Masterarbeit Molekularbiologie/ Master’s thesis Molecular Biology

• Jobart: Praktikum, Teilzeit, Vollzeit
• Ort: TU Wien, Campus Getreidemarkt
• Eintrittsdatum: Between September - October 2025
• Gehalt: Stipendium von 300 Euro/ Monat möglich
• Kategorie: Wissenschaft / Forschung / Entwicklung

Master’s thesis/Internship on:
“The spontaneous loss of cellulase productivity of industrial
Trichoderma reesei strains”

Cellulases are important enzymes in the food and textile industry and for the production of biofuels. Based on its naturally high secretory capacity, the filamentous fungus Trichoderma reesei is widely used for the expression of cellulases on an industrial scale. However, the high productivity of these strains often comes at a cost: the fungus gradually loses its protein production capacity during an extended fermentation period (“strain degeneration”). The aim of this project is to characterize the phenomenon in an industrially used Trichoderma reesei strain lineage and to find out the underlying mechanisms in order to prevent it.

Your work:

You will be part of the Synthetic and Molecular Biology group at TU Wien under the supervision of Dr. Astrid Mach-Aigner. The aim of this work will be to use CRISPR Cas9 to knock out genes in Trichoderma reesei, and phenotypically characterize the potential effect on cellulase production and the degeneration phenomenon.

Start: Between September – October 2025
Duration: 6 months

Tasks:

• Cultivating filamentous fungi
• Enzymatic assays (Cellulase activity, protein content…)
• Fungal transformation
• General molecular biology techniques (working with DNA/RNA)
• RT- qPCR

Who you are:

• Master’s Student in a biology-related field
• Experience in working under sterile conditions
• Good command of English (written & spoken)
• Able to work in a multicultural environment
• Highly motivated to learn new things
• Capable of working independently / Good organizational skills

Nice to have:

• Experience in one of the mentioned methods

Your benefits:

• Being part of a multicultural research group
• Co-authorship in a potential publication

Application and inquiries (also possible in German) per e-mail to:

Caroline Danner
TU Wien, Institute of Chemical, Environmental and Bioscience Engineering
Gumpendorfer Str. 1a, A-1060 Wien
E-mail: [email protected]