PhD Student (m/w/d) Single-cell & Spatial Omics in Kidney Adaptation (ERC-funded)

PhD Student (m/w/d) Single-cell & Spatial Omics in Kidney Adaptation (ERC-funded)

Department of Nephrology and Hypertension, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein (UKSH), and Kiel University (CAU)

You will work at the interface ofKiel University (CAU) and theUniversity Hospital Schleswig-Holstein (UKSH) , one of Germany’s leading academic medical centers. The research environment includes close collaboration with theInstitute of Clinical Molecular Biology (IKMB) and theCompetence Centre for Genomic Analysis (CCGA) , providing access to cutting‑edge genomics infrastructure and expertise. Kiel hosts multipleExcellence Clusters (including Precision Medicine in Chronic Inflammation) andCollaborative Research Centers (SFBs) , offering a highly interactive ecosystem connecting basic science, computation, and clinical research.

Our lab studies how human kidneys regenerate after organ loss using cutting‑edge single‑cell and translational approaches. Rather than focusing on injury, this project investigates pure adaptation in living kidney donors—a unique human model in which individuals lose 50% of kidney mass yet show remarkable compensatory growth.

Start in our team

We are looking for professional and competent support to start as soon as possible , limited for 3 years.

What we offer:

• The salary will be based on the German E13 TV‑L scale, if terms and conditions under collective bargaining law are fulfilled
• Part‑time employment currently 25 hours/week
• Access tostate‑of‑the‑art single‑cell and spatial omics technologies
• Structured supervision and training, with strong support for skill development, publications, and career progression
• You will contribute to building thefirst longitudinal single‑cell and spatial atlas of human kidney adaptation , combining single‑cell RNA‑seq, spatial transcriptomics, and single‑cell ATAC‑seq with deeply phenotyped clinical cohorts
• You will support the development and application of experimental and computational workflows, working closely with a postdoctoral researcher and other team members
• You will be involved in generating and analyzing multi‑omic datasets and contributing to collaborative projects with clinicians and interdisciplinary partners, with increasing independence over the course of your PhD

Your profile:

We are looking for candidates with a strong interest insingle‑cell and/or spatial omics and a willingness to develop skills inbioinformatics analysis and data integration .

• Master’s degree (or equivalent) in bioinformatics, computational biology, genomics, molecular biology, or a related field
• Basic experience or strong interest in single‑cell data analysis (e.g., scRNA‑seq; spatial or epigenomics is a strong plus)
• Programming skills in R and/or Python
• Interest in or willingness to engage in wet‑lab work (single‑cell workflows)
• Ability to work collaboratively in an interdisciplinary environment, with growing independence over time