Not everyone likes chemistry, Elisabeth Schütte does. That is why she trained as a chemical laboratory technician at IGB. Meanwhile, she is employed in the IGB Department of Chemical Analytics and Biogeochemistry, and in 2019 she has been awarded a three-year BMBF grant for further training to help her start her career. | Photo: Volkmar Otto
Apprenticeships
We offer the following apprenticeships at IGB:
- Office Manager
- Computer Science Expert subject area: System Integration
- Chemical Laboratory Technician
- Biology Laboratory Technician
IGB was awarded the IHK label for excellent training quality. For the latest calls for applications, please consult our Job Portal. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact our Personnel Office.
Internships
Unsolicited applications: Each year, we offer a limited number of internships. These can be either mandatory internships (for pupils and students) or voluntary internships for a duration of up to four weeks. Longer periods can also be arranged on a case-by-case basis. Interns can be deployed in any of IGB’s research departments. Please send your application dossier, containing a letter of motivation, Curriculum Vitae and certificates, as a single pdf file by email to the secretary’s office of the department that interests you:
- (Dept. 1) Ecohydrology and Biogeochemistry >
- (Dept. 2) Community and Ecosystem Ecology >
- (Dept. 3) Plankton and Microbial Ecology >
- (Dept. 4) Fish Biology, Fisheries and Aquaculture >
- (Dept. 5) Evolutionary and Integrative Ecology >
Our secretaries will then forward your documents to the relevant members of staff. After reviewing whether we will be able to accept you for the specified period, we will contact you. We look forward to receiving your application at any time of the year!
In addition, we regularly offer students from Germany and abroad internships on the topic of 'Ecosystem services of inland waters and floodplains'. Suitable branches of study include biology, hydrology, geoecology, environmental sciences, geography and environmental economics. No payments are made for internships. The range of tasks includes:
- Involvement in interesting interdisciplinary research projects on the topic of ecosystem services and freshwaters
- Tackling work elements on these projects by carrying out research, preparing and analysing data, drawing up a report text, and helping to organise events
- Expert support, with the option of undertaking independent work, with regular feedback from the team
- Engagement in a motivating working environment and an international research group
Bachelor or master's thesis
IGB offers the opportunity to write your Bachelor or Master’s thesis, provided that both sides express a mutual interest and a suitable topic is available. Please contact the relevant scientists from the departments.
Voluntary ecological year (FÖJ)
Young people also have the opportunity to serve a voluntary ecological year at IGB, starting on 1 September each year. In this context, we work closely with the supporting organisations Jugendwerk Aufbau Ost (JAO), the Vereinigung Junger Freiwilliger (VJF) and the Internationale Jugendgemeinschaftsdienste (ijgd). Volunteers can choose to engage in various working groups in any of the following areas:
- Breeding and reintroducing the sturgeon/aquaculture
- Fish behaviour/individual behaviour, swarming behaviour and animal welfare
- Fish diseases/ecotoxicology
- Fish diseases/parasitology
- Analysis of water samples
- Supporting laboratory and field experiments with aquatic plants and periphyton
Tasks include daily animal care, feeding and cleaning, as well as laboratory work related to preparing experiments, sampling, processing and treating samples, analysing water and independently conducting other minor laboratory analyses. Data acquisition and maintenance as well as preliminary data analyses are also among the tasks to be completed in most of the research teams. In the course of the year, the opportunity may also arise to participate in field work for several days. In addition, all volunteers are warmly invited to attend scientific lectures and presentations which are held once or twice a week. Our volunteers gain insight into:
- scientific work for career guidance
- laboratory skills, experimental field work, handling chemicals
- the responsible handling of laboratory animals
- independent experimental setup and sample treatment
- involvement in experimental procedure, data acquisition and data evaluation
Your contact person at IGB is Asja Vogt. If you are interested in serving a Voluntary Ecological Year at IGB, please first contact one of the above mentioned supporting organisations.
In 2019, IGB was awarded the IHK label for Excellent Training Quality. In addition to the criteria in the two categories Mandatory and Excellence, we have also fulfilled the “on top criteria”. For example, it is not only a matter of course that our trainees receive an appropriate training compensation and that we provide them with all necessary work equipment free of charge, but also that our trainees are offered individual examination preparation. In an interview with the trainees and colleagues who are responsible for the training at IGB an IHK training consultant reviewed whether our ideas of good training also meet the needs of our trainees. Result: trainees and trainers confirm the special quality and the compliance with the criteria. | Photo: David Ausserhofer/IGB
You want to know how life works in its details? You want to work on plants, animals and microorganisms and understand their life processes? As a biology laboratory technician you examine the most diverse living beings, analyse their genetic material, cells, tissues and organs. Biology laboratory technicians are in demand in a wide range of industrial and research areas. They usually support researchers by preparing, carrying out and evaluating series of experiments – for example, when testing new pharmaceuticals, in water protection or in researching and combating diseases. Your future field of work could be in basic research, biotechnology, pharmacology, cosmetics or plant protection, but also in environmental conservation or food safety. | Photo: David Ausserhofer
Here, the ever helpful "IGB Ökis" and committed technicians have cleared the banks of Lake Müggelsee of the rubbish. But a "FÖJ" is more than that – Alina Heide was doing a Voluntary Ecological Year at IGB and described her experiences as follows: "I take care for the Arapaimas and sturgeons in the aquarium hall. In the laboratory I learn how to work scientifically. I can apply the knowledge I have gained in my own little project. So far I have been able to participate in many exciting and interesting activities, including fish-sampling in Lake Müggelsee, taking samples in Bautzen and visiting the research facilities at the Humboldt Universität. The knowledge and the practical relevance prepare me well for my planned studies in biology." | Photo: Nadja Neumann
