PhD position "Harmonising Ethical Regulation of Psychedelic Therapy with Broader Medical Practi[...]

Overview

Would you like to join a pioneering international EU Marie Sklodowska-Curie Doctoral Network that is shaping the future of psychedelic therapy by combining cutting-edge scientific research, interdisciplinary training, and cross-sector collaboration across Europe? The INTEGRATE consortium is offering 16 fully funded PhD positions within its network for talented researchers that would like to push scientific boundaries and make real societal impact.

DC14 – Harmonising Ethical Regulation of Psychedelic Therapy with Broader Medical Practices

Responsibilities

The project aims to explore ethical considerations within psychedelic therapy regulation. It will compare ethical governance in psychedelic therapy with other medical treatments, analyze unique ethical dimensions of psychedelic therapy, and translate insights into practical guidelines as well as determine if and how psychedelic ethics can improve broader medical practices.

The project uses mixed normative-analytic and qualitative methods to address ethical questions. The doctoral candidate will analyze ethical reasoning in policies, academic literature and public discourse on transformative interventions, including psychedelic therapy. Through stakeholder interviews and focus groups, the doctoral candidate will collect and synthesize stakeholder perspectives on ethical psychedelic therapy regulation, identifying areas of consensus and divergence.

The doctoral candidate will develop and use qualitative measures to conduct and analyze individual and focus group interviews with stakeholders and analyze existing qualitative datasets to explore ethical questions.

Qualifications and eligibility

General eligibility criteria

• The position is open to candidates of any nationality (European and non-European) who fulfil the requirements set for the Doctoral Candidates (DCs) funded by Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions.
• Applicants must hold a Master’s degree in a relevant academic field, allowing enrolment in a PhD program at the hiring beneficiary.
• Applicants must not previously have been awarded a PhD degree.
• Applicants must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country in which the DC project for which they are applying is based for more than 12 months in the 3 years prior to recruitment. This excludes short stays such as holidays, compulsory national service or time spent as part of a procedure for obtaining refugee status under the Geneva Convention.
• Applicants must be willing to undertake secondments at another institute of the network during the DC project, including at institutes in other countries.
• Applicants must be able to demonstrate their ability to understand and express themselves in both written and spoken English at a level that is sufficiently high to fully benefit from the network training (C1/C2 level).
• Applicants are expected to be motivated to work in the field of psychedelic therapy.
• Applicants are expected to work independently, well-structured and collaboratively in a multidisciplinary consortium.

Additional eligibility criteria

• A Master’s degree in neuroscience, bioethics, anthropology, philosophy, implementation research or another related field.
• Experience with qualitative interviews is very helpful but not required.
• Interest in psychedelic therapy and mental health.
• Strong communication skills for interviews and teamwork.
• German is helpful but not required.