Internships Details

About the Organization

The Department of Plant Physiology of the Faculty of Science at the Charles University in Prague has long and proud tradition. As a direct successor of the Institute of Plant Anatomy and Physiology founded by Prof. Nemec in the end of the 19th century, the Department has a rich academic heritage. It is the oldest educational institution of its kind in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Since its establishment, the Department has created an excellent basis for plant scientists. Its history has been enriched by great personalities included plant anatomists and physiologists Prof. S. Prat, Prof. J. Pazourek, Assoc. Prof. Retovsky, prof. K. Hruby, etc.

The Department of Plant Physiology fulfils two complementary functions. Education of young researchers is tightly connected to the research focused on various aspects of plant biology. Our research projects, however, take advantage of applying various interdisciplinary methods from ecology to biomedicine.

Both, teaching and research are of great quality reflecting current state-of-art. We generate a promising record of impacted publications every including articles in Nature and Science.

Job Description

Experimental analysis of plant cell morphogenesis mechanisms in the context of small GTPases signaling - esp. in Arabidopsis and tobacco. Cloning and characterization of cDNA encoding regulators and effectors of small GTPases; search for interactors using 2-hybrid system in yeast; preparation and studies of GFP funsion proteins in transient (including biolostic) as well as stable transformed plants. Analysis of Arabidopsis mutants phenotypes.

# of Positions per term

1

Start Dates

Any Term

Duration of Internship

10 weeks minumum

Qualifications

Academic Background

Biology, Cellular Biology, Plant Biology, Science and other related majors. Graduate and undergraduate students with a solid foundation in cellular biology are great candidates.

Skills/Experience

Required: The prospective internship student should have an essential knowledge of cell biology (not necessarily plant) on the level of textbooks as e.g. Alberts et al..

Preferred: Students with essential practice in DNA manipulation and microscopy

Language Ability

English

Other Requirements

Internship Costs

Total costs vary depending on how long you plan to be abroad, where you will be living, your personal spending habits, and current exchange rates. The following estimates will give you a ballpark figure for this internship. Get help with the math from our handy Cost Calculator.

IE₃ Program Fee

The program fee* for the first term of any internship is $2950 - $3150. You do not pay tuition in addition to the program fee. Visit your University's IE₃ page for details, costs for additional terms, and campus administrative fees.

*The program fee noted above reflects the anticipated fee increase that will go into effect for the Fall 2010 term and will apply to all terms thereafter.

Estimated One-Time Expenses

Expense Type	Price
International Travel	Airfare: $1200 USD
Visa Fees	None
Recommended Immunizations	None

*See Additional Cost Information below.

Estimated Monthly Expenses

Expense Type	Price/month
Housing	15 000 CZK (all inclusive)
Food	Included in accomdation
Local Transportation	Included in accomodation
Recreation	Included in accomodation
Personal Expenses	Included in accomodation

Compensation

None

Additional Information

Visit Charles University's website for more details: Charles University Faculty of Science

Department of Plant Physiology covers major disciplines of experimental botany from the level of molecules, cells, ontogeny to anatomy and plant eco-physiology.

Additional skills students have the potential to learn on this internship:

Advanced methods of classical DNA cloning using PCR , but also GATEWAY approaches. Preparation and use of constructs for recombinant protein expression, 2-hybrid screens and GFP-fusions. RT-PCR cloning of cDNA, semi-quantitative RT-PCR for mRNA expression evaluation. Confocal microscopy observation of GFP-fusion proteins localization and dynamics (incl. FRAP). Methods/approaches for Arabidopsis mutants genotyping usin PCR, comparative phenotypes analysis of Arabidopsis mutants.