PhD position in Neuroscience – Cellular Brain Models of Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Work duties and areas of responsibility

As a PhD student in the doctoral program visi-on-brain in our research group, you are responsible for designing and producing data, analyzing the results and reporting on scientific projects (in writing and orally) – in collaboration with the research group leader and members of the group. Your duties mainly include establishment, culture, characterization, differentiation and studies of iPSC (induced pluripotent stem cells) derived models of the human brain in 2D and 3D, including downstream characterization of cell identity, cell function and networking. The tasks also include administrative work and collaboration with other disciplines. You will use cell and molecular biology methods, bioinformatics, advanced cell culture, RT-PCR, immunostaining, microscopy, flow cytometry, analysis of single cell and bulk omics sequencing data as well as mathematic modeling. Other existing tasks within the research group may also be relevant, such as involvement in other projects in the research group, administration, conference travel, presentations of research and supervision of students. As a Marie Curie doctoral network PhD student, you will be integrated into visi-on-brain and closely link your project to other projects in this European network and internship at a company.

We offer

Lund University is a public authority which means that employees get particular benefits, generous annual leave and an advantageous occupational pension scheme.

Read more on the University website about being a Lund University employee Work at Lund University

Within the MSCA network, we offer:

• MSCA allowances package (living + mobility; family allowance if applicable), in accordance with programme rules. 
• Comprehensive international training programme through the Doctoral Network (including courses, summer schools, and transferable skills training).
• Secondments with consortium partner
• Joint supervision and access to a multi-stakeholder ecosystem.

Qualifications 

Requirements for the position are:

• a second-cycle degree, completed course requirements of at least 240 higher education credits, of which at least 60 higher education credits at the second-cycle level, or in some other way acquired essentially equivalent knowledge within or outside the country.
• good ability to utilize the doctoral studies

The employment requirements are:

• Completed undergraduate studies in stem cell biology, neurobiology, molecular biology or equivalent
• Documented experience in culturing human iPSCs
• Experience of neural differentiation of human iPSC in 2D and 3D
• Experience in 3D organoid cultures
• Experience of standardization of methods and cells
• Experience in calcium signalling and imaging
• Ability to plan and use methods such as cloning, flow cytometry, immunostaining and imaging, statistical methods, bioinformatics
• Scientific skills to plan and analyze experiments
• Skills to function well in collaborative projects both within the group and with other research groups as well as with other disciplines
• Positive attitude, hard work and a drive to succeed
• Documented experience of presenting research in speech and writing
• Great emphasis will be placed on personal qualities. The tasks require that you are structured, accurate, persistent and with great interest in understanding human brain development.

Eligibility (MSCA Doctoral Network Rules)

Applicants must meet all MSCA DN eligibility criteria at the time of recruitment: 

• Doctoral Status Rule: The applicant must not already hold a PhD/doctoral degree. 
• Mobility Rule: The applicant must not haver esided or carried out their main activity (work/studies) in the Sweden for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before the recruitment date. 

The following experience is of further merit:

• Tissue engineering work
• Work with microfluidics
• Experience with Calcium imaging
• Development of algorithms
• Administrative tasks
• Interdisciplinary collaborations
• Good ability to supervise students

How to Apply

The application should include the following:

• Personal letter (max 1 page) including description of how you fulfill the requirements
• Short CV
• Graduation certificate
• 2 Reference letters

About the employment

The position is a fixed-term appointment of four years (100%), with a start date no later than 1 December 2026. The main rule is that employment at Lund University is conducted in Sweden, so you are expected to be able to perform your work on site in Lund.

Provisions regarding employment as a doctoral student are found in the Higher Education Ordinance (1993:100), Chapter 5, Sections 1-7. Provisions regarding admission to doctoral studies are found in Chapter 6, Section 3, Higher Education Ordinance (1993:100). More information is available on the university’s website.

More Information 

• Full details and official call documentation: https://marie-sklodowska-curie-actions.ec.europa.eu/actions/doctoral-networks
• Direct link to the project: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101227124