2026 PhD Position in Computational Neuroscience at the Technical University of Braunschweig Germany

This interdisciplinary project combines experimental neurobiology with advanced computational data analysis and contributes to a better understanding of how psychostimulants modulate neural circuits at the whole-brain level. Ultimately, this research may lead to the development of more effective treatments for neuropsychiatric disorders such as ADHD.

Your Tasks:

• Building on the already established Python-based computational framework, you will perform large-scale data analysis of light-sheet imaging datasets. This includes preprocessing, motion correction, segmentation of tens of thousands of neurons, registration to reference brain atlases, and statistical comparison between control and treatment groups.
• You will further develop and improve the computational tools for time-series analysis, activity classification, and visualization of functional brain maps.
• Additional extensions may include incorporating deep learning techniques and parallelization using GPUs to accelerate data processing and improve scalability.

Table of Content

• Summary
• Benefits
• Requirements
• Application Deadline
• How To Apply

Summary

• Application DeadlineJanuary 1, 2026
• Study LevelPhD
• SponsorTechnical University of Braunschweig (TU Braunschweig)
• City to studyLower Saxony
• School to studyTechnical University of Braunschweig (TU Braunschweig)
• Eligible CountryAll Countries

Benefits

• Work on exciting future-oriented research topics in an inspiring work environment as part of the university community.
• A vibrant campus life in an international atmosphere with lots of intercultural offers and international cooperations.
• Pay in accordance with the collective agreement TV-L (a special payment at the end of the year as well as a supplementary benefit in the form of a company pension, comparable to a company pension in the private sector) including 30 days' vacation per year.
• Flexible working and part-time options and a family-friendly university culture, awarded the "Family-friendly university" audit since 2007.
• Special continuing education programs for young scientists, a postdoc program, as well as other offerings from the Central Personnel Development Department and sports activities.

Requirements

• Applicants from all nationalities.
• You have a degree (Master’s or equivalent) in Biology or related fields.
• You should have strong programming skills (particularly in Python) and enjoy working with large datasets.
• Ideally, you already have experience in image analysis, machine learning, or neural data processing.
• Familiarity with tools such as NumPy, Pandas, PyTorch/TensorFlow, and/or ANTs is a plus, but not required.
• Prior knowledge in biology or microscopy is not necessary, but a keen interest in neuroscience and data-driven exploration of brain function is essential.
• You will join an international and interdisciplinary team, so good communication skills in English are expected.

Check also:
Scholarship winning strategies for 2026 (Upcoming Webinar)

Application Deadline

How To Apply

Are you interested? Please send your application preferably via email to Reinhard Köster (r.koester(at)tu-bs.de), and must contain the following documents.

• Motivation Letter including contact information for two references
• Curriculum Vitae including complete address, phone number, email address, educational background, language skills, and work experience
• copies of bachelor and master degrees and transcript of grades in original language and in English or German translation
• additional documents should be provided on request

All documents should be in the PDF format; preferably, please provide the entire application in a single file.

For any questions, please contact:

• Prof. Reinhard Köster: r.koester(at)tu-bs.de
• Dr. Jakob von Trotha: j.von-trotha(at)tu-braunschweig.de

For more information, kindly visit TU Braunschweig scholarship webpage.