PhD fellowship

The Niels Bohr Institute, Section for Biocomplexity and Biophysics, invites applicants for a PhD fellowship in the physics of biomolecular condensates and dynamical protein concentrations. The project is part of the research project PHOSCIL, financed by a Starting Grant from the European Research Council (ERC).

Start date is January 1, 2027, or as soon as possible thereafter.

Living cells must respond to external stresses, and in order to do so, they organize their resources in both space and time. Two of the most striking manifestations of this are liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS), where molecules spontaneously demix and form biomolecular condensates, and oscillatory protein concentrations, where the level of a key regulator varies periodically in time. Both are classical phenomena in physics, and within the last decade, both have been found to be central to the regulation of living organisms. Until now, they have been studied almost entirely in isolation.

The aim of this project is to derive the basic physical principles governing condensates that form, move, and dissolve in dynamical, fluctuating, and oscillatory concentration fields. The natural language for this is out-of-equilibrium statistical physics: phase separation coupled to chemical reactions, stochastic dynamics and noise-induced transitions, and the interplay between spatial structure and temporal dynamics. Analytical calculations are combined with numerical simulations, and an essential part of the work consists in developing methods that extract physical observables from quantitative experimental data provided by KU – SCIENCE – NBI, Blegdamsvej's collaborators.

The biological setting is the DNA damage response, one of the most fundamental functions of living organisms. Following a DNA double-strand break, the cell forms condensates at the damaged site, and at the same time, the tumor suppressor protein p53 initiates oscillations that regulate the cell cycle. How these two processes interact—and whether their interplay is precisely what allows the cell to coordinate repair with cell fate decisions—is essentially unknown.

Here, the key questions are:

• 1) Dynamics and phase separation: How do time-varying and fluctuating concentration fields alter the formation, size distribution, and stability of condensates? Can dynamics counteract Ostwald ripening and thereby stabilize many condensates simultaneously?
• 2) Feedback and function: How does the emergence of condensates in turn change the reaction dynamics of the networks they belong to—can phase separation by itself generate oscillations—and what are the functional consequences for DNA repair and for the decisions cells make about their own fate?

The precise content of the PhD project will be shaped together with the successful candidate. Depending on interests and background, it can range from purely theoretical and analytical work on the statistical physics of phase separation and stochastic dynamics, over large-scale numerical simulation (Cahn-Hilliard, stochastic reaction-diffusion, coarse-grained molecular dynamics), to method development and analysis of single-particle tracking and live-cell imaging data obtained by KU – SCIENCE – NBI, Blegdamsvej's experimental collaborators in Paris, Copenhagen, and Taipei. Several distinct projects are available, and applicants are encouraged to describe in their application which direction they find most exciting.

The ability to understand, and perhaps even to control, how cells distribute their resources in time and space is one of the central ambitions of quantitative biology. The ambition of this project is to place it on a firm physical foundation.

KU – SCIENCE – NBI, Blegdamsvej is looking for candidates within the field(s) of physics, applied mathematics, computational biology, or similar. The successful candidate will have excellent skills in theoretical physics, in particular statistical physics, dynamical systems, and stochastic processes, together with strong numerical and programming skills. Prior knowledge of soft condensed matter, phase separation, or cellular biology is an advantage, but it is not a requirement: applicants with a purely theoretical or computational background are explicitly encouraged to apply, and KU – SCIENCE – NBI, Blegdamsvej expects to teach the biology along the way. Most importantly, the candidate should be extremely enthusiastic about scientific research and very imaginative, with the ability to work independently as well as in a team.

KU – SCIENCE – NBI, Blegdamsvej's group studies complex and biological systems with methods from physics in order to obtain a fundamental understanding of the complex phenomena that can emerge. KU – SCIENCE – NBI, Blegdamsvej's theoretical approach combines analytical calculations with computational simulations and data analysis from KU – SCIENCE – NBI, Blegdamsvej's collaborative experimentalists. The members of the group provide a balanced mixture of postdocs, PhD students, and undergraduate students.

KU – SCIENCE – NBI, Blegdamsvej conducts curiosity-driven basic research. KU – SCIENCE – NBI, Blegdamsvej has strong collaborations with scientific groups in Harvard, Bangalore, Paris, Göttingen, and Taiwan, and the successful candidate is encouraged to visit several international collaborators.

The group is a part of The Niels Bohr Institute, Section for Biocomplexity, Faculty of SCIENCE, University of Copenhagen. The Section provides a strong, international environment for research in the field of Systems Biology, located at Jagtvej 155, 2200 Copenhagen N. The Section currently employs 7 principal investigators, 1 technician, 10 postdocs, 20 PhD students, as well as a number of undergraduate students.

KU – SCIENCE – NBI, Blegdamsvej offers creative and stimulating working conditions in a dynamic and international research environment.

Principal supervisor is Associate Prof. Mathias Spliid Heltberg, heltberg@nbi.ku.dk, Phone: +45 26191889.

To be eligible for the PhD programme, you must have completed a degree programme, equivalent to a Danish master’s degree (180 ECTS/3 FTE BSc + 120 ECTS/2 FTE MSc) related to the subject area of the project, e.g., Complex- and Biophysics or similar. For information on eligibility of completed programmes, see General assessments for specific countries and the Assessment database.

Employment as a PhD fellow is full-time and for a maximum of 3 years.

Employment is conditional upon your successful enrolment as a PhD student at the PhD School at the Faculty of SCIENCE, University of Copenhagen. This requires submission and acceptance of an application for the specific project formulated by the applicant.

Terms of appointment and payment accord to the agreement between the Danish Ministry of Taxation and The Danish Confederation of Professional Associations on Academics in the State. The position is covered by the Protocol on Job Structure.

You can read more about salary levels in the state sector www.loenoverblik.dk (in Danish).

• Carry through an independent research project under supervision.
• Complete PhD courses corresponding to approx. 30 ECTS / ½ FTE.
• Participate in active research environments, including a stay at another research institution, preferably abroad.
• Teaching and knowledge dissemination activities.
• Write scientific papers aimed at high-impact journals.
• Write and defend a PhD thesis on the basis of your project.

• Professional qualifications, in particular mathematical and computational, relevant to the PhD project.
• Curious mindset, with a strong interest in the Physics of living matter.
• Relevant publications.
• Relevant work experience.
• Other relevant professional activities.
• Good language skills.

Your application, including all attachments, must be in English and submitted electronically by clicking APPLY NOW below.

1. Motivated letter of application, including your motivation for applying for this specific PhD project (approx. 2 pages).
2. Curriculum vitae, including information about your education, experience, language skills, and other skills relevant for the position.
3. Original diplomas for Bachelor of Science or Master of Science and transcript of records in the original language, including an authorized English translation if issued in a language other 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.
4. Publication list (if possible).
5. Reference letters (if available).

Application deadline: The deadline for applications is October 5th, 2026, at 23:59 GMT +1.

KU – SCIENCE – NBI, Blegdamsvej reserves the right not to consider material received after the deadline, and not to consider applications that do not live up to the above-mentioned requirements.

After the deadline, a number of applicants will be selected for academic assessment by an unbiased expert assessor.

You will be notified whether you will be passed for assessment.

The assessor will assess the qualifications and experience of the shortlisted applicants with respect to the above-mentioned research area, techniques, skills, and other requirements.

The assessor will conclude whether each applicant is qualified and, if so, for which of the two models. The assessed applicants will have the opportunity to comment on their assessment. You can read about the recruitment process at http://employment.ku.dk/faculty/recruitment-process/.

For specific information about the PhD fellowship, please contact the principal supervisor.

General information about PhD study at the Faculty of SCIENCE is available at the PhD School’s website: https://www.science.ku.dk/phd/.

The University of Copenhagen wishes to reflect the surrounding community and invites all, regardless of personal background.