Applications are invited for a PhD scholarship at the Department of Psychology.

The starting date is March 1st 2027 or as soon as possible thereafter.
Introduction
The PhD-student will be part of a project entitled Exploring the bases of individual differences in face recognition funded by the Independent Research Fund Denmark (IRFD). The project is headed by Professor Randi Starrfelt and is a collaboration with Professor in Psychology and Epidemiology, Karen-Inge Karstoft and Professor in Cognitive Neuropsychiatry, Birgitte Fagerlund from Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen.

The overall project investigates variability in face recognition across a large, representative sample of the Danish population, with the aim of relating this to variability in other measures of cognition through questionnaires and data from Danish public registries. The focus of the PhD-project will be on relating variability in face recognition to other measures and indicators of cognitive abilities. Applicants are asked to situate and develop their research plan within the framework of the overall project, and the original project proposal should be requested from Professor Randi Starrfelt, [email protected] prior to submitting the application.

Candidates with various background may be considered for the position, examples of relevant backgrounds are MA/MSc degrees in experimental, cognitive, or developmental psychology, neuropsychology, cognitive (neuro)science, medicine (psychiatry), or public health. Strong skills in data handling and analysis is an advantage, as is an interest in the research questions posed in the overall project. Experience with research using data from Danish public registries will be an advantage but is not a requirement. The PhD student will be working in close collaboration with psychologists from different disciplines including psychological epidemiology and cognitive neuropsychology/neuropsychiatry. The position will be placed at Copenhagen Neuropsychology Lab, part of the Section for Cognition and Neuropsychology. It is expected that the successful candidate will be present, part of the team, and partake in the activities in the Lab on a daily basis.

The PhD programme provides PhD students with strong research training which opens a window of opportunity to a variety of careers within the private and public sectors. The programme includes the preparation of a PhD thesis, active participation in research networks, PhD courses, teaching, and other forms of knowledge dissemination. This funded PhD-position is to be undertaken as a three-year full-time study within the framework of the 5+3 study programme.

Duties and responsibilities
Information about the PhD study programme is available on the website of Copenhagen Graduate School of Social Sciences PhD at the Faculty of Social Sciences and on the PhD website of the department.

Qualification requirements
Applicants must have qualifications corresponding to master’s level related to the subject area of the project, e.g. MSc in psychology, public health, medicine, or cognitive neuroscience. If you have completed your education in Denmark, you must have a master’s degree covered by the collective agreement for academics in the state sector.

If you have completed your education outside of Denmark, you must either have a master’s degree equivalent to a Danish master’s degree (two years) or as minimum a bachelor’s degree equivalent to a Danish bachelor’s degree (three years) and be assessed as having professional qualifications at master's level.

If you have completed your education outside of Denmark, we will obtain an assessment of your education from the Danish Research Agency.

Scholarship in the 5+3 programme
The 5+3 PhD study programme
PhD students are paid a salary in accordance with the agreement between the Ministry of Finance and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations (AC). The PhD student has a work obligation of up to 840 hours over the 3-year period of time without additional pay. The work obligation can include teaching, for instance.

Please note assessment of applicants’ qualifications and eligibility for employment and enrolment will only take place after the application deadline.

How to apply
Please submit your application online. To apply, please click on the “Apply now” icon at the bottom of this page. Your application must be written in English, and include the following attachments (with descriptive titles) in either PDF or Word format:

• Cover letter (max. 1 page detailing your motivation and background for applying with the specific PhD project)
• CV
• Project description of max 3 pages / 6000 characters excluding references presenting and discussing the challenges and advantages of using selected variables from the Danish Public registries as indexes for cognitive ability and cognitive disorders (cf. Work Package 2 and 3 in project proposal for IRFD that should be requested from [email protected]. The description should also include a suggestion for how to select relevant variables and ideas for which analyses might be helpful in analysing their relationship to the face recognition data collected in the project.
• Diploma and transcripts of records (BSc and MSc) Please note: If your degree diploma is not available by the application deadline, please include your latest transcript of grades.
• Other information for consideration, e.g., list of publications, documentation of English language qualifications (if any). Please do not include commitments from supervisors, recommendations etc.

Further details on the documents that should accompany your application are available on this website: Admission requirements and application procedures.

Assessment Criteria
The following criteria are used when shortlisting candidates for assessment:

1. Research qualifications as reflected in the cover letter, CV and project proposal.

2. MSc from a relevant field, e.g. psychology, public health, medicine, or cognitive (neuro)science.

3. Interest in cognition and variability in cognitive ability.

4. Performance (grades obtained) in graduate and post-graduate studies.

Salary and Terms of Employment
Terms of appointment and salary will be in accordance with an agreement between the Ministry of Finance and The Danish Confederation of Professional Associations (AC). The salary range starts at approximately DKK 31.844,98 (EUR 4.260,48) + an 18.07 % pension contribution.

The Recruitment Process
After the application deadline, the Head of Department will consider advice from the appointment committee and then selects applicants for assessment. All applicants will be notified whether they have been shortlisted. The Head of Department will then set up an expert assessment committee to assess the shortlisted applications. The selected applicants will be informed who is serving on the committee. Each shortlisted applicant will be offered the opportunity to comment on the committee’s assessment before the appointment is announced.

Enrolment
It is a prerequisite for employment that successful applicants enrol at the PhD School of the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Copenhagen.

International Applicant?
The University of Copenhagen offers a broad variety of services for international researchers and accompanying families, including support before and during your relocation and career counselling to expat partners. Please find more information about our services at: For international researchers at the University of Copenhagen.

An Equal Opportunity Workplace
The University of Copenhagen is committed in its pursuit of academic excellence to equality of opportunity and to creating an inclusive working environment and therefore encourages all qualified candidates to apply, regardless of personal background, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, ethnicity etc.To learn more about our diverse workplace and our participation in the HRS4R HR Excellence in Research, please visit HR Excellence in Research.

Contact Information
We encourage you to first consult our website, where most questions concerning the recruitment process as well as the academic content and structure of the PhD programme are answered:

Structure of the PhD programme

How to obtain a PhD scholarship.

If you do not find the information you are looking for, you are welcome to contact Thomas Habekost, email: [email protected], or HR South at [email protected]. Please remember to state the ID number 211-2559/26-2H.

The deadline for applications is November 10that 23:59 CET.

Any applications or additional material submitted after the deadline will not be considered. However, changes may be made to the submitted application right up until the deadline.

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: 10-11-2026

Ansættelsesdato: 01-03-2027

Afdeling/Sted: Department of Psychology