Hannover Medical School (MHH) and its cooperation partners TWINCORE (Hannover) and Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (Braunschweig) offer 10 PhD fellowships as part of the new Research Training Group (RTG) “Activation of anti-Microbial Effectors (ACME)” (coordinator: Dirk Schlüter, Hannover) funded by the German Research Foundation. The central aim of the program is to give highly qualified and motivated young researchers the opportunity to perform their cutting-edge 4-year PhD work in the rapidly moving field of infection biology in a highly stimulating, competitive, and international environment. The 10 innovative projects of the RTG ACME focus on the hypothesis that cell-intrinsic defense mechanisms of infected human cells can be activated or modulated to control the intracellular pathogens effectively.
Programme highlights
• Four years structured PhD studies in an innovative research project supervised by internationally renowned principal investigators
• Integration into the RTG ACME's comprehensive and interdisciplinary training program with structured joint training of doctoral students in natural sciences and medicine and early-career medical and clinician scientists
• Training courses in cutting-edge technologies (OMICS technologies, innovative human infectious disease models (e.g. organoids, iPSC), bioinformatics, AI) and soft skills required for a successful career
• Internal and international lab rotations
• Retreats and networking events including organization of international symposia
• Targeted, individual career support.
• The RTG ACME, MHH (8,428 employers from 110 countries) and its partners provide a highly stimulating international environment
• Intensive collaboration with renowned infection researchers of the Center for Immunology of Viral Infection (CiViA) at Aarhus University (Denmark,
• MHH, TWINCORE and HZI have a strong research focus on “Infection and Immunity” and host the German Excellence Cluster “Resolving Infection Susceptibility” (
• Salary according to German TVL E13, 65% including all social benefits for up to four years
Application
The online application process opens July 28, 2025 and will be closed September 28, 2025. RTG ACME will start April 1, 2026, and candidates who hold the equivalent of a master’s or diploma degree in Biology, Biochemistry or Life Sciences, or who graduated in medicine are welcome to apply online: Please note that any other form of application will be disregarded.