PhD fellowship in “dopamine and serotonin release dynamics during health and disease”
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PhD fellowship in “dopamine and serotonin release dynamics during health and disease”
Department of Neuroscience
Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences
University of Copenhagen
We are offering a PhD fellowship in “dopamine and serotonin release dynamics during health and disease” commencing December 1st, 2025 or as soon as possible hereafter.
Our group and research
We are a new research group of 3-4 people focusing on dopamine and serotonin dynamics and the machinery that shapes the availability of these neurotransmitters during social and cognitive behaviors. Moreover, we seek to refine our understanding of exogenous and endogenous factors that perturb the finetuning of dopamine and serotonin upon exposure to stressful stimuli. The lab employs a broad spectrum of techniques, including rodent behavior, fiber photometry, opto- and chemogenetics as well as protein biochemistry and tracer-flux studies.
Project description
This project will investigate cortical and striatal dopamine and serotonin release dynamics in freely moving animals during naïve and stress-exposed states. The project aims to delineate factors and circuits that modulate dopamine and serotonin release to identify factors that render individuals resilient or susceptible to exogenous factors. Primary methods include stereotactic surgery, opto- and chemogenetics, fiber photometry, behavioral analysis. Additionally, IHC, qPCR, radio-/fluorescent tracer flux studies and biochemistry using heterologous and native tissue preparations will be employed.
Principal supervision: Direct Supervision and Funding Provided by Felix P. Mayer; Main Supervisor: Prof. Ulrik Gether; email: gether@sund.ku.dk; tel 28757548
Start: Dec. 1st, 2025 or as soon as possible thereafter.
Duration: 3 years as a PhD student (+up to 3 months as research assistant, if required for enrolment)
Job description
Your key tasks as a PhD student at SUND are:
Applicants must have qualifications corresponding to a master’s degree related to the subject area of the project, e.g. biology, molecular biomedicine, medicine, human biology, neuroscience or equivalent.
Other important criteria are:
Place of employment
The place of employment is at the Department of Neuroscience, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen. We offer creative and stimulating working conditions in dynamic and international research environment. Our research facilities include modern laboratories situated in the Maersk-tower.
Terms of employment
The employment as PhD fellow is full time and for 3 years.
The employment is conditioned upon the applicant’s successful enrolment as a PhD student at the Graduate School at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen. This requires submission and acceptance of an application for the specific project formulated by the applicant.
The PhD study must be completed in accordance with The Ministerial Order on the PhD programme (2013) and the Faculty’s rules on achieving the degree.
Salary, pension and terms of employment are in accordance with the agreement between the Ministry of Finance and The Danish Confederation of Professional Associations on Academics in the State. Depending on seniority, the monthly salary starts at approximately 30,800 DKK/Roughly 4,126 EUR (April 2025 level) plus pension.
Qualifications:
If you have completed your academic education in Denmark, the admission to the PhD programme requires a relevant Master’s degree (equivalent to 180 ECTS BSc + 120 ECTS MSc).If you have an academic education from abroad, you must have either a degree equivalent to a Danish master's degree (120 ECTS MSc), or at a minimum, a bachelor’s degree equivalent to a Danish bachelor's degree (180 ECTS) and be academically qualified at master's level.
As part of the assessment of whether you meet the educational requirements, you must also achieve a positive academic evaluation and be assessed as the best qualified for the position.
Questions
For specific information about the PhD fellowship, please contact the principal supervisor.
General information about PhD studies at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences is available at the Graduate School’s website: https://healthsciences.ku.dk/phd/guidelines/
Application procedure
Your application must be submitted electronically by clicking ‘Apply now’ below. The application must include the following documents in PDF format:
1. Motivated letter of application (max. one page)
2. CV incl. education, experience, language skills and other skills relevant for the position
3. Certified copy of original Master of Science diploma and transcript of records in the original language, including an authorized English translation if issued in other language than English or Danish. If not completed, a certified/signed copy of a recent transcript of records or a written statement from the institution or supervisor is accepted. As a prerequisite for a PhD fellowship employment, your master’s degree must be equivalent to a Danish master’s degree. We encourage you to read more in the assessment database: https://ufm.dk/en/education/recognition-and-transparency/find-assessments/assessment-database. Please note that we might ask you to obtain an assessment of your education performed by the Ministry of Higher Education and Science
4. Publication list (if possible)
Application deadline: Tuesday 5 August 2025, 23.59pm CET
We reserve the right not to consider material received after the deadline, and not to consider applications that do not live up to the abovementioned requirements.
The further process
After the expiry of the deadline for applications, the authorized recruitment manager selects applicants for assessment on the advice of the hiring committee. All applicants are then immediately notified whether their application has been passed for assessment by an unbiased assessor.
The assessor makes a non-prioritized assessment of the academic qualifications and experience with respect to the above-mentioned area of research, techniques, skills and other requirements listed in the advertisement.
Once the assessment work has been completed each applicant has the opportunity to comment on the part of the assessment that relates to the applicant him/herself.
You find information about the recruitment process at: http://employment.ku.dk/faculty/recruitment-process/
The applicants will be assessed according to the Ministerial Order no. 242 of 13 March 2012 on the Appointment of Academic Staff at Universities.
The Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences comprises approximately 7500 students, 1500 PhD students and 3200 employees. The Faculty advances the field of health sciences through its core activities: research, teaching, knowledge sharing and communication. With basic research fields ranging from molecular studies to studies of society, the Faculty contributes to a healthy future through its graduates, research findings and inventions benefitting patients and the community. The University of Copenhagen wishes to reflect the surrounding community and invites all regardless of personal background to apply for the position.
Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences
University of Copenhagen
We are offering a PhD fellowship in “dopamine and serotonin release dynamics during health and disease” commencing December 1st, 2025 or as soon as possible hereafter.
Our group and research
We are a new research group of 3-4 people focusing on dopamine and serotonin dynamics and the machinery that shapes the availability of these neurotransmitters during social and cognitive behaviors. Moreover, we seek to refine our understanding of exogenous and endogenous factors that perturb the finetuning of dopamine and serotonin upon exposure to stressful stimuli. The lab employs a broad spectrum of techniques, including rodent behavior, fiber photometry, opto- and chemogenetics as well as protein biochemistry and tracer-flux studies.
Project description
This project will investigate cortical and striatal dopamine and serotonin release dynamics in freely moving animals during naïve and stress-exposed states. The project aims to delineate factors and circuits that modulate dopamine and serotonin release to identify factors that render individuals resilient or susceptible to exogenous factors. Primary methods include stereotactic surgery, opto- and chemogenetics, fiber photometry, behavioral analysis. Additionally, IHC, qPCR, radio-/fluorescent tracer flux studies and biochemistry using heterologous and native tissue preparations will be employed.
Principal supervision: Direct Supervision and Funding Provided by Felix P. Mayer; Main Supervisor: Prof. Ulrik Gether; email: gether@sund.ku.dk; tel 28757548
Start: Dec. 1st, 2025 or as soon as possible thereafter.
Duration: 3 years as a PhD student (+up to 3 months as research assistant, if required for enrolment)
Job description
Your key tasks as a PhD student at SUND are:
- Carrying through an independent research project under supervision.
- Completing PhD courses or other equivalent education corresponding to approximately 30 ECTS points.
- Participating in active research environments including a stay at another research team.
- Obtaining experience with teaching or other types of dissemination related to your PhD project
- Teaching and disseminating your knowledge.
- Writing a PhD thesis on the grounds of your project
Applicants must have qualifications corresponding to a master’s degree related to the subject area of the project, e.g. biology, molecular biomedicine, medicine, human biology, neuroscience or equivalent.
Other important criteria are:
- FELASA certification
- Experience in handling of mice
- Experience with fiber photometry analysis and rodent behavior analysis
- Experience with conducting and planning long-term behavioral experiments
- A curious mind-set with a strong interest in neuroscience and monoaminergic neurotransmission
- Excellent communication skills in English (written and oral)
Place of employment
The place of employment is at the Department of Neuroscience, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen. We offer creative and stimulating working conditions in dynamic and international research environment. Our research facilities include modern laboratories situated in the Maersk-tower.
Terms of employment
The employment as PhD fellow is full time and for 3 years.
The employment is conditioned upon the applicant’s successful enrolment as a PhD student at the Graduate School at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen. This requires submission and acceptance of an application for the specific project formulated by the applicant.
The PhD study must be completed in accordance with The Ministerial Order on the PhD programme (2013) and the Faculty’s rules on achieving the degree.
Salary, pension and terms of employment are in accordance with the agreement between the Ministry of Finance and The Danish Confederation of Professional Associations on Academics in the State. Depending on seniority, the monthly salary starts at approximately 30,800 DKK/Roughly 4,126 EUR (April 2025 level) plus pension.
Qualifications:
If you have completed your academic education in Denmark, the admission to the PhD programme requires a relevant Master’s degree (equivalent to 180 ECTS BSc + 120 ECTS MSc).If you have an academic education from abroad, you must have either a degree equivalent to a Danish master's degree (120 ECTS MSc), or at a minimum, a bachelor’s degree equivalent to a Danish bachelor's degree (180 ECTS) and be academically qualified at master's level.
As part of the assessment of whether you meet the educational requirements, you must also achieve a positive academic evaluation and be assessed as the best qualified for the position.
Questions
For specific information about the PhD fellowship, please contact the principal supervisor.
General information about PhD studies at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences is available at the Graduate School’s website: https://healthsciences.ku.dk/phd/guidelines/
Application procedure
Your application must be submitted electronically by clicking ‘Apply now’ below. The application must include the following documents in PDF format:
1. Motivated letter of application (max. one page)
2. CV incl. education, experience, language skills and other skills relevant for the position
3. Certified copy of original Master of Science diploma and transcript of records in the original language, including an authorized English translation if issued in other language than English or Danish. If not completed, a certified/signed copy of a recent transcript of records or a written statement from the institution or supervisor is accepted. As a prerequisite for a PhD fellowship employment, your master’s degree must be equivalent to a Danish master’s degree. We encourage you to read more in the assessment database: https://ufm.dk/en/education/recognition-and-transparency/find-assessments/assessment-database. Please note that we might ask you to obtain an assessment of your education performed by the Ministry of Higher Education and Science
4. Publication list (if possible)
Application deadline: Tuesday 5 August 2025, 23.59pm CET
We reserve the right not to consider material received after the deadline, and not to consider applications that do not live up to the abovementioned requirements.
The further process
After the expiry of the deadline for applications, the authorized recruitment manager selects applicants for assessment on the advice of the hiring committee. All applicants are then immediately notified whether their application has been passed for assessment by an unbiased assessor.
The assessor makes a non-prioritized assessment of the academic qualifications and experience with respect to the above-mentioned area of research, techniques, skills and other requirements listed in the advertisement.
Once the assessment work has been completed each applicant has the opportunity to comment on the part of the assessment that relates to the applicant him/herself.
You find information about the recruitment process at: http://employment.ku.dk/faculty/recruitment-process/
The applicants will be assessed according to the Ministerial Order no. 242 of 13 March 2012 on the Appointment of Academic Staff at Universities.
The Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences comprises approximately 7500 students, 1500 PhD students and 3200 employees. The Faculty advances the field of health sciences through its core activities: research, teaching, knowledge sharing and communication. With basic research fields ranging from molecular studies to studies of society, the Faculty contributes to a healthy future through its graduates, research findings and inventions benefitting patients and the community. The University of Copenhagen wishes to reflect the surrounding community and invites all regardless of personal background to apply for the position.