Welcome to the IMPRS “Principles of Microbial Life” in Marburg, Germany!

We are dedicated to offering  excellent research opportunities for junior scientists with background in biology, biochemistry, chemistry, physics and bionformatics from all over the world. With us you can do a PhD in different branches of microbiological research, including
  • Cellular organization & architecture
  • Microbial communities & host-microbe interactions
  • Natural products & chemical biology
  • Physical biology
  • Physiology & metabolism
  • Signal transduction & information processing
  • Systems & synthetic biology.

Since 2003 the IMPRS in Marburg offers an international PhD program which provides interdisciplinary training in modern microbiology, state-of-the-art research facilities, and mentoring by world class scientists. Our thriving scientific community and academic landscape will give you the freedom to embark on your scientific journey!
Application process
Learn more about the application process and submit your application.
All events & activities
See our seminar program, workshops & other events.

Upcoming events

Graduate Students Mini-Symposium I 2025

Feb 17, 2025 01:15 PM (Local Time Germany)
MPI for Terrestrial Microbiology, Room: Lecture Hall / Hybrid

Sebastian Großmann

Investigating the regulation of the type III secretion system using optogenetic tools
Feb 21, 2025 01:00 PM (Local Time Germany)
MPI for Terrestrial Microbiology, Room: Lecture Hall / Hybrid

Sebastian Barthel

Developing in vitro tools for engineering allosteric transcription factors, enzymes and metabolic systems
Feb 21, 2025 04:00 PM (Local Time Germany)
MPI for Terrestrial Microbiology, Room: Lecture hall / On site
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Our graduate program International Max Planck Research School Principles of Microbial Life: From molecules to cells, from cells to interactions (IMPRS-µLife) is a collaboration between the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, the University of Marburg and the Center for Synthetic Microbiology (SYNMIKRO).
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