for a fixed term of 3 years.
Bremen University of Applied Sciences is cosmopolitan and promotes applied research. With approximately 70 degree programs—most of which are international—and innovative, lifelong learning formats, Bremen University of Applied Sciences offers nearly 9,000 students opportunities for personal development and a successful start to their careers. Thanks to our international profile, we have held a leading position among universities of applied sciences for decades. Improving study conditions and creating attractive workplaces are priorities for us, and these are reflected in the university’s development planning.
The Biological Structures and Biomimetics Group, led by Prof. Dr. Jan-Henning Dirks, is based at the Biomimetics-Innovation-Centre (BIC) at Hochschule Bremen. The group investigates the structure, mechanics, and formation of arthropod exoskeletons — one of the most diverse and mechanically sophisticated biological composite materials on Earth. Using an integrative approach that combines comparative morphology, experimental physiology, and molecular biology, we study how insect exoskeletons and other biological structures are built, how they function, and how they can inspire novel engineering solutions.
This PhD position is embedded in a DFG-funded research programme investigating how light and the circadian clock control the daily deposition of chitin in the insect cuticle. Insects form their exoskeleton in daily growth layers — alternating bands of differently oriented chitin fibres — a process that in some species is directly regulated by a peripheral epidermal light sensor. This phenomenon has profound implications for understanding how environmental cues shape biomaterial architecture and mechanical performance at the nanoscale. The project will, for the first time, systematically investigate this phenomenon across a broad range of insect groups using a combination of comparative microscopy, controlled illumination experiments, and molecular clock-gene analysis.
