We are looking to support our rapidly growing team as soon as possible a:

PhD Student (f/m/x) Immunology

Your salary will be based on TV-L

Your salary will be based on TV-L

Your tasks

• Performance of high-dimensional flow cytometry to
  characterize human virus-specific T-cell responses
• Application and optimization of metabolic assays to definefunctional and metabolic phenotypes of T-cells
• Analysis of immunological and clinical cohort data and
  contribution to integrative data interpretation
• Close collaboration with clinicians and national/internationalpartners
• Presentation of the data within meetings as well as nationaland international congresses
• Publication of the results in high-impact journals

Your profile

• You hold a Masters degree in Immunology Biology
  Biomedicine Biotechnology or a related field
• Strong interest in T-cell biology immunometabolism and human translational immunology
• Experience with cell culture flow cytometry or human
  immune cell assays is highly desirable
• Familiarity with metabolic assays cohort studies or viral immunology is an advantage but not required
• High motivation to work with patient-derived samples andtranslational research approaches
• Independent and structured work style enthusiasm for
  teamwork and interdisciplinary collaboration
• Excellent English communication skills both spoken andwritten

Our offer

• Everything but ordinary: You can expect a secure job in a challenging innovative environment including company pension schemes and regular working hours without business trips.
• Work-life balance: Whether full-time or part-time with or without children with numerous support options we will find the right path together.
• Team spirit in R(h)ine culture: You will be warmly welcomed by an interdisciplinary team that values mutual respect and helpfulness.
• Strong perspectives: We offer extensive training opportunities so you can continuously grow and set new goals.

Your future with us

We are one of the leading university hospitals in Germany and network research teaching and health care at the highest level. Thats why many things are a lot bigger for us: the spectrum of exciting development opportunities. The limitless openness with which specialists from all over the world work together here. Or our commitment as an employer to support all employees as best we can in reconciling their job with their goals and life situations.

This is the University Hospital of Cologne: Everything but ordinary.

Your future in detail

Our research group (AG Translational Immunometabolism) isinterested in the interplay between metabolism and
immunity.
The number of people with obesity is continuously rising butnew weight loss drugs have revolutionised the treatment overthe last years. Obesity leads to a severe course of infectionsbut the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. ThePhD project will investigate the impact of obesity weight lossand novel metabolic therapies on antiviral T-cell immunity.
The successful candidate will utilize high-dimensional flow
cytometry and metabolic assays with the goal to identify
mechanisms that impair antiviral immunity in obeseindividuals and define metabolic pathways that could betargeted to improve infection outcomes.
We are a young and dynamic research group funded by the
Else Kröner-Fresenius-Stiftung and the University ofCologne. We offer team spirit and a supportive environmentwith close supervision by the PI. We have strong local andinternational collaborations and our group is part of theTranslational Research Unit Infectious Diseases (TRU-ID)within the Division of Infectious Diseases. The TRU-IDconducts research aimed at improving our immunologicalunderstanding of infectious diseases with the goal to developinnovative therapies for bacterial viral and fungal infections.

Contact

Dr. Schmidt

Application deadline: 22 February 2026

Job-ID: 6sc1x3r9