PhD Position: Microbiology of Functional Beverages

About the PhD position This PhD project will focus on the isolation, physiological characterization, and functional evaluation of microbial strains from fermented beverage ecosystems (e.g. water kefir and related systems). The goal is to better understand microbial interactions and metabolic outputs, and to translate this knowledge into controlled and application-oriented fermentation systems. The project combines classical microbiology, fermentation science, and modern molecular approaches, with strong potential for industrial collaboration. Your responsibilities  Isolate, cultivate, and preserve microbial strains from fermented beverage systems  Perform physiological, genomic, and functional characterization of strains  Design and optimize laboratory-scale fermentation experiments  Analyse chemical and microbiological parameters  Integrate microbiological and fermentation datasets  Publish results in peer-reviewed journals  Contribute to grant proposals  Support teaching activities in the field of functional beverages Job profile  You are highly motivated and have a strong in microbiology and beverage fermentations  MSc in Biology, Microbiology or related discipline.  Experience of culturing and isolating microbial strains.  Experience in characterizing microbial strains and fermentations.  Experience in or willingness to learn bioinformatics, statistical data analyses, data processing and analytical chemical analyses.  Evidence of research activity (publications, conference presentations, awards) is desirable.  Project management, analytical, report writing and data analysis skills is desirable.  Commitment to teamwork and collaborating with colleagues and international partners.  A willingness to contribute to teaching activities.  Excellent English communication skills. We Offer  Friendly and inspiring working atmosphere in an international, young research group.  Access to state-of-the-art infrastructure.  Graduate Education at an excellent university.  The position is fixed-term (36 months).  Salary according to TV-L E13 (65%).  The position is suitable for disabled persons. Disabled applicants will be given preference in case of generally equivalent suitability, aptitude and professional performance.  TUM strives to raise the proportion of women in its workforce and explicitly encourages applications from qualified women. Start Date As soon as possible. How To Apply Please send your letter of motivation, complete CV, and contacts of two potential references in a single PDF document to application.fbt@ls.tum.de. The deadline for application is March 24th, 2026. Please contact application.fbt@ls.tum.de for any questions you might have.