idw – Informationsdienst Wissenschaft
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
The Hector Fellow Academy has opened a new application round for six fully funded PhD positions. Early-career researchers with an outstanding Master's degree can apply until 15 October 2026 for doctoral projects in the fields of neuroscience, medicine, biomedicine, AI and data science, and the history of science.
With this new call for applications, the Hector Fellow Academy continues its commitment to supporting outstanding early-career researchers and once again offers attractive opportunities for scientists at the beginning of their academic careers. A PhD at the Hector Fellow Academy enables young researchers to pursue and develop their own research ideas in an excellent scientific environment. The doctoral projects are supervised by selected Hector Fellows and Hector RCDA Awardees. They are distinguished researchers who have received multiple awards for their achievements in research and teaching.
The Hector Fellow Academy provides successful applicants with reliable financial support throughout the entire duration of their PhD. The programme offers the opportunity for employment as a research associate for up to four years at the university or research institution of the supervising Hector Fellow or Hector RCDA Awardee. Salaries are based on the employment and remuneration conditions applicable at the respective institution.
For the current application round, six Hector Fellows and Hector RCDA Awardees are available as supervisors. The advertised PhD projects cover a broad range of innovative and interdisciplinary research topics – from brain mapping and cardiovascular disease to malaria research and AI-driven cancer prevention, as well as the study of how transformative scientific breakthroughs emerge. The programme therefore offers early-career researchers the opportunity to work on forward-looking research questions while connecting different scientific disciplines.
Overview of the advertised PhD projects:
• Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Katrin Amunts, Medicine, Biology, Neuroscience, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf / Forschungszentrum Jülich
Develop Your Qwn Neuroscience and Brain Mapping Project
• Prof. Dr. Stefanie Dimmeler, Medicine, Goethe University Frankfurt
PhD Project on Control of Cardiovascular Inflammaging
• Dr. Viola Introini, Medicine, Biology, Physics, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light, Erlangen
MALVISTA: Engineering a Human Blood–Retinal Barrier Model to Understand Cerebral Malaria
• Prof. Dr. Brigitte Röder, Psychology, Medicine, University of Hamburg
PhD Project on Mechanisms of Neural and Behavioral Change in the Developing Visual System in Humans
• Prof. Dr. med. Carolin Schneider Medicine, TU Dresden
PhD Project on AI-Driven Cancer Prevention Using App-Collected Digital Health and Nutrition Data at Scale
• Prof. Dr. med. Dr. h.c. Matthias H. Tschöp, Medicine, History of Science, LMU Munich
The Role of Individuals Versus Teams in Transformative Scientific Breakthroughs
https://hector-fellow-academy.de/en/young-scientist-support/doctoral-positions/
For more than ten years, the Hector Fellow Academy has been supporting outstanding early-career researchers. Its PhD programme is aimed at researchers from the natural sciences and engineering, medicine, and psychology. In addition to close academic supervision, doctoral researchers benefit from being part of the Academy's interdisciplinary network, an individual annual research budget of €9,500, and professional development opportunities in management and career-related topics.
About the Hector Fellow Academy
In 2013, Hans-Werner Hector, one of the founders of the software company SAP, established the Hector Fellow Academy. His aim was to strengthen Germany as a center of research and science, stimulate forward-looking debate on issues of societal importance, and contribute to addressing global challenges. To date, over 30 outstanding researchers from the natural and engineering sciences, medicine, and psychology have received the Hector Science Award, which is presented annually. At the time they received the award, the researchers were working at a German university or research institution. The Hector Fellow Academy not only provides these Hector Fellows with a platform for scientific exchange and funding for joint interdisciplinary research projects; it is also committed to passing on its members’ wealth of knowledge and experience to the next generation of researchers. To this end, the Hector Fellow Academy funds doctoral positions for graduates with outstanding master’s degrees and established the Hector Research Career Development Award (Hector RCD Award) to support exceptional early-career researchers on their path to professorship.
Hector Fellow Academy, Stefanie Peer, Senior Manager Graduate School, application@hector-fellow-academy.de
https://hector-fellow-academy.de/en/young-scientist-support/
Promoting Young Scientists / Hector Fellow Academy
Copyright: Hector Fellow Academy / Fabry
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Promoting Young Scientists / Hector Fellow Academy
Copyright: Hector Fellow Academy / Fabry
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