PhD position in Synthetic Programming of Bacterial Population Behavior

KU Leuven • Leuven, Flanders • Posted July 14, 2026

About the Role

The applicant should hold a degree that formally qualifies her/him to enter the PhD program of the Leuven Arenberg Doctoral School (http://set.kuleuven.be/phd/). An outspoken interest in synthetic biology, bacteriology, molecular biology, cell biology and genetic engineering, together with advanced command of both spoken and written English is mandatory.

We are looking for a highly motivated researcher to develop synthetic biology approaches that enable programming functional heterogeneity within bacterial populations. The research will include the design and engineering of genetic circuitry and population-level control strategies that allow to impose diverse cellular states and task specializations within clonal bacterial populations.

Within the Department of Microbial and Molecular Systems (M²S) of the KU Leuven, the Aertsen-group is looking for a motivated pre-doctoral researcher to take part in a research program concerning the synbio engineering of bacterial populat...