At the University of Vienna more than 10,000 personalities work together towards answering the big questions of the future. Around 7,500 of them do research and teaching, around 2,900 work in administration and organisation. We are looking for a/an

University assistant predoctoral 

 52 Faculty of Chemistry 

Job vacancy starting: 09/15/2025 | Working hours: 30,00  | Classification CBA: §48 VwGr. B1 Grundstufe (praedoc) 

Limited contract until: 09/14/2028

Job ID: 4487

The Department of Biological Chemistry at the Faculty of Chemistry announces a 3-year position for a university assistant (prae-doc) on the topic of developing chemical tools for investigating microbial interactions in the research group Microbial Biochemistry, Böttcher lab. The contract is initially limited to 1.5 years, the employment relationship is automatically extended to 3 years if the employer does not terminate it within the first 12 months by submitting a non-extension declaration.

The research group is currently looking for highly talented andhighly motivated PhD students (prae-doc) with a strong background in Synthetic Chemistry, Chemical Biology, and/or Pharmacology, and/or Microbiology to join our Microbial Biochemistry Research Group at the University of Vienna. Our vision is to develop customized chemical tools to selectively target viability, virulence and behavior ofindividual species in a complex microbiome which would open the possibility of chemical microbiome engineeringin the future.

Your personal sphere of influence:

As a university assistant prae doc, you will complement/complete the research team around exploring chemicalstrategies for the customized modulation of bacterial population behavior with the goal of selectively interferingand controlling growth, motility, virulence and species interactions of human pathogens and commensals. You will also take over tasks such as investigating the chemical interactions of commensal and pathogenic bacteria as wellas the chemistry of microbe-human interactions and aim to exploit the potential of the privileged structures ofnatural products by synthetic organic chemistry.
What makes us special as a team is that we hereby focus mainly on novel anti-infective compounds includinginhibitors of virulence and specific pathogenesis-associated targets as well as species selective antibiotics.

Your future tasks:

You actively participate in research, teaching & administration, which means:

• You are involved in research projects and scientific studies on the aforementioned topics with the possibility of
  writing a dissertation.
• Design and synthesis of inhibitors targeting phages.
• Biological assay development.
• Preparation of research reports, manuscripts for publications and oral presentations.
• You work on your dissertation and its completion.
• You are expected to sign a doctoral thesis agreement within 12 months.
• You hold courses independently within the scope of the provisions of the collective bargaining agreement.
• Supervision and training of students and staff members.
• Involvement in the organisation of meetings, conferences, symposium.
• You take on administrative tasks in research, teaching and administration.

This is part of your personality:

• Completed Master's degree or Diploma, in the field of chemistry or similar.
• Experience in the organic synthesis of small molecule libraries.
• Experience in the development of high-throughput assays.
• Experience in the handling of phages and microbes (S1 & S2).
• Excellent command of written and spoken English.
• Very good organization skills, precision and diligence in laboratory work.
• Highest level of motivation.
• Excellent teamwork skills.

What we offer:

Work-life balance: Our employees enjoy flexible working hours and can partially work remotely. 

Inspiring working atmosphere: You are a part of an international academic team in a healthy and fair working environment.

Good public transport connections: Your workplace is easily accessible by public transport.

Internal further training & Coaching: Opportunity to deepen your skills on an ongoing basis. There are over 600 courses to choose from – free of charge.

Fair salary: The basic salary of EUR 3.714,80 (on a full-time basis) increases if we can credit professional experience.

Contract: The employment duration is 3 years. Initially limited to 1.5 years, the employment relationship is automatically extended to 3 years if the employer does not terminate it within the first 12 months by submitting a non-extension declaration.

Equal opportunities for all: We welcome every additional/new personality to the team!

It is that easy to apply:

• With your scientific curriculum vitae and a letter of intent
• With your summary of research interests / ideas for a prospective doctoral project proposal (max. 2 pages)
• Master Degree  /  Diploma
• At least two references
• Via our  job portal/ Apply now -  button

If you have any content questions, please contact:

Thomas Böttcher

thomas.boettcher@univie.ac.at

We look forward to new personalities in our team! 
The University of Vienna has an anti-discriminatory employment policy and attaches great importance to equal opportunities, the advancement of women and diversity. We lay special emphasis on increasing the number of women in senior and in academic positions among the academic and general university staff and therefore expressly encourage qualified women to apply. Given equal qualifications, preference will be given to female candidates.

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Application deadline: 27.08.2025