MYCOS application for funding to cover costs for 11 PhD candidates was approved by MUI and UIBK for a 3-year period. The initial application process will be double-blind. CALL IS CLOSED.

NEWS:

_________________________________

Minimum requirements for application

• Master degree (natural sciences, medical sciences or similar)
• English C1 level (C1 level- Cambridge, overall score of > 95 and writing score 21 TOEFL-IBT, >6.5 overall score IELTS) within the last 7 years, or native speaker

Topic

Scientists and medical professionals at the Innsbruck campus, specializing in Infection, Immunity, Transplantation, and Biointeractions, have united to establish a comprehensive research and training program called MYCOS specialized on antimycotic resistance from one Health Approach. The consortium consists of ten members from the Medical University Innsbruck (MUI) and two from the University of Innsbruck (UIBK). Among the consortium's members, four are medical doctors - three primarily involved in clinical work and one focusing on preclinical research - while six are natural scientists. Their aim is to collaboratively address and investigate four key aspects comprising:

• 'Azole Burden': Investigates the impact and implications of azole exposure on resistance prevalence and abundance
• 'Clinical Impact of Azole Exposure': Explores how azole exposure affects mycobiome composition and the development of a fungal resistome.
• 'Azole Resistance': Examines and utilizes the molecular basis of azole resistance to understand and model resistance for the development of novel drug discovery platforms
• 'Alternative Therapeutics': The aim is to identify safe and effective antifungals for treating emerging azole- and multidrug-resistant fungal pathogens in clinical settings.

Available MYCOS PhD projects

1. Identification of the origin and fate of azole fungicides
   
   
2. Azole antifungals in blood samples taken from the general population: Prevalence, quantification and differences across population subgroups
   
   
3. Biodiversity, distribution and prevalence of azole resistant fungi from natural to intensively farmed soils with a focus on land use gradients
   
   
4. Azole antifungals in deceased donors and recipients of organ transplants consequences
   
   
5. The gut mycobial resistome in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)
   
   
6. Immunomodulation by intratumoral mycobiome
   
   
7. Impact of iron availability and azole treatment on the course of candidemia, the mycobiome and resistance development
   
   
8. Molecular mechanisms driving resistance to medically important triazoles in Aspergillus fumigatus
   
   
9. Azole binding properties and the development of a novel drug screening tool
   
   
10. Antimicrobial photodynamic therapy as emerging strategy to combat azole-resistant human-pathogenic microbes
    
    
11. Immunomodulatory potential of antimicrobials/antimycotics

Application process

Initial phase. (i) Applications must be submitted via online form available from 8.4-15.5.24 on www.mui-mycos.at and will be screened double-blinded. Once submitted, candidates will see the status waiting. (ii) Applicants must check their application status for "approved", "waiting", or "denied". The top applicants will get an "approved", will be invited to submit their supporting documents (CV, master/diploma certificate, English C1-level, recommendation letter) and applications will be linked to personal information. In case of dropouts at this stage, the top candidates will be filled with candidates from the "waiting" category or another round of recruitment will be started.

Online interviews. Top candidates that have proven their eligibility (proven by supporting documents) will be invited for standardized online interviews. These will be individually scheduled between 10.-14.6.24.

Matching process. After selecting the eleven successors, applicants will be paired with specific PhD-topics/projects and their corresponding supervisors. The matching process considers the applicants' indicated preferred PhD-topic/project choices (i.e., first, second, and third choices).