PhD fellowship in Negative T cell selection and induction of regulatory T cells in Human Thymic Organoids

We are offering a fully funded PhD fellowship in Immunology that will commence on
April 15, 2025, or after agreement.


Our group and research:
The Laboratory of Experimental Immunology is a young and dynamic research group
specializing in advanced human experimental immunology. We are a passionate and
dedicated team of 8-10 researchers, laboratory technicians, and students committed to
investigating the fundamental mechanisms of the human immune system.

Project description:
The development of human organoid models has been pivotal in advancing our
understanding of fundamental biological processes. Our group is focused on creating
various human immune organoids to explore the complexities of the human immune
system.

This PhD project will focus on developing a human thymic organoid to study negative T
cell selection and the induction of regulatory T cells in a human-specific context. The
aim is to elucidate how human T cells interact with thymic epithelial cells (TECs) and
identify the key factors necessary for steering T cells away from self-antigens.
Advanced gene-editing techniques will be employed to introduce or remove specific
antigens within the organoids, enabling us to disrupt the T cell selection process and
monitor its impact on T cell development.

The project is conducted in collaboration with the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery
at Rigshospitalet, which provides access to human thymic tissue samples.

Supervisors:
Principal supervisor Professor Søren Buus, Department of Immunology and
Microbiology, [email protected], tel.: +45 35327885
Co- supervisor: Associate Professor Henrik Kløverpris, Department of Immunology and
Microbiology, [email protected], tel.: +45 35337466

Start: April 15, 2025, or after agreement.
Duration: 3 years as a PhD student

Job description
Your key tasks as a PhD student at SUND are:

• Carrying through an independent research project under supervision.

• Completing PhD courses or other equivalent education corresponding to approximately 30 ECTS points.

• Participating in active research environments including a stay at another research team, likely abroad.

• Obtaining experience with teaching or other types of dissemination related to your PhD project.

• Teaching and disseminating your knowledge.

• Writing a PhD thesis on the grounds of your project.

Key criteria for the assessment of applicants:
Applicants must have qualifications corresponding to a master’s degree related to the
subject area of the project, e.g. Microbiology, Immunology, Biology, Biotechnology or
related fields. Please note that your master’s degree must be equivalent to a Danish
master’s degree (two years).

Other important criteria are:

• Ability to multi-task.

• Fluency in written and spoken English.

• Ability to work both independently and as part of a team.

• A desire to contribute to a great working environment.

• High level of self-motivation.

• Interest in Human Immunology

• Experience in working with human thymus organoid models

• Experience in working with human cell cultures

• Experience in working with advanced gene-editing technology

• Demonstrated experience with any of the following techniques is desirable:

Bacterial transformation, cloning, virus-like-particle generation, and flow cytometry

Place of employment
The place of employment is at the Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Faculty
of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen. We offer creative and
stimulating working conditions in dynamic and international research environment.

Terms of employment
The average weekly working hours are 37 hours per week.
The position is a fixed-term position limited to a period of 3 years. The start date is April 15,
2025, or after agreement.

The employment is conditioned upon the applicant’s successful enrolment as a PhD
student at the Graduate School at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences,
University of Copenhagen. This requires submission and acceptance of an application
for the specific project formulated by the applicant.

The PhD study must be completed in accordance with The Ministerial Order on the PhD
programme (2013) and the Faculty’s rules on achieving the degree.

Salary, pension and terms of employment are in accordance with the agreement between
the Ministry of Taxation and The Danish Confederation of Professional Associations on
Academics in the State. Depending on seniority, the monthly salary starts at
approximately 29,191 DKK/Roughly 3,912 EUR (April 2024 level) plus pension.

Questions
For specific information about the PhD fellowship, please contact the principal
supervisor.

General information about PhD studies at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences is
available at the Graduate School’s website: https://healthsciences.ku.dk/phd/guidelines/

Application procedure
Your application must be submitted electronically by clicking ‘Apply now’ below. The
application must include the following documents in PDF format:

1. Motivated letter of application (max. one page)

2. CV incl. education, experience, language skills and other skills relevant for the position

3. Certified copy of original Master of Science diploma and transcript of records in the original language, including an authorized English translation if issued in other language than English or Danish. If not completed, a certified/signed copy of a recent transcript of records or a written statement from the institution or supervisor is accepted. As a prerequisite for a PhD fellowship employment, your master’s degree must be equivalent to a Danish master’s degree.
We encourage you to read more in the assessment database: https://ufm.dk/en/education/recognition-and-transparency/find-assessments/assessment-database/assessment-database
Please note that we might ask you to obtain an assessment of your education performed by the Ministry of HigherEducation and Science.

4. Publication list (if possible)

Application deadline: 6 Thursday/ February 2025, 23.59pm CET
We reserve the right not to consider material received after the deadline, and not to
consider applications that do not live up to the abovementioned requirements.


The further process
After the expiry of the deadline for applications, the authorized recruitment manager
selects applicants for assessment on the advice of the hiring committee. All applicants
are then immediately notified whether their application has been passed for assessment
by an unbiased assessor.

The assessor makes a non-prioritized assessment of the academic qualifications and
experience with respect to the above-mentioned area of research, techniques, skills and
other requirements listed in the advertisement.

Once the assessment work has been completed each applicant has the opportunity to
comment on the part of the assessment that relates to the applicant him/herself.

You find information about the recruitment process at:
http://employment.ku.dk/faculty/recruitment-process/

The applicants will be assessed according to the Ministerial Order no. 242 of 13 March
2012 on the Appointment of Academic Staff at Universities.

The University of Copenhagen wish to reflect the diversity of society and encourage all qualified candidates to apply
regardless of personal background.