Research Department (Group/Team)

   - Pharmacology/Metabolic signaling in obesity and diabetes

◼ Research Field: Pharmacology, Physiology and Metabolism

◼ Required Research Field of Study

   - Biomedical sciences, Genetics, Biochemistry, molecular biology, Cell biology or medicine

◼ Duties to be Performed During the Dispatch

   - Lab work including S1 cell culture work (working with cells and tissue samples);
operation of lab devices incl. software/programs, secretion/analysis of
protein samples, quantification of images, genome editing, Western blotting,
qPCR, handling of experimental animals (mice), immunohistochemistry tasks, FACS analysis, multiomics analysis, Lipidomics analysis etc.,

◼ Research Equipment or Software to be Used

   - ImageJ, Python (basic), CantoII(FACS), Melody(Cell sorter) etc.

◼ Website : www.mpi-hlr.de

◼ Research Department (Group/Team)

   - To be determined: Charpentier Lab, Turgay lab, Proteomics platform, or Bioinformatics platform based on interest and strengths of the applicant, and the availability and commitment of potential mentors

◼ Research Field: Microbiology

◼ Required Research Field of Study

   - Microbiology, genetics, molecular biology, biochemistry, infection biology, pathogens, bioinformatics, and/or proteomics

◼ Duties to be Performed During the Dispatch

   - To be determined, this could involve conducting and documenting experiments, collecting data, researching and reading literature, presenting data (orally and by poster), writing reports and a final manuscript.

◼ Research Equipment or Software to be Used

   - As needed, possibly: PCR machines, Centrifuges, Incubators, Mass Spectrometer, ÄKTA Chromatography System-Protein Purifier, Pipetting Robot, Cold Storage, Fluorescence Microscope, Autoclave, Basic personal computing skills including office software for reports and documentation.

◼ Website: https://www.mpusp.mpg.de

◼ Research Department (Group/Team)

   - Quantum Information for Quantum Materials

◼ Research Field: Physics - Quantum sensing (Nitrogen-vacancy center scanning magnetometry)

◼ Required Research Field of Study

   - Physics

◼ Duties to be Performed During the Dispatch

   -  Physics

◼ Research Equipment or Software to be Used

   - Optics, RF control, AFM, Python

◼ Website: https://qi-qm.com/