Interested in joining our group as a Bachelor’s student?

We supervise any theses that fall within our research areas, which you can find here. Other topics are possible if you can convince any postdoctoral scientist in our lab that the topic is scientifically interesting. A thesis in our lab works like this:

1) Please apply by 31st January

2) To apply, please send an e-mail to the most suitable scientist in our group:
Reproductive immunity in insects: Dr. Oliver Otti
Cellular and reproductive immunity in insects: Dr. Christoph-Rüdiger von Bredow
Reproductive proteomics: Dr. Martin Garlovsky
Cellular and evolutionary lipid biology: Dr. David Flores-Benitez
All other topics: Prof. Dr. Klaus Reinhardt
Examples of previous theses in our lab are listed at the end of this page.

3) Please send:
– what degree you are studying for
– a short explanation of what interests you in our group, e.g. why do you want to do a thesis in our group?
– if you already have an idea, what kind of topic you would like to do in our group
– a confirmation that you have passed all of your exams (this is important to us because we want you to focus on your thesis while you are in our group)

Let us know in what of our research topics you are broadly interested in. Read at least one paper on the topic and be as specific as possible about what you would like to investigate. If you just want to be given a topic and work down the protocols for your thesis, then please choose a different lab, our focus is on thinking, not technical protocols.

4) Approximate schedule
13th March: Initial meeting with supervisor
15th March start Forschungspraktikum: reading papers, writing a short essay about your topic, and designing an experiment for your thesis (you will get feedback on the writing!); this essay will be the Introduction of your BSc thesis.
17th or 24th April: Present your experiment in our lab meeting; get feedback on your ideas
29th April – June: Practical work, keep this period free of other jobs.
1st July: Start writing
August: Submit BSc thesis

5) Examples of previous BSc theses in our group:

• Can microbes affect the evolution of genitalia?
• Glycosylation in bedbug sperm
• Sex-specific variation in fitness under heat stress in Tribolium beetles
• Local adaptation of spermatozoa to habitat-specific microbes in crickets
• Characterization of FAD lifetime parameters during changes in catabolic metabolism using TCSPC-FLIM
• The influence of moisture on pit-building in antlions: a field experiment