The Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW) in the Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V., a part of the Leibniz Association, aims to understand and, where possible, ‘improve’ the adaptive capacity of wild animals to cope with global change. To this end, it focuses on the diversity of lifestyles, diseases and mechanisms of evolutionary adaptation of mammals and birds, on the limits of these mechanisms in natural and anthropogenically influenced environments, and on conservation strategies that take these into account. The Institute fulfils this mission through long-term, application-oriented, interdisciplinary basic research in evolutionary ecology, ecological dynamics, evolutionary genetics, wildlife diseases, reproductive biology and reproductive management.
For our Department Wildlife Diseases we war seeking to appoint a
A full-time postdoctoral bioinformatician
in the field of evolutionary virology
The position is jointly funded by two grants, the EU funded PANDASIA project and the Volkswagen Stiftung funded SIMPEL project. In both cases, we are screening high throughput sequence generated data from multiple wild mammal samples for known and novel viral lineages as part of two pandemic risk reduction projects. Funding is for 1 year.
Responsibilities include:
- Implementation, development and refinement of methods for identifying viral sequences of wild animals from high-throughput sequence data
- Evolutionary analysis of viral sequences, including phylogenetic analysis, selection analysis, putative effects of mutations on protein structure
- Statistical analysis of data related to spatial, temporal and ecological aspects of the projects
- Writing up of results for peer reviewed publication
Requirements:
- Completed Ph.D. in bioinformatics
- Experience working with high throughput sequence data from pathogens
- Experience working with viral sequences would be a major advantage
- Experience working with non-model systems
- Experience in statistical analysis
- A background in evolutionary biology and theory would be a great advantage
- High motivation, flexibility and ability to work both independently and as part of a team with a diverse team of scientists and with scientists in other countries where laboratory work is taking place;
- Excellent knowledge if English (able to work in English, both written and spoken) and good knowledge of German
Our offer:
- An interesting and responsible position with room for manoeuvre in an international and dynamic scientific working environment in a beautiful location right next to the Tierpark Berlin-Friedrichsfelde.
- A comprehensive induction programme and a well-functioning team that will be happy to support you.
- Working on an equal footing between all those involved and respectful co-operation within the team.
- An employment relationship of 39 hours per week with part time option in flexitime.
- A salary in accordance with the public collective bargaining law TVöD (Bund) up to level E13, with an annual bonus payment.
- Company pension scheme (VBL) and subsidised capital-forming benefits (VWL).
- Flexible working hours and possibility of mobile working to allow scope for work-life balance.
- 30 days holiday per calendar year, based on a 5-day week. In addition, 24 December and 31 December are days off.
- Excellent connectivity with public transport, to underground stations Friedrichsfelde or Tierpark (U5) or Friedrichsfelde-Ost (S5, S7, S75), as well as three tram lines and several bus routes.
- Employer subsidy for the annual public transport ‘job ticket’.
- Free admission to the Tierpark (current agreement between Leibniz-IZW and Tierpark Berlin) from Monday to Friday.
The position will be filled as soon as possible and is limited to 1 year.
We welcome applications regardless of gender, origin, sexual orientation and religion. Disabled persons will be given preferential consideration in case of equal suitability. The IZW lives the principles enshrined by the German “Charta of Diversity” (“Charta der Vielfalt”), has a diversity and inclusion strategy, is "Total-E-Quality" certified, promotes equality and actively supports a work-life balance. We promote diversity, so please convince us with your quality and competence.
Enquiries or questions should be directed to Prof. Alex Greenwood by email (greenwood@izw-berlin.de).
Are you interested:
Then please apply by 2 November 2025 and submit your complete and informative application via our recruitment platform at https://www.izw-berlin.de/en/job-offers including:
1) Short letter of motivation, highlighting particular skills for this position
2) Resume (maximum 3 pages) without photo
3) Digital copies of relevant degrees
4) List of publications
5) Arbeitszeugnisse and/or recommendation letters and/or references
We look forward to receiving your application!
