项目介绍

2026年9月2日

Doctoral position in Medical science

Project title: Multimodal neuroimaging to decipher neurodegenerative diseases

The Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry is located at the Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology at the Faculty of Medicine at Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg.

General information about being a doctoral student at the University of Gothenburg can be found on the university’s doctoral student pages. 
https://www.gu.se/en/doctoral-studies

Duties   

The PhD education in Medical Science comprises carrying out a scientific project and completing at least 30 credits of courses at third-cycle level. The doctoral student must also write a scientific compilation thesis or monograph corresponding to at least 120 credits. For more information about third-cycle studies at Sahlgrenska Academy, see https://www.gu.se/en/sahlgrenska-akademin/doctoral-studies

Doctoral studies comprises four years of full-time study, and leads to a doctoral degree.    

As part of your employment as a doctoral student, you may have departmental duties corresponding to up to 20 % of full-time employment, distributed throughout your study period, and result in a corresponding extension of the studies. Departmental duties usually consist of teaching at first- and second-cycle levels, but may also include research and administration.  

Project description: 
Neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD) begin years to decades before symptoms emerge. With the approval of the first anti-amyloid therapies, which are most effective when initiated early, there is an urgent need for biomarkers that can detect, stage and monitor disease in this presymptomatic window. Yet the combined value of available neuroimaging biomarkers for early neurodegeneration remains insufficiently established, and emerging modalities capturing processes upstream of atrophy require validation.

This PhD project uses multimodal neuroimaging to decipher early neurodegenerative disease across three complementary modalities and world-leading cohorts. Structural MRI measures of hippocampal volume, cortical thickness, white matter hyperintensities and perfusion will be studied in relation to cerebrospinal fluid and plasma biomarkers and cognition in the population-based REAL AD Validation cohort. Longitudinal tau PET with [18F]RO948 in the ALFA+ cohort of cognitively unimpaired individuals will characterise the temporal relationships between amyloid, tau spreading, neurodegeneration and cognitive change across biomarker-defined disease stages. Finally, synaptic density will be quantified with [18F]SynVesT-1 SV2A PET in the SYNAPSE study, evaluating whether synaptic loss – a strong correlate of cognitive decline – can serve as a marker of neurodegeneration preceding structural atrophy, and whether it is sensitive to cognitive training-induced plasticity.

Across modalities, diagnostic and prognostic models will be developed to determine the added value of each technique, alone and combined with fluid and cognitive measures, for early detection, disease staging and prediction of progression. The project is embedded in an international supervisory network spanning Gothenburg, Stockholm, Barcelona and Madison, and will deliver validated imaging tools to support earlier diagnosis, improved trial design and treatment monitoring in AD.

Eligibility   

Doctoral education requires general eligibility and, where appropriate, specific eligibility as set out in the general syllabus for the subject.  

The general eligibility requirements for doctoral studies are:    

1. having completed a degree at second-cycle level, or
2. the fulfilment of course requirements totalling at least 240 credits, of which at least 60 credits must be at second-cycle level, or  
3. the acquisition of equivalent knowledge in some other way, either in Sweden or abroad. 

Specific entry requirements for this subject, according to the general syllabus, are: 
having completed the English B/6 course or is considered to have acquired equivalent knowledge through previous studies

Assessment criteria   

The selection of applicants who meet the basic and specific eligibility requirements will be based on the ability to assimilate the doctoral studies. The assessment shall attach particular importance to documented qualifications for:

– specific knowledge and skills within the subject area and related research fields
– experience of scientific theory and relevant research methodology
– scientific analysis and presentation verified through an academic paper, degree project, scientific
journals or the like.

Admission and employment   

Once you have been admitted to doctoral studies, you will be employed as a doctoral student at the University of Gothenburg.

The provisions for employment as a doctoral student can be found in ordinance SFS 1993:100.

Initial employment as a doctoral student may apply for a maximum of one year, and may be renewed by a maximum of two years at a time.

A doctoral student may be employed as a doctoral student for a maximum of eight years, but the total period of employment may not be longer than the equivalent of full-time education at doctoral level for four years.

Location: Sahlgrenska Academy, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology  Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry. Extent: 100%. First day of employment: as agreed.

The University applies a local agreement on salaries for doctoral students.

Please note, doctoral studies at the institute of Neuroscience and Physiology require physical presence to conduct the studies. If the admitted applicant needs a residence permit for higher education to pursue studies in Sweden, the institute has the right to revoke the admission decision if the applicant cannot present a valid residence permit no later than at the start of the studies.

Contact information 

For more information about the project please contact the project supervisor,
Michael Schöll, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology,
e-mail: michael.scholl@neuro.gu.se

Unions 

Union representatives at the University of Gothenburg can be found here:   
https://www.gu.se/om-universitetet/jobba-hos-oss/hjalp-for-sokande   

Application   

You can apply to be admitted to doctoral education via the University of Gothenburg’s recruitment portal.   

It is your responsibility to ensure that the application is complete as per this notice, and that the University receives it by the final application deadline.   

You must include the following, in pdf format

• Personal letter
• CV
• Diploma and transcripts showing that you meet with the general entry requirement
• Proof of completion of English 6 course or the acquired equivalent knowledge through previous studies

If your degree is from a university outside of Sweden, make sure that you attach a diploma and full transcripts that makes assessing your degree easier.  

For information on what you need to submit in order to fulfill the English language requirement see https://www.universityadmissions.se/en/entry-requirements/english-language-requirements/

Applications must be received by: 2026-09-21