MSCA Doctoral Network “MenoBrain”: 15 Doctoral Candidate positions for Marie Sk?odowska-Curie fell (KHS-41423)

The Doctoral Network MenoBrain “Brain Health in Menopausal Women" is recruiting 15 highly motivated Doctoral Candidates (DCs). The offered positions are available with a starting date in February 2026 for a maximum duration of 3 years. The fellowships are funded as part of the Marie Sk?odowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) under the European Commission’s Horizon Europe programme. MenoBrain is a European joint venture between academia and industry, providing multidisciplinary scientific expertise, complementary skills, and personal development of young researchers. The MenoBrain consortium consists of 11 beneficiaries and 7 partner organisations involving hospitals, universities, research institutes and companies from 10 European Countries. The consortium, coordinated by Prof. Dr. Christian Gaser of the Jena University Hospital will conduct cutting-edge research and training in the highly topical and emerging field of gender-specific healthcare with focus on healthy aging in woman.Background: Menopause represents a critical yet understudied period in women's health. Hormonal changes during this transition pose significant risks to brain health, cognitive function, and emotional well-being, while increasing vulnerability to age-related diseases such as Alzheimer's disease. Despite its profound societal relevance, menopause-related brain changes remain poorly understood, with limited biomarkers and evidence-based interventions available. MenoBrain aims to fill this gap by training a new generation of researchers to address the pressing challenges of menopause related brain health. The DCs will work within a multidisciplinary and international network spanning neuroscience, endocrinology, microbiome research, and computational modelling. MenoBrain uses advanced neuroimaging, host-microbiome modelling, and BrainAGE computational models to study how menopause-related hormonal changes and therapies affect cognitive health, gut-brain communication, and aging. The program offers interdisciplinary training for DCs in cutting-edge research and skills. Leveraging state-of-the-art tools, MenoBrain aims to identify early biomarkers of cognitive decline, improve treatments, and advance personalized care for menopausal women. It fills a key gap in women’s health and supports the EU’s goals for healthy aging, gender-specific healthcare, and innovative scientific training.Information about MenoBrain and the DC positions offered can also be found on our MenoBrain website. PhD Positions:

• DC1: Development of a regional normative BrainAGE model for morphometric measures (Department of Neurology, Jena University Hospital, Germany) 
• DC2: Neurocognitive assessment and brain changes in postmenopausal women (Department of Neurology, Jena University Hospital, Germany) 
• DC3: Transcriptional and protein profiling of BEV (Department of Neurology, Jena University Hospital, Germany) 
• DC4: Mapping in vivo brain and perimenopausal symptom changes with the initiation of MHT (Division for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Diakonhjemmet Hospital, Norway) 
• DC5: The effect of bioidentical MHT on ER as a transdiagnostic factor for mental health in women during menopause transition. A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled fMRI study. (Division for Women's Mental Health & Brain Function; Tuebingen University, Germany) 
• DC6: The impact of early-life trauma on mood and cognition during the menopausal transition (Department Clinical Psychology, Leiden University, Netherlands) 
• DC7: MHT in the 21st century (Department of Women's and Children's Health, Uppsala University, Sweden) 
• DC8: Metabolic modelling of microbiome-brain-interactions in menopause-associated cognitive impairment (Institute for Experimental Medicine, University Hospital of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany) 
• DC9: Microbiome-epigenome-nutrition interactions in menopause and their links with cognition (Division for Nutrition, Genetics, and Environmental Risk Exposure, Inserm, France) 
• DC10: A longitudinal evaluation of the impact of peri- and postmenopausal MHT on female brain function, cognition and gut microbiota (Institute of Biosciences, Vilnius University, Lithuania)
• DC11: Hormonal treatment (HT), cognition, and microRNA - microbiome dynamics in ageing mouse model (Institute of Biosciences, Vilnius University, Lithuania) 
• DC12: The impact of menopause transition on women’s brain health with focus on AD risk (Alzheimer Prevention Program, BarcelonaBeta Brain Research Center, Spain)
• DC13: Individual sensitivity to hormone replacement therapy (Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, Paris-Lodron-University Salzburg, Austria) 
• DC14: Development of brain dynamics during the menopausal transition and in relation to hormone replacement therapy (Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, Paris-Lodron-University Salzburg, Austria) 
• DC15: A high-throughput BBB-on-chip for predicting brain permeability of BEV and to test vesicle-based delivery of therapeutic agents to the brain (Finnadvance, Finland)

Required Skills & Qualifications:

• Be — at the date of recruitment — a doctoral candidate (i.e. not already in possession of a doctoral degree) 
• Having a master’s degree or its equivalent 
• Profound knowledge in the respective fields of the DC position 
• Not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of the recruiting beneficiary for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before the recruitment date 
• Willingness to move countries for DC placement and temporary secondments 
• High level of proficiency in written and spoken English 
• Dedication and enthusiasm for experimental research, combined with scientific curiosity, reliability and the capacity to teamwork in an interdisciplinary environment.

We offer you even more:

• 3-year full time employment contract (salary depends on the country of the recruitment considering both the local and MSCA regulations for DCs) 
• Secondments at other labs within the MenoBrain consortium 
• Sophisticated and multi-/interdisciplinary training in a highly topical research area by involving academic research institutions and industry 
• A structured training programme consisting of soft skill courses, targeted workshops, retreats, social events and networking 
• Opportunities for participation in national and international meetings

Application process:

• Interested candidates please send a motivation letter, a CV including publications (if available), copies of university degrees and courses (including obtained grades), and the names and e-mail addresses of two scientists who can provide references (all summarized in one pdf) to menobrain@med.uni-jena.de. 
• Please indicate the DC position you applying for. Applications that do not meet the profile and/or the above criteria cannot be considered.  
• Application deadline: 30 November 2025 - We reserve the right to invite applicants to interviews before the application deadline  
• Severely disabled persons are given preference if their aptitude, skills and professional performance are essentially the same. 
• As an equal opportunity employer, the Jena University Hospital is committed to increasing the percentage of female scientists and therefore especially encourages them to apply.  
• For further information on the Doctoral Network MenoBrain and the application process, please visit the MenoBrain website or contact Dr. Sigrun Nagel (phone: +49-3641-9396658; e-mail: menobrain@med.uni-jena.de).

Reference number: DM31/2025

* Limited to 36 months, with option to extend.

Regardless of origin, age, gender or disability - you are welcome here at Jena University Hospital.

03641/ 9-33203
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