IMB (www.imb.de) is a research institute on the campus of Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany. It is generously funded by the Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation and the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Our research focuses on the biology of the cell nucleus and ranges from the molecular level to systems and computational approaches. Researchers at IMB are supported by strong core facilities that offer state-of-the-art equipment and training in protein production, microscopy, proteomics, cytometry, genomics and bioinformatics.

As part of the Protein Disorder in Transcription group headed by Sina Wittmann, you will work on a project that studies condensation of transcription factors on DNA. Thanks to the development of new imaging techniques, recent years uncovered that the transcription initiation machinery condenses into droplets with liquid-like properties. The lab is generally interested in understanding how these transcriptional condensates are formed and how they regulate gene expression (for more information please visit our website). Biological condensation is often driven by intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs), protein regions that do not fold into a 3D structure but remain flexible. Strikingly, IDRs are highly over-represented in proteins involved in transcription, especially in transcription factors. We are trying to decipher how IDRs control the formation and properties of condensates with approaches that range from in vitro biochemistry to genome-wide expression and binding studies in cells.