Professorship for research on Tumor Microenvironment, Heterogeneity & Plasticity (W3)

The Ruhr area, one of Europe’s largest metropolitan regions, offers attractive career opportunities for excellent
scientists and scholars from around the world. In 2021, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, TU Dortmund University, and
the University of Duisburg-Essen established the Research Alliance Ruhr to bundle their cutting-edge international research on the most urgent challenges facing humankind. There will be four research centers and a college. This is just the latest chapter in our long-standing collaboration as the University Alliance Ruhr (UA Ruhr), a community of 14,000 researchers and 120,000 students in the heart of Germany.

As part of the Research Alliance Ruhr, the Research Center One Health – from Molecules to Systems is offering the following position to be filled as early as possible at the Medical Faculty Essen in conjunction with the Faculty of Biology, University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE):

The Faculty of Biology and the Medical Faculty of the UDE enjoy an excellent international reputation in the fields of basic, translational, and clinical research. Research at the Medical Faculty in Essen focuses on the key areas oncology, cardiovascular medicine, and transplant, as well as the connecting specialties in immunology, infectious diseases, and translational neuroscience. These core issues have been consolidated in numerous research collaborations due to the interdisciplinary nature of basic research and clinically oriented science at the Essen Medical Campus in association with the Faculty of Biology and the University Alliance Ruhr.

The person selected to hold the new professorship position will chair the newly formed Department of Tumor
Microenvironment, Heterogeneity & Plasticity, with a main focus on basic and translational cancer research. The
professorship is associated with the Medical Faculty, jointly with the Faculty of Biology of UDE. Further affiliates are faculties at RUB and TU Dortmund, as well as the Erwin L. Hahn Institute of 7T Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Essen. These and related institutions have a strong track record of acquiring major extramural support for collaborative research funds in the area of life science and cancer research (SFB 1430, SFB 1530, CRC/TR 296, GRK 2098, GRK 2535, KFO 337). We welcome a research focus that contributes to these scientific fields.

Your Qualifications
The future chair should be an internationally acknowledged scientist in the fields of life sciences related to cancer. Applicants are expected to provide outstanding expertise to support and sustainably expand not only the existing clinical-scientific and basic or translational research programs in cancer research, but also that of the University Hospital of Essen and the UDE in general and joining forces also with partners at RUB and TU Dortmund. Thus, a great willingness to support the ZMB’s and Medical Faculty’s core research areas and to cooperate with internal and external networks is mandatory.

Expertise in leadership of a research group as well as publications in high-ranking peer-reviewed journals and
successful acquisition of competitive third-party funding projects are mandatory; experience in leading research consortia/networks is desirable. The University of Duisburg-Essen puts special emphasis on the quality of academic teaching. The teaching load is reduced to four semester hours per week (also possible in English).

The person selected as chair should possess strong organizational skills, the ability to cooperate with other
researchers, and the willingness to independently initiate and guide large research proposals.

Beyond this, the hiring requirements of Sections 36 and 37 of the North Rhine-Westphalia Higher Education Act
(Gesetz über die Hochschulen des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen, HG) apply.

Attractive Environment
The professorship will be part of the newly established Research Center One Health – from Molecules to Systems. The Center will enable the investigations of the fundamental mechanisms of health and disease, starting from the molecular level right through to higher-level systems. The ecosystem serves as a context for also considering the complex interrelationships between environmental health, animal health and human health, in keeping with the “One Health” concept. After all, humans can only stay healthy in an intact environment.

The Research Center is linked to all three members of the University Alliance Ruhr. We offer you an excellent scientific environment and attractive cooperation opportunities with renowned international, national, and regional partners.

The UA Ruhr offers an extraordinary scientific environment with a large number of central institutions in Essen and the Ruhr area that can support the professorship. The Department will be associated with the West German Cancer Center (WTZ) at the University Hospital of Essen (a leading comprehensive cancer center designated as Oncology Center of Excellence by the German Cancer Aid) and the ZMB (Center of Medical Biotechnology). The WTZ alongside other clinics and institutes has established itself as a supraregional institution in clinical care with special emphasis on cancer research. Applicants are expected to actively support and promote the development of this research focus. Since the position is embedded within the framework of the WTZ at the University Hospital of Essen, access to core facilities, biobanks, and datasets from large patient cohorts for excellent research is guaranteed.

As partner site of the federally funded German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), formed by seven excellent university medical centers and the German Cancer Research Center Heidelberg (DKFZ), the West German Cancer Center offers a highly competitive and stimulating scientific environment with the goal of linking translational research and application-oriented cancer research nationwide. Furthermore, the WTZ was selected as NCT (National Center of Tumor Diseases) site as result of a competitive international review and selection process as one of six sites in Germany.

Research Alliance Ruhr
The Research Alliance Ruhr is a cooperation of the three major universities in the Ruhr region, which has been initiated by the Ruhr Conference. The four research centers will focus on “One Health – from Molecules to
Systems”, “Chemical Sciences and Sustainability”, “Trustworthy Data Science and Security”, and “Future Energy Materials and Systems”. In addition, a “College for Social Sciences and Humanities” is being established.

The Research Alliance Ruhr will hire up to 50 research professors in the next few years and also offer numerous positions for research assistants. Join us now to create innovations for the world of tomorrow in Europe’s largest metropolitan region, where you can find a diversity of partners from science and industry
next door.

Your Application
Applications with the usual supporting documents [curriculum vitae, list of scientific publications [see www.uni-due.de/imperia/md/content/medizin/formblatt_aufbau_schriftenverzeichnis.pdf)] documents on scientific and
professional career, certificate copies, presentation of the applicant’s research profile and their respective perspective at the University of Duisburg-Essen, information on third-party funding, participation in academic
self-administration, past teaching experience and concepts for teaching, and five key publications should be submitted to Univ.-Prof. Dr. J. Buer, Dekan der Medizinischen Fakultät, Universitätsklinikum Essen, Hufelandstr. 55, 45147 Essen, by September 18 th , 2022. The application deadline implies the arrival
of the application at the Dean’s Office.

Please apply via e-mail to Berufungen@uk-essen.de. In addition, please complete the application form available at www.uni-due.de/med/de/organisation/bewerbungsbogen.php.

Our Welcome Services
Our Welcome Services are happy to provide full support especially to international applicants and their family in relocating to the Ruhr area, a metropolitan region on the rise. We may inform you about housing in urban or
rather rural areas and help you find childcare options, if needed. Our Dual Career Service can help your partner with their own professional development in the region, if requested.

Diversity Appreciated
The UA Ruhr promotes diversity and equal opportunities. We strive to significantly increase the proportion of women in research and teaching and therefore welcome applications from female scientists. We give
preference to severely disabled applicants, if their qualifications meet the requirements.

Further Information
Further information about the Research Center One Health – from Molecules to Systems can be found at: www.uaruhr.de/researchallianceruhr/onehealthruhr.html.en
There you will also find the advertisements for other open professorships of the Research Alliance Ruhr.