Opportunities & offers

MSc and Erasmus students:

Bachelor’s students:

We have open positions, the topics of available Bachelor’s theses are listed below and in SIS. Please contact us if you are interested in a different topic.

Nontuberculous mycobacteria in the environment: methods for detection, identification and monitoring of potential sources of infection

Nontuberculous mycobacteria are detected annually in more than 200 patients in the Czech Republic. However, the question remains as to where these patients acquired the infection. The aim of the thesis will be to describe the types of environments in which mycobacteria commonly occur and which may serve as reservoirs of pathogenic species. Another aim will be to describe methods for monitoring and identifying mycobacteria in the environment and, where appropriate, to propose methods and types of high-risk environments suitable for monitoring mycobacteria in the Czech Republic, in order to help identify sources of infection.

Mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance in mycobacteria

Retrospective data obtained in collaboration with the National Reference Laboratory for Mycobacteria show that individual mycobacterial species differ significantly in their resistance to various antibiotics. The aim of the thesis will be to describe known mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance in M. tuberculosis and, in particular, in nontuberculous mycobacteria, with a focus on clinically used antibiotics. The second aim will be to select clinical isolates of nontuberculous mycobacteria with interesting antimicrobial resistance profiles, which could subsequently be used to discover new mechanisms of antibiotic resistance.

Virulence mechanisms and evolution of novel nontuberculous mycobacterial pathogens

Recently, several new potential pathogens belonging to the group of nontuberculous mycobacteria were identified in the Czech Republic and whole-genome sequenced in collaboration with the National Reference Laboratory for Mycobacteria. The aim of the thesis will be to summarize known mechanisms of virulence that enable mycobacterial pathogens to survive in the host and to assess whether these mechanisms are also present in the newly discovered potentially pathogenic species. The thesis will also evaluate how virulence mechanisms in mycobacteria may have evolved, how they are related to the transition from an environmental lifestyle to opportunistic or obligate pathogenicity, and whether the newly described species carry genomic features indicating evolutionary adaptation to survival in the host. The final aim will be to summarize methods that could be used to test virulence and pathogenicity in new mycobacterial species.