The Berlin Institute of Health at Charité (BIH) is publishing the second call for students for its PhD program, which consists of

Six doctoral positions (PhD, MD/PhD, Dr. rer. nat., or equivalent)

BIH’s mission is medical translation: to transfer the results of biomedical research into novel approaches to personalized prediction, prevention, diagnostics and therapies and, conversely, to use clinical observations to develop new research ideas. The aim is to deliver medically relevant benefits to patients and the general population.

Program description:

The BIH PhD Program contributes to the overall translational mission of BIH. This PhD program aims at fostering interdisciplinarity and will support and promote young translational talents within the BIH ecosystem and beyond. Positions in the BIH PhD Program are intended for students who wish to obtain a doctoral degree and who are motivated to carry out translational research. The following projects are open for applications:

1. “Advancing Adoptive T cell Therapy - Directed in vitro Differentiation of CD4 T Cells from iPSCs” (working group of Prof. Julia Polánsky-Biskup)
2. “Advancing early diagnosis of microbial infections with a mass spectrometry-based biomarker panel” (working group of Dr. Johannes Hartl)
3. “Advancing Patient-Specific Immunomodulatory Therapy by Defining Immune Mechanisms Driving Healing in Osteoarthritis” (working group of Prof. Johanna Bolander)
4. “Digital Pathology 2.0 - Histology-based Molecular Analysis Platform (HISTOMAP)” (Dr. Naveed Ishaque, project leader in the working group of Prof. Roland Eils)
5. “Disease modeling of human mitochondriopathies via bone marrow organoids” (working group of Dr. Dr. Leif Ludwig)
6. “Heterogeneity of adiposity and associated metabolic disorders” (working group of Prof. Claudia Langenberg)
7. “Immunity to the `Dark Self´ - a decisive factor in cancer immunity” (working group of Prof. Andreas Thiel)
8. “Long-read spatial transcriptomic profiling towards a crossorgan pan-fibrotic disease signature” (working group of Prof. Christian Conrad)
9. “Outcome prediction using electronic health record foundation models” (working group of PD Dr. Christian Meisel)
10. “Real-Time Insights into Treatment Response Dynamics in Pediatric Cancer Organoids” (working group of Dr. Dr. René Hägerling)
11. “Relevance-based Supervised Detection of Somatic Variants” (working group of Prof. Dieter Beule)
12. “STREAM - Signal TRansduction in Endocrine Adrenal Mutations” (Dr. Gabriel Stölting, project leader in the working group of Prof. Ute Scholl)

The duration of a position in the BIH PhD Program is three years with a possible extension of up to one year. The BIH PhD Program facilitates the enrollment of the selected candidates in one of its cooperating PhD schools or in structured PhD programs. Fellows of the BIH PhD Program are required to follow the curriculum of the PhD school or structured program with which they are affiliated. In addition, BIH will organize a specific translational curriculum corresponding to about 5 ECTS over three years, which fellows will be required to participate in. 

Who can apply?

We are looking for excellent candidates with a Master’s degree in various fields (Life Sciences, Bioinformatics, Mathematics, Physics, Computational Biology or similar, depending on the project you are applying for) and who are qualified to pursue a doctoral degree. You must have a strong academic background, exceptional motivation in doing translational research and a track record that matches the project(s) for which you are applying.

How does the selection take place?

Interested candidates can apply until February 10, 2025 (2:00 p.m., Central European Time (CET)) via the BIH application portal (see link below). 

After an administrative review / formal check by BIH Biomedical Innovation Academy (BIA), applications will be forwarded to the PIs, who may contact candidates of interest for a brief 5-minute interview between mid-February and early March, to determine which candidates they will pre-select. 

Pre-selected applicants will be invited to selection days which will be held virtually from March 25 to April 2, 2025. These selection days will include panel interviews with all PIs to assess the motivation and quality of the applicants, followed by individual interviews organized between PIs and applicants. After the selection days, applicants and PIs will be asked to communicate their preferences to the program management.

Following the selection days, successful applicants will be matched with Principal Investigators’ projects. 

What we offer:

• Working in an international environment with a translational focus
• Belonging to the inspiring scientific community at BIH that aims to turn research into health
• Remuneration at E13 according to TVöD VKA-K, as a rule at 65%. The doctoral contract will be drawn up in accordance with formal regulation section 2.1 of the WissZeitVG (https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/wisszeitvg/__2.html) for the entire duration of the doctorate
• Appointment duration: three years with the possibility to extend to four years if necessary to the completion of the degree
• 30 vacation days per year
• Additional benefits customary in the public sector

We live diversity! 

BIH strongly encourages qualified women to apply. Applications from people with a migrant background who meet the hiring requirements are expressly encouraged. Severely disabled applicants and those with equal status will be given preferential consideration in case of equal suitability.

How to apply?

Applications can be submitted from until February 10, 2025 (2:00 p.m., CET), on the BIH application portal (https://portal.bihealth.de/portal/SitePages/Home.aspx). 

Any questions?

Don’t hesitate to contact us!

Dr. Aurélie Philippe, aurelie.philippe at bih-charite.de, +49 (0)30 450 543 336.