PhD fellowship in Negative T cell selection and induction of regulatory T cells in Human Thymic Organoids

We are offering a fully funded PhD fellowship in Immunology that will commence on
April 15, 2025, or after agreement.

Our group and research:
The Laboratory of Experimental Immunology is a young and dynamic research group specializing in advanced human experimental immunology. We are a passionate and dedicated team of 8-10 researchers, laboratory technicians, and students committed to investigating the fundamental mechanisms of the human immune system.

Project description:
The development of human organoid models has been pivotal in advancing our understanding of fundamental biological processes. Our group is focused on creating various human immune organoids to explore the complexities of the human immune system.

This PhD project will focus on developing a human thymic organoid to study negative T cell selection and the induction of regulatory T cells in a human-specific context. The aim is to elucidate how human T cells interact with thymic epithelial cells (TECs) and identify the key factors necessary for steering T cells away from self-antigens. Advanced gene-editing techniques will be employed to introduce or remove specific antigens within the organoids, enabling us to disrupt the T cell selection process and monitor its impact on T cell development.

The project is conducted in collaboration with the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Rigshospitalet, which provides access to human thymic tissue samples.

Supervisors:
Principal supervisor Professor Søren Buus, Department of Immunology and Microbiology, [email protected], tel.: +45 35327885 Co- supervisor: Associate Professor Henrik Kløverpris, Department of Immunology and Microbiology, [email protected], tel.: +45 35337466

Start: April 15, 2025, or after agreement.
Duration: 3 years as a PhD student
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, likely abroad.

• 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.

Key criteria for the assessment of applicants:
Applicants must have qualifications corresponding to a master’s degree related to the subject area of the project, e.g. Microbiology, Immunology, Biology, Biotechnology or related fields. Please note that your master’s degree must be equivalent to a Danish master’s degree (two years).

Other important criteria are:

• Ability to multi-task.

• Fluency in written and spoken English.

• Ability to work both independently and as part of a team.

• A desire to contribute to a great working environment.

• High level of self-motivation.

• Interest in Human Immunology

• Experience in working with human thymus organoid models

• Experience in working with human cell cultures

• Experience in working with advanced gene-editing technology

• Demonstrated experience with any of the following techniques is desirable:

Bacterial transformation, cloning, virus-like-particle generation, and flow cytometry

Place of employment
The place of employment is at the Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen. We offer creative and stimulating working conditions in dynamic and international research environment.

Terms of employment
The average weekly working hours are 37 hours per week.
The position is a fixed-term position limited to a period of 3 years. The start date is April 15,
2025, or after agreement.

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 Taxation and The Danish Confederation of Professional Associations on Academics in the State. Depending on seniority, the monthly salary starts at approximately 29,191 DKK/Roughly 3,912 EUR (April 2024 level) plus pension.

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/assessment-database Please note that we might ask you to obtain an assessment of your education performed by the Ministry of HigherEducation and Science.

4. Publication list (if possible)

Application deadline: 6 Thursday/ February 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:
https://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 University of Copenhagen wish to reflect the diversity of society and encourage all qualified candidates to apply
regardless of personal background.

Københavns Universitet giver sine knap 10.000 medarbejdere muligheder for at udnytte deres talent fuldt ud i et ambitiøst, uformelt miljø. Vi sikrer traditionsrige og moderne rammer om uddannelser og fri forskning på højt internationalt niveau. Vi søger svar og løsninger på fælles problemer og gør ny viden tilgængelig og nyttig for andre.

Info
Ansøgningsfrist: 06-02-2025

Ansættelsesdato: 15-04-2025

Arbejdstid: Fuldtid

Afdeling/Sted: Department of Immunology and Microbiology