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.

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.