Recruitment

Applications are invited for 11 PhD positions to be funded by the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Doctoral Actions Network nEXt-RNA.

Offers and benefits

• Contracts are expected to start between 1st of May 2027 and 1st of September 2027.
• The positions are funded for 36 months by the EC. Additional funding may be available depending on the host institution.
• Successful candidates will receive an attractive salary (a 100% position to be filled) in accordance with the MSCA regulations. The exact salary will be confirmed upon appointment and is dependent on the country correction coefficient (to allow for the difference in cost of living in different EU Member States).
• In addition to their individual scientific projects, all candidates will benefit from further continuing education, which includes secondments, a variety of training modules as well as transferable skills courses and active participation in workshops and conferences.

Eligibility criteria

• Candidates must hold a Master’s degree or equivalent at the date of recruitment.
• Candidates must not hold a doctoral degree at the date of recruitment.
• Candidates can be of any nationality. They must comply with the MSCA mobility rule: candidates must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of the recruiting organization for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before their recruitment date.
• Candidates must demonstrate that their ability to understand and express themselves in both written and spoken English is sufficiently high for them to derive the full benefit from the network training. A minimum of B2 level (upper intermediate) is required, but recruiting organizations might have higher requirements.

Profile

Background and experience

Within the next-RNA project, early career scientists will join research leaders to advance fundamental knowledge and innovations in the exRNA field. While the scientific focus of individual projects varies across disciplines, successful candidates are expected to contribute to the interdisciplinary and intersectoral objectives of the research network and be motivated to work across scales from basic research in molecular and cell biology towards applied research.
Applicants should hold a Master´s degree in Biology or a closely related field including Biotechnology, Biochemistry, Immunology, Microbiology.

Depending on the specific PhD project, applicants should have a solid background in several of the following areas:

• Host-pathogen interaction
• RNA biology
• Extracellular vesicles
• Plant biology
• Microbiology
• Immunology
• Cell biology
• Biochemistry

Experience in laboratory research and quantitative data analysis is considered an asset. Experience in bioinformatics and scientific programming may also be advantageous.

Skills and attitudes

Successful candidates should be highly motivated to conduct a high-quality research project at a university laboratory. The ability to work both independently on an individual project and in close collaboration with other partners at the network level is required, along with experience in team work and values that align with international collaborations.

Candidates should demonstrate intellectual curiosity, adaptability, and openness to new concepts and methodologies, supported by a proactive mindset toward continuous learning and the effective application of emerging approaches. Strong analytical and problem-solving skills and capacity for critical thinking are required to maintain a structured, well-organized approach to research, enabling to plan work efficiently and to evaluate research data critically.
Good communication and scientific writing skills are essential and high-qulatiy presentations in English are expected in order to engage with academic and non-academic partners of the network.

As individual PhD project varies in their topics, disciplines and requirement, we encourage applicants to visit the detailed project descriptions here, and to contact the indicated supervisor for project-specific information.

Application procedure

Complete application documents should be sent that include:

• A complete CV
• a strong motivation letter explaining why the candidate fits to the background and experience profile of the next-RNA research project
• a clear ranking of the top 3 prioritized projects selected from the detailed project descriptions (find PhD project descriptions here)

Deadline for application is foreseen by the end of September 2026.