IMPRS for Biology And Computation (IMPRS-BAC)

The International Max Planck Research School for Biology And Computation offers you a dual education with supervision from experimental and computational groups and the opportunity to carry out research at the interface of biology, bioinformatics, mathematics and biochemistry. Our research groups work in epigenetics, bioinformatics, developmental biology, mathematics, sequence analysis, gene regulation, RNA biology, mechanobiology, protein biochemistry, stem cells and differentiation, statistics, molecular evolution, biophysics and more.

We are a joint graduate program of the Freie Universität Berlin (FU, departments of biology, chemistry, pharmacy and department of mathematics and computer science) and the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics (MPIMG).

As a PhD student of the IMPRS-BAC, your time will mainly be devoted to your PhD thesis work in one of the research groups of the school, but the IMPRS-BAC also offers an exciting and flexible curriculum, allowing you to gain both scientific and transferable skills:

• Welcome weeks lay the groundwork and introduce the breadth of our research
• University lectures in mathematics, computer science, bioinformatics, biochemistry and biology allow you to catch up with the areas unfamiliar to you
• Nanocourses push your knowledge at the cutting edge of research in biology and computation
• Summer schools provide an in-depth look
• Transferable skills complement the academic curriculum by teaching you to write, lead, publish, network, manage, present and plan your future career.
• Meetings with your Thesis Advisory Committee (TAC) and regular presentations guarantee good supervision.

All of our PhD students receive a contract or stipend providing them with sufficient funds to live on in Berlin. The amount and type will vary depending on the funding body. Some travel funding is also provided. There are no tuition fees in Germany, there is only an administrative fee to be paid to the university of 300 - 350 Euro per semester.