Area of research:
Scientific / postdoctoral posts
Job description:
DZNE is a world-leading, internationally oriented center for cutting edge research on neurodegenerative diseases. The Modeling and Neuroprognosis Group at the DZNE invites applications for a Postdoctoral Fellow position at the intersection of modeling, artificial intelligence, cognitive neuroscience, and medicine.
This role is designed as a career accelerator for researchers who aim to combine academic excellence with skills that are highly relevant both in leading academic environments and in the growing AI–Health–Tech sector. You will work with state-of-the-art infrastructure, including 7T MRI, connectomics, and high-performance computing, while being embedded in a strong international research network with close collaborations with institutions such as UCL, Oxford, and Max Planck Institutes. Close mentorship and structured career support, including guidance on independent funding applications (e.g. ERC, DFG, BMBF), are provided. Researchers have access to large-scale, high-quality datasets, the DZNE’s ten-site network, and the CRC 1436, within an active international research environment. Dedicated funding supports participation in international conferences.
In this position, you will contribute to advancing how individual differences in neuro-cognitive aging and dementia are modeled and understood. Your tasks include:
* Developing and implementing novel disease progression models, including latent multimodal dynamics and state-space approaches.
* Applying uncertainty-aware regression methods, using parametric and non-parametric techniques, to characterize disease trajectories and deviations from healthy aging.
* Integrating Deep Learning approaches with Bayesian inference and latent variable models.
* Analyzing high-dimensional, multimodal data such as MRI, FLAIR, cognitive assessments, and fluid biomarkers.
* Contributing to high-impact scientific publications and presenting findings at international conferences.
* Collaborating closely within an interdisciplinary team across neuroscience, psychology, medicine, and data science.
* Mentoring junior researchers and supporting a constructive, collegial team culture.
We welcome applications from researchers with diverse academic backgrounds and career paths.
* A completed PhD in Machine Learning, Computational Neuroscience, Quantitative Psychology, Physics, Applied Mathematics, or a closely related field, or equivalent research experience.
* A strong foundation in multivariate statistics and modeling, for example in regression, Bayesian inference, representation learning, or generative models.
* Experience with Python and common machine learning or statistical frameworks such as PyTorch, TensorFlow, Stan, scikit-learn, or comparable tools.
* An interest in interdisciplinary research and openness to working across disciplinary boundaries, including psychology and medicine.
* Fluency in written and spoken English
* Motivation to further develop an independent research profile, either with a long-term perspective in academia or in applied research and industry.
Please submit your application as a single PDF inlcuding
* A cover letter describing your motivation and how this position aligns with your career goals.
* A curriculum vitae, including a list of publications where applicable.
* Two academic references
* Copies of relevant academic transcripts or certificates.
In case of questions regarding the position, please contact gabriel.ziegler@dzne.de
If you have questions on the recruiting process, our Recruiting Team waits for you call:
This research center is part of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centers. With more than 42,000 employees and an annual budget of over € 5 billion, the Helmholtz Association is Germany's largest scientific organisation.
Company
The Helmholtz Association contributes to solving major challenges to assure the future of our society. With more than 47.500 people on staff in 18 national Research Centers and an annual budget of more than 6 billion euros, the Helmholtz Association is Germany’s largest scientific organization. The name Helmholtz stands for concerted research, in which networks form the key principle behind inquiring thought and action.
The profile of the Helmholtz Association
The Helmholtz Association performs cutting-edge research which contributes substantially to solving the grand challenges of science, society and industry. To succeed in meeting these responsibilities, Helmholtz concentrates its work in six research fields: Energy, Earth and Environment, Health, Information, Matter, as well as Aeronautics, Space and Transport. Within each of these fields, research programs are developed by our scientists and regularly evaluated by renowned international experts. Their evaluation forms the basis for the program-oriented funding that is allocated to Helmholtz research. Within the six research fields, Helmholtz scientists cooperate with each other and with external partners – working across disciplinary, organizational and national borders.
Moreover, Helmholtz specializes in large-scale research infrastructures – from accelerator facilities, earth observation satellites, research ships to supercomputers. They form the basis for scientific advances in tackling global societal challenges. Managing national research infrastructure is part of the Helmholtz Association's mission.
Promoting young academics
Helmholtz scientists, a high-performance infrastructure and modern and efficient research management are the ingredients to the Helmholtz Association‘s success and global impact.
Promoting young researchers is a major priority for the Helmholtz Association. Its qualification schemes for young researchers are geared mainly towards PhD students, postdocs and young managers. The Helmholtz Association has set high standards for its talent management. Its strategy begins with targeted recruitment of highly qualified staff at all levels, followed by comprehensive support aimed at further developing their potential. Ensuring equal opportunities is an essential element in all talent management activities undertaken by the Helmholtz Association.
The Helmholtz Graduate Schools and Research Schools at almost all Helmholtz Centers provide doctoral students with the general and specific skills and training they need, as well as ample opportunity to network. The period following a doctorate is decisive in determining the direction and success of a scientific career. For this reason, we established Career Development Centers for postdoctoral researchers in the Helmholtz Centers. This equips young researchers with the skills they need to go on to head a Helmholtz Investigator Group, for example. As an Investigator Group leader, junior scientists can independently set up their own group to conduct research in their specialist field and acquire management skills.
Within its talent management strategy, the Helmholtz Association pays special attention to the increased recruitment of talented female scientists both from Germany and abroad. To this end, there are currently two funding programs supporting this policy: and Helmholtz Distinguished Professorship – Funding for the recruitment of leading international female scientists (W3) .
The increasing complexity of the content, structures and framework conditions of scientific work today requires researchers to organize their projects, their employees and, of course, themselves in a highly professional and effective way. In response to these demands, we have set up the Helmholtz Leadership Academy to provide leaders in science with professional management training. Furthermore, the Helmholtz network provides a platform for the alumni of the Helmholtz Leadership Academy to come together and share their experiences of leadership, career development and lifelong learning.
All of this combined makes the 18 Research Centers of the Helmholtz Association a highly attractive environment for talented researchers from all over the world.
Company info
Telephone
0049-30-206329-0
Location
Anna-Louisa-Karsch-Str. 2
Berlin
Berlin
10178
Germany