Job ID: 123320

Ph.D. position: Synaptic mechanisms of psychiatric disorders

Position: Ph.D. Student

Deadline: 11 July 2025

Employment Start Date: 1 September 2025

Contract Length: 3 years

City: Mainz

Country: Germany

Institution: Mainz University Medical Center

Department: Institute of Anatomy

Description:

We are seeking a highly motivated Ph.D. student to join us at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany, to study the role of microglia in shaping the development of GABAergic synapses in corticolimbic circuits and psychiatrically relevant behaviors.

Disruptions in GABAergic synaptic inhibition are a core pathophysiological hallmark of several neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders. Yet only few therapeutic approaches targeting the GABAergic system are currently in clinical use, partly due to our lack of knowledge on the basic neurobiology of these synapses and the factors that influence their development and function (see also Krueger-Burg 2025, Trends Neurosci.). In recent years, substantial interest has arisen in understanding how GABAergic synapses are shaped by the function of microglia, the resident immune cells in the brain and potential mediators of synaptic pathophysiology, with the ultimate aim of targeting the interaction between microglia and GABAergic synapses for therapeutic purposes.

Within this context, a Ph.D. position is available in the Laboratory of Cell Biology and Neuroscience at the Institute of Anatomy, Mainz University Medical Center, to investigate the molecular mechanisms by which microglia and GABAergic synapses communicate during corticolimbic circuit development, using a combination of mouse behavior, synapse imaging, electrophysiology, chemogenetics, and transcriptomics. The ideal candidate will have a solid background in neuroscience, as well as prior experience in the study of the synapses and circuits underlying psychiatrically relevant behaviors. Given that the Institute of Anatomy is an international environment, strong English language skills and prior international experience are highly desirable.

This Ph.D. position is fully funded for three years through the DFG Priority Programme “Local and Peripheral Drivers of Microglial Diversity and Function”, which will start in September 2025. The doctoral degree will be granted through the Mainz Research School of Translational Biomedicine (https://www.unimedizin-mainz.de/transmed/home.html), in cooperation with the Focus Program Translational Neurosciences (FTN) (https://www.blogs.uni-mainz.de/ftn-eng/) and the Rhein-Main Neuroscience Network (http://www.rmn2.de/).

Applications including a letter of motivation, CV, university transcripts, and contact information for two letters of recommendation, should be sent to Prof. Dilja Krueger-Burg (dkruegerburg@uni-mainz.de) by July 11, 2025.