We are always looking for highly motivated and creative students, post-doctoral researchers and visitors.
Students interested in a PhD project in the Toth-Petroczy lab are encouraged to apply to the International Max Planck Research School for Cell, Developmental and Systems Biology (IMPRS-CellDevoSys).
We are also supporting fellowship applications of outstanding postdoctoral researchers who wish to join our lab. This may either be through third party funding (Humboldt foundation, EMBO, DAAD, etc.) or through an ELBE postdoc fellowship by the Max Planck Center for Systems Biology Dresden (CSBD).
In case you are interested in working with us please contact tothpet(at)mpi-cbg.de.
Hello! My name is Anna and the main focus of my research is a special group of proteins involved in biomolecular condensates (membrane-less organelles that selectively concentrate biomolecules). Since I started to work as ELBE postdoc (April 2021) I am developing algorithms and applying data science approaches to predict these proteins using broad range of input information, such as sequence- and structure-based features.
Although I studied mathematics and computer science at the university, I quickly become fascinated by bioinformatics observing effective and elegant solutions for biology that can be created with help of computational tools and mathematical apparatus. That is why during my PhD I was developing computational approaches to model protein complexes, in particular deep neural network for structure prediction (in those times when Alphafold didn’t come to spotlight yet :)
When I don’t work, I love to write poems and novels (this skill should have given an advantage in scientific writing, but it surprisingly doesn’t). I also like jazz dancing, and even taught solo-jazz and lindy-hop, because I like teaching in general.
I am Barbara, and I am a postdoc in the ATP lab. Originally from Poland, I moved to Germany in 2016 to pursue my PhD in molecular cell biology. Here, I got immersed in the topic of biomolecular condensates and particularly their functional role in cellular processes. I joined the ATP lab to study condensates from a fundamental perspective – what proteins they contain, how different components interact within condensates, and how proteins evolve to partition into condensates.
In my free time, I love being outdoors in nature – that’s where I feel most at home. I also do gardening whenever I can. On rainy days, you can find me doing handcrafts – knitting, making macramé, or painting occasionally. Anything creative can keep me busy.
I am Doris, and I am a technician. Since I grew up in Dresden, I am a real local.
I joined the lab in 2021 and assist other lab members in setting up and running wet lab experiments. I love the fascinating and challenging research work with people from all over the world. I am also always inspired by the friendly and communicative environment at CBG and especially in my research group.
I enjoy interacting with people and spending time outdoors, whether it is at the seaside, in the mountains, simply in a forest, or on my daily way to work by bike.
I like swimming very much.
I am Federica from Italy. My education started with a bachelor degree in Economics, then a master in Statistics and now I am pursuing a PhD in Computational Biology! If you are scared of changing field, this might give you some relief.
I am interested in understanding how human genetic variation relates to human health. This is why I developed a VEP (Variant Effect Predictor) tool to predict the effects of human missense variants for a variety of diseases for which preventive diagnostics or treatment is available. Check out our web tool, demag.org!
Whenever I manage to live a life outside academia (ahaha) I like hiking, playing tennis and going for a walk or a bike ride. Also, I like trying on different hair styles!
Hi! My name is Jonas, and I am a PhD student in the ATPlab as well as in the lab of Andrej Shevchenko. Originally from the Berlin area, where I studied biotechnology and bioinformatics, I moved here in early 2021 to start my PhD work. I use mass spectrometry and computational methods to find out more about a specific type of protein synthesis error, ribosomal frameshifting. That means I care about proteomics, protein heterogeneity and weird proteins in general.
Outside the institute, my nerdy hobbies include playing Dungeons & Dragons, reading fantasy and SF, and watching asian martial arts movies. So ask me about Ursula Le Guin, Donnie Yen vs. Iko Uwais and if you can drink a healing potion in six seconds.
The socially presentable part of me enjoys hiking, especially long distances, and practices karate. And if you are into more basic comforts, feel free to talk to me about vegan cooking, spices of all kind, and really good chocolate!
Hi! I’m Ksenia and I’ve joined ATPlab to curate CD-CODE database and enhance its outreach @cdcode_org.
I am from Estonia, where I got my BSc in gene technology and got first hands-on research experience. During this time I got interested in Developmental Biology, which led me to dev bio masters in France and PhD on regulation (and imaging!) of early zygotic transcriptional events in Dresden.
After living in Munich and working as a scientific coordinator for over a year, I decided to move back closer to (hands-on) science (and, Dresden!). So now, I combine my experience in project management and science communication together with my research background. Alongside my everyday job, I volunteer with Sci.STEPS mentorship program in the area communication and marketing.
Outside of the job tasks, I enjoy walking (or on a more adventurous day: hiking), discovering new music-literature-movies... So, no general personality-defining hobbies, but I do get genuinely interested in what people create and learning about new things(song cue https://theburninghell.bandcamp.com/track/i-love-the-things-that-people-make). So talk to me about what you like - I love new hobby ideas!
Hello, my name is Maria Luisa (Sisi), and I am interested in protein evolution from an inclusive and fundamental perspective.
How did life arise on Earth? How stable were primordial proteins? Were the primordial oceans thermophilic? These questions have stimulated my scientific curiosity during my Ph.D. (University of Granada) and postdoctoral period (Weizmann Institute of Science) and continue to occupy a central place in my research, leading to my current focus: How transcriptional and translational inaccuracy expand the phenotypic space exploration and redefine the boundaries of evolution?
Besides science, I enjoy all versions of outdoor walking, in the city, at the beach, hiking in the mountains, etc. I love discovering new architectural styles or natural landscapes, letting curiosity lead my path. This may be the reason why I am a researcher.
Hi, my name is Maxim and I joined the team as a Senior Software Engineer back in August 2023. I support the team in all aspects of software development, from following good practises in writing software up to the publication of tools in public repositories.
Most of my career I have been working in the life science domain (my passionated field), diving into various subjects from gene optimization and the design of microarray experiments over to protein classification and metagenomics analysis (the most exciting field!). Now I have got the chance to learn more about biomolecular condensates.
After living and working almost 13 years in Cambridge (UK), most of that at the European Bioinformatics Institute, I decided to move back to Germany with my family.
When I am not at work, I have a busy life raising my 2 kids, but as they grow older, I find time again to do stuff which I love, like playing board games and football, meeting friends, hiking and swimming.
I am Rita Zi Zhu from China. My interest lies at the interception between different disciplines, leading me to doing this PhD project with the ATP group on AI methods and functional prediction of IDRs.
Since my undergraduate learning in biochemistry, I have wondered about the fundamental basis of life, looking for the grand picture of how molecules “pile up” into life. It is fascinating that we can study biology with computational methods.
Outside the job tasks I am interested in creating OC and fan arts. On top of it I touched many popular unpopular activities, ranging from TRPG to pipe-organ; from crafting to skiing, and I’m always open to recommendations ;-)
Heya! I’m Willis and am a PhD student from Hong Kong, mainly using computational methods to study intrinsically disordered proteins (IDRs). Specifically, I want to ask if different IDPs could share a common function, and then determine if there are specific characteristics of the sequence that makes it similar. This means I spend most of my time in front of a computer, but I am also running a couple of experiments to test these hypotheses. My background is actually in pharmacology and so I’ve never written a line of code until I started here- but it’s been a fun ride!
Outside of work, I have a not-insigificant collection of shark plushes because they’re so cute- not an opinion, just an objective truth. But unlike them who mainly sit at home, I also enjoy doing sports, specifically basketball and football. On the other hand, the more idle part of me enjoys playing computer/board games, occasionally playing the piano at the CBG, and listening to music. Oh and food, although I wouldn’t really consider myself a foodie because I can be quite a picky eater. But if our food conversation swings towards Cantonese (and Japanese, although I haven’t tried it all) cuisine, it might never end.
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