Open Positions

The Department of Adult Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at the University of Zurich (UZH) is inviting applications for a one- year Postdoctoral Researcher (20–40%), starting March 2026 or as arranged.
This position is embedded in the Clinical Research Priority Program (CRPP) “Synapse, Trauma and Addiction (STA)”, an interdisciplinary research initiative at UZH. The successful candidate will work on well-curated, high-quality fMRI datasets from clinical studies investigating trauma/PTSD, addiction, and memory-related mechanisms.

Your responsibilities:
The postdoc will contribute to ongoing projects examining:

• Trauma-related memory processes and memory plasticity
• Pharmacological modulation of traumatic memories
• Neural mechanisms of memory updating and persistence
• fMRI markers relevant to trauma and addiction psychopathology
   

Your profile:
We are looking for a motivated and analytically strong candidate who:

• Holds a PhD in neuroscience, psychology, psychiatry, cognitive science, or a related field
• Has solid experience in fMRI data analysis (e.g., GLM-based analyses, connectivity, multivariate approaches)
• Is proficient in relevant tools and pipelines (e.g., SPM, Python, MATLAB, R)
• Has a strong interest in trauma, memory, and neural plasticity
• Enjoys working independently with complex datasets and is ready to dive into exciting existing data
• Is motivated to contribute to publications within an interdisciplinary clinical research environment

We offer:

• A part-time postdoctoral position (20–40%) with flexible start date
• Access to rich, high-quality clinical fMRI datasets
• A highly collaborative and interdisciplinary research environment
• Integration into the CRPP Synapse, Trauma and Addiction (STA) network
• Excellent infrastructure and scientific support at UZH
• Opportunities for publication, networking, and career development

Start Date: 01.03.2026 or as arranged

Work Location: University Hospital of Psychiatry Zurich, Lenggstrasse 31, 8032 Zürich

Contact: Prof. Birgit Kleim birgit.kleim@uzh.ch 
Website: https://www.psychologie.uzh.ch/de/bereiche/hea/expsy.html

Interested in advancing neuroimaging after traumatic brain injury?

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is the leading cause of disability in the young and working population and is well known to be the most common external risk factor for dementia. Up to 90% of all TBI patients are initially classified as mild injured with half of these patients suffering from an incomplete recovery with various neuropsychiatric sequels albeit no visible brain pathology using the current state-of-the art diagnostics.  Therefore, we conduct a prospective, longitudinal, and confirmatory quantitative research study in adolescents and adults aged 16 to 60 years at the University Hospital Zurich including multimodal assessments (cognition, sleep, psychiatric burden, blood markers, gut microbiome) and advanced neuroimaging to elucidate changes in brain morphology, volumetry, connectivity and metabolic changes over 12 months to develop a new diagnostic algorithm that will help to identify TBI patients at risk of an unfavorable neuropsychiatric outcome early.

We offer:

• 1 PhD position (70%) currently funded for 24 months for highly motivated and talented researchers (3rd and 4th year will be covered after received additional funding)
• Learn about frontal lobe dysfunction and their relevance for cognitive and neuropsychiatric outcome after mild TBI
• Excellent infrastructure for training and research by internationally recognized scientists with state-of-the-art technologies
• Excellent scientific and academic guidance within the Department of Neuroradiology with weekly meetings
• A comprehensive and structured training within the Center for Neuroscience (ZNZ) Zurich
• Bi-monthly overall lab meetings with the opportunities to represent the own project and learn from other projects within the AG Rauen
• An individual career mentoring program & coaching, a wide range of methodology courses, soft skills workshops, and conference travel grants
• International scientific and clinical collaborations within the Neurotrauma and Neuroimaging networks and publishing in high-ranked peer-reviewed international journals

We are looking for

• Highly qualified and motivated students holding an MSc of Neuroscience, MSc of Neuroradiology, MSc of Psychology, or equivalent in a related subject or aiming for a MD/PhD
• Students who have already demonstrated their motivation, interest and qualification for the above research areas by achieving very good grades in their BSc and MSc studies
• Candidates with very good German (C2) and English skills (C1)

Please apply by mail including your motivational letter, CV and certificates by November 16th, 2025:

AG Rauen Neuropsychiatry
PD Dr. med. Katrin Rauen, FEBN
Senior Research Associate
Institute of Emergency Medicine, University Hospital Zurich
Junior Research Group Leader, ZNZ, Zurich
katrin.rauen@uzh.ch

Prof. Dr. phil. Lars Michels
Senior Assistant
Department of Neuroradiology, University Hospital Zurich
Research Group Leader, ZNZ, Zurich
lars.michels@usz.ch

 

job advertisement (PDF, 185 KB)