I started my group at the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP) in Vienna, Austria, in January 2013. The focus of my group is to understand what is the contribution of miRNA-mediated regulation to increasing the complexity of developmental programs and therefore the cellular diversity of a multicellular organism. In order to answer this question we are currently trying to understand how is the spatio-temporal specificity of particular miRNAs determined during development (at the transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels) and what are the functional consequences of this. We are also exploring what roles the addition of miRNAs to developmental genetic networks may have played during the evolution of multicellularity.
The IMP is an outstanding place where to do research, we are in a very international environment provided by the Vienna Biocenter, we have access to state-of-the-art facilities and we have a close relationship with three other C. elegans groups and a well-established RNA community. And last but not least, we are located in the beautiful and stimulating city of Vienna.
Interested Ph.D. candidates are encouraged to contact me. However, all applications must be through our graduate program: http://www.vbcphdprogramme.at/
A postodoc position is also available. For more details on our research, publications and our Institute, please visit our website: http://www.imp.ac.at/research/research-groups/cochella-group/
