PhD Student | Research Group Migration and Health Inequalities

PhD Student | Research Group Migration and Health Inequalities

The Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR) is seeking to appoint a full‑time PhD student to join the ERC‑funded Research Group on Migration and Health Inequalities. The group, led by Silvia Loi, brings together experts from Demography, Quantitative Sociology, and Social Epidemiology to address the pressing scientific and societal question: Why do immigrants age in poorer health compared to non‑immigrants?

The research group agenda builds up on these three research areas:

1. Quantify the gaps in healthy ageing trajectories between immigrants and non‑immigrants by age, gender, socioeconomic status, and their interactions.
2. Identify the critical events and circumstances in immigrants’ lives that put them on a different healthy ageing trajectory from non‑immigrants.
3. Study the impact of family composition and family ties in mitigating health inequalities by migration background.

We are seeking a qualified and highly motivated student with a quantitative background and interests at the intersection of migration, ageing and health, broadly defined. The successful candidate must have a Master’s degree in Demography, Sociology, Social Epidemiology or related fields, and a strong quantitative background. Candidates with interests in topics surrounding migration, health and ageing in any setting and comparing across gender, socioeconomic class, or geographical location are welcome. Demonstrable skills in R or Stata are highly desirable.

This PhD studentship offers an excellent opportunity for motivated students to work with a highly international team of researchers, to take advantage of the interdisciplinary intellectual environment at the MPIDR, as well as substantial financial support for travel, research training and data acquisition. Admitted students take part in the International Max Planck Research School for Population, Health and Data Science (IMPRS‑PHDS) that merges demography, epidemiology and data science. IMPRS‑PHDS equips doctoral students not only with advanced knowledge of the theory and methods of demography and epidemiology (broadly defined as ‘population health’), but also with strong technical skills in statistics, mathematical modelling, and computational and data management methods (broadly referred to as ‘data science’). PHDS supports strong interdisciplinary research training and exchange within a network of universities in Europe and the US. The research school offers a core training programme in Rostock, extensive networking opportunities across partner sites, and high‑quality supervision across at least two institutes. For more information on the IMPRS‑PHDS curriculum please see

Please apply online via this survey and include in a single PDF file:

1. Curriculum Vitae including a list of publications.
2. Motivation letter, 1‑2 pages that describe how your expertise fits into the research agenda of the Research Group and the related project. Please include your research accomplishments, and highlight your technical skills and areas of expertise.
3. A writing example (e.g., one of your publications or working paper).
4. Contact information for up to two academic referees.

In order to receive full consideration, applications should be submitted by 28 February 2025. Online interviews will be held in the first half of March 2025. The starting date is flexible, but no later than 1 November 2025. The advertised position is located at the MPIDR. It is expected that the successful applicant will be in residence at the MPIDR, in Rostock, Germany. The PhD student is offered a 3‑year contract with remuneration based on the salary structure of the German public sector (Öffentlicher Dienst, TVöD Bund) currently starting at 34,295.22 € gross a year, and will be expected to be in residence at the Institute.

The Max Planck Society offers a broad range of measures to support the reconciliation of work and family. These are complemented by the MPIDR’s own initiatives. For more information, see: In addition, there are a range of central initiatives and measures primarily geared towards helping young female researchers and mothers to advance their career. See the link below for some examples:

Our Institute values diversity and is keen to employ individuals from minorities and under‑represented groups. The Max Planck Society is committed to increasing the number of individuals with disabilities in its workforce and therefore encourages applications from such qualified individuals. Furthermore, the Max Planck Society seeks to increase the number of women in those areas where they are underrepresented and therefore explicitly encourages women to apply.

For inquiries about both positions, please contact Silvia Loi at