Information for students
Students can complete their individually selected laboratory modules (project work, laboratory practicals, literature reviews, etc.) as well as their Bachelor’s or Master’s thesis with us. Our research group is interdisciplinary and international, and our working language is English. We take a highly practice-oriented and research-focused approach to your work in our research group, so there is a possibility that the results of your laboratory work, Bachelor’s or Master’s thesis may be incorporated into our scientific publications (making you an author of your first paper!). We are therefore happy to offer topics that allow you to undertake work spanning several modules, building on one another, and we place great importance on teaching the scientific standards of good research practice.
It is important to us that you
• have a solid foundational knowledge of the relevant core modules,
• have a keen academic interest in our research topics,
• work independently, reliably and accurately,
• are interested in interdisciplinary approaches,
• are comfortable using English for communication and academic writing.
How to contact us
Please send us a short, concise email. There is no need for a complicated application: your email does not need to be perfect, and please do not use AI-generated text. What matters most to us is not perfect grammar, but your personal, genuine motivation and your specific expertise that will enable you to be successful within our team. It is really important to us that you write about your own motivations and goals – unfortunately, we often receive only summaries of our research topics.
We would like to explicitly encourage you to get in touch even if you are unsure whether your profile is a ‘good enough’ fit. Many good ideas are unfortunately held back by what is known as imposter syndrome or by similar concerns. Given our interdisciplinary focus, it is hardly possible for a single person to cover every conceivable specialist background – and this is certainly not expected! Projects can be easily adapted to individual knowledge, skills and interests, and this is precisely what we would discuss together. The only thing that matters to us is that you have a good understanding of what it means to work as part of an interdisciplinary team.
Your email should include the following
• a brief but as specific as possible description (approx. 1/2 – 1 page) of
1. your interests
ideally with reference to, e.g., particular biological questions and/or methods, specific publications, or your long-term academic motivations and goals
2. your academic background
based on your study background, previous research projects, etc. (please include your current Transcript of records; preferably highlight your relevant modules)
• a brief tabular CV (1–2 pages)
Please include the hashtag #StudyingCellularMicrobiology in the subject of your email (addressed to Prof. Endesfelder) so that we do not overlook your email.
We read all emails addressed directly to us, but given limited time, it can take us a moment to respond. We do not reply to ‘generic emails’.
We would like to explicitly encourage you once again to apply even if you are not sure whether you ‘perfectly’ meet the stated requirements – many topics only develop during discussions, and projects can be well adapted to different prior knowledge. At the same time, it can happen – for example, due to our group’s limited capacity – that we are unable to consider an application.
