University Assistant postdoctoral

University Assistant postdoctoral

91 Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science
Startdate:09.05.2026 | Working hours:40 | Collective bargaining agreement:§48 VwGr. B1 lit. b (postdoc)
Reference no.:5614

Your personal sphere of influence:

The Polz lab is looking for a highly motivated and skilled computational postdoc to join our interdisciplinary group of microbial ecologists, geneticists and evolutionary biologists.

You will work in an interdisciplinary project that includes local and international collaborations. The expectation is that you are highly independent and will take leadership in organizing key aspects of the research, including supervision of masters and undergraduate students and communication with collaborators. The lab provides opportunity for further training and career development, including support in design and execution of presentations, paper and grant writing, and leadership skill development.

The contract for this position is limited to 5 years.

Your future tasks:

The overall goal of the project is to comprehensively analyze the pangenome structure and dynamics of bacteria, heavily focused on vibrios, the major model in Polz lab. This analysis includes constraining the contribution of mobile genetic elements to pangenome diversity, in the context of population structure.

• Handling large amounts of genomic and metagenomic data
• Design and execution of computational pipelines
• Advanced statistical analysis
• Phylogenetic and -genomic analysis
• Machine learning

This is part of your profile:

You should hold a doctoral degree in biology and be highly trained in bioinformatics and computational analysis. Modelling and machine learning expertise is desirable. A publication record in international peer-reviewed journals is expected. Excellent communication skills in English (written and spoken) are required as the common language in the institute is English. The ability to work in a team is essential.

Please note that we are looking for a highly trained and advanced computational biologist. Simple microbial community analysis will not be sufficient for this position. Please be self-selective in your application. Laboratory experience might be helpful but is not required.

What we offer:

Work-life balance: Our employees enjoy flexible working hours, remote/hybrid and/or part-time work (upon agreement).

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 in the center of beautiful Vienna 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.

Fixed-term contract and fair salary:The basic salary of EUR 5.014,30 (gross salary on full-time basis,14 times a year) increases if we can credit professional experience.

Equal opportunities for all:We look forward to diverse personalities in the team.

It is that easy to apply:

• Motivation letter, please specifically address your qualifications
• CV
• PhD Degree / Diploma
• List of references to be contacted
• Via our job portal / Apply now - button

If you have any questions, please contact:

Martin Polz
martin.f.polz@univie.ac.at

Application deadline: 05/15/2026