Funding
Alliance Interinstitutional Postdoc Program
The Alliance Interinstitutional Postdoc Program fosters early scientific independence and supports innovative research ideas. Embedded in an excellent interdisciplinary scientific environment, the program offers access to high-end technologies and state-of-the-art labs at world-class research institutions in Heidelberg and Mannheim, Germany – one of the largest biomedical research hubs in Europe. In order to attract talent to the Alliance partner institutions and to the greater Heidelberg region, the Health + Life Science Alliance carries out annual recruitment rounds.
The application deadline is on March 31, 2026 at 5:00 pm CEST.
The Alliance is looking for outstanding, international early career scientists, including clinician scientists, for bridging projects between two or more Alliance partner institutions.
All applicants must apply with their own research project proposal supervised by at least two PIs at different Alliance institutions and must contact the Alliance PIs of their choice prior to applying. Applicants require a letter of support signed by the Alliance PIs.
Applicants may write their research proposal based on the innovative, interinstitutional project outlines proposed by project leaders of the Alliance specifically for this call. Alternatively, applicants are also welcome to define their research proposal independent from the proposed project outlines, but also with at least two PIs at different Alliance institutions.
The Alliance primarily supports basic and translational research in the fields of cancer research, cardiovascular research, neuropsychiatric diseases, genomics, synthetic immunology, molecular engineering, medical technologies and novel applications of AI concepts in health and life science research.
Applicants for the postdoctoral positions should have a PhD, MD or MD/PhD degree in a relevant area of research latest within four months after the submission deadline. Applicants should not have worked for more than a maximum of four months as a postdoctoral researcher or clinician scientist at Alliance institutions (co-)supervising the selected or proposed project at the time of the submission deadline. At a minimum one first author paper is requested.
Funding
The Alliance provides funds for two-year postdoctoral positions at Alliance institutions with the earliest start date on August 1, 2026 and the latest start date on January 1, 2027.
Clinician scientists will receive 12 months of funding from the Alliance for the research project over a period of 24 months during the "Facharztausbildung"/specialist medical training. The clinical position during this time must be guaranteed by the employing hospital/PI where the "Facharztausbildung"/specialist medical training will be performed.
This interinstitutional program offers an excellent interdisciplinary scientific environment.
The program offers access to high-end technologies and state-of-the-art labs at world-class research institutions in the life sciences at the campus environment of Heidelberg University in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, one of the largest biomedical research hubs in Europe.
Through the unique expertise across the institutions, we offer you the exclusive opportunity to gain insight into transfer of knowledge and the development of new applications.
Application
Prepare your research project proposal and cover letter outlining your scientific interests and explaining why you are the right candidate with the right skills for the Alliance labs you want to work with. Attach to the cover letter your CV, publication list with at least one first-author publication, PhD/ MD certificate and two reference letters, save it as one single pdf (file size max. 8 MB).
Please download the list of proposed project outlines, information sheet, Research Project Proposal Template and Support Letter here from the website before you start. Carefully read the Guide for Applicants.
Please allow sufficient time for contacting the PIs and subsequently submitting your application via our submission system.
Awardees
Hubert Senanu Ahor, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University
Investigating the critical role of iron metabolism in the failing heart with spatial and single-cell metabolomics
Steven Dooley, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University + Martina Muckenthaler, Medical Faculty Heidelberg, Heidelberg University
Kaili Fu, EMBL
Quantifying the impact of drug combination treatments of colorectal cancer on the composition and metabolic functions of the gut microbiota
Michael Zimmermann, EMBL + Tianzuo Zhan, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University
Steffanie Heindl, EMBL
Decrypting the cancer neuroscience of brain tumors with integrated correlative intravital microscopy and high-resolution spatial multi-omics
Sinema Saka, EMBL + Varun Venkataramani, Medical Faculty Heidelberg, Heidelberg University
Despoina Kiousi, EMBL
Dissecting the regulation of colibactin production and genotoxicity in E. coli
Nassos Typas, EMBL + Jens Puschhof, DKFZ
Louis Masclef, DKFZ
Targeting cell fate plasticity to combat glioblastoma
Moritz Mall, DKFZ + Frank Winkler, Medical Faculty Heidelberg, Heidelberg University
Pedro Pablo Rojas, Heidelberg University
Human and AI alignment: Learning generalization principles from cognitive maps
Georgia Koppe, Heidelberg University + Gordon Feld, ZI
Stefan Schrod, EMBL
Towards an in silico model of the cell – perturbations, time and experimental design
Oliver Stegle, EMBL + Britta Velten, Heidelberg University
Xin Wang, EMBL
Getting to the heart of gene regulation: an integrative approach to model gene regulatory networks during human embryonic heart development
Eileen Furlong, EMBL + Johannes Backs, Medical Faculty Heidelberg, Heidelberg University
Nikolaus Watson, EMBL
Micronuclei degradation and cancer genome evolution
Jan Korbel, EMBL + Elmar Schiebel, Heidelberg University
Bettina Welz, EMBL
Understanding temperature sensitivity and robustness of development using
single-cell transcriptomics in genetically diverse medaka strains
Michael Dorrity, EMBL + Duncan Odom, DKFZ
Jack Whitehead, Heidelberg University
Cryogenic super-resolution correlative light and electron microscopy of Influenza A Virus
Petr Chlanda, Heidelberg University + Julia Mahmid, EMBL
Ruri Yamaguchi, DKFZ
Characterization of the liver microbiome in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)
Mathias Heikenwälder, DKFZ + Andreas Teufel, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University
Alexander Aivazidis, EMBL
Dynamical causal modelling of gene regulation and cellular trajectories in neural organoids
Oliver Stegle, EMBL + Lars Steinmetz, EMBL + Moritz Mall, Medical Faculty Heidelberg, Heidelberg University
Zahra Haider, Medical Faculty Heidelberg, Heidelberg University
Molecular profiling of liquid biopsies for brain tumor diagnostics and monitoring of treatment response
Felix Sahm, Medical Faculty Heidelberg, Heidelberg University + David Jones, DKFZ
Sabrina Lewis, Medical Faculty Heidelberg, Heidelberg University
Using spatial omics to study the effects of combinatorial drug therapies in tumour biopsies
Denis Schapiro, Medical Faculty Heidelberg, Heidelberg University + Peer Fischer, Heidelberg University
Jan Fabio Nickels, DKFZ
Revealing mechanisms of chromatin domain organization and epigenetic gene regulation
Karsten Rippe, DKFZ + Simon Anders, Heidelberg University
Priyanka Pant, Medical Faculty Heidelberg, Heidelberg University
Deciphering the role of RNA granules vs. missplicing in RBM20 cardiomyopathy; will the real culprit please stand up?
Maarten van den Hoogenhof, Medical Faculty Heidelberg, Heidelberg University + Lars Steinmetz, EMBL
Jose Augusto Pochapski, ZI
Shared and distinct cellular and molecular mechanisms of drug addictions
Rainer Spanagel, ZI + Andreas Draguhn, Medical Faculty Heidelberg, Heidelberg University
Lukas Scheiderer, Medical Faculty Heidelberg, Heidelberg University
Understanding the role of kinesin in HSP on a molecular level using MINFLUX tracking
Rebecca Schüle-Freyer, Medical Faculty Heidelberg, Heidelberg University + Timo Zimmermann, EMBL
Lea Weber, DKFZ
Dynamics of somatic mosaicism in stem cell systems: From data to models
Thomas Höfer, DKFZ + Anna Marciniak, Heidelberg University
Martin Würtz, EMBL
Understanding microtubule organisation by the augmin complex in space and time
Sebastian Eustermann, EMBL + Elmar Schiebel, Heidelberg University + Stefan Pfeffer, Heidelberg University
Céline Zheng-Gérard, Heidelberg University
Structural and functional characterisation of the potassium channel TASK-1 in health and disease
Cristina Paulino, Heidelberg University + Constanze Schmidt, Medical Faculty Heidelberg, Heidelberg University
Eleanor Burgess, Heidelberg University
Microcapsules for immunotherapy of solid tumors
Adelheid Cerwenka, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University + Christine Selhuber-Unkel, Heidelberg University
Hairuo Dang, EMBL
Exploring the mechanism of pronuclear migration in mouse and human oocytes
Jan Ellenberg, EMBL + Thomas Strowitzki, Medical Faculty Heidelberg, Heidelberg University
Esra Oktay, Heidelberg University
VIROGAMI – Synthetic virology meets DNA/RNA origami
Dirk Grimm, Heidelberg University + Kerstin Göpfrich, Heidelberg University and MPI for medical research
Roger Ottenheijm, Medical Faculty Heidelberg, Heidelberg University
New Ca2+ entry and release channels in platelets – relevance for thrombosis and inflammation
Marc Freichel, Medical Faculty Heidelberg, Heidelberg University + Daniel Dürschmied, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University
Changgyun Park, Medical Faculty Heidelberg, Heidelberg University
Integrative analyses of drug responses in tumor organoids of brain metastases
Christel Herold-Mende, Medical Faculty Heidelberg, Heidelberg University + Peter Lichter, DKFZ
Zahra Rezaei, Medical Faculty Heidelberg, Heidelberg University
Using MALDI-MS Imaging to determine insecticide cellular localization and potential as malaria-transmission blocking interventions Victoria Ingham, Medical Faculty Heidelberg, Heidelberg University + Carsten Hopf, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University
Jakob Rosenbauer, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University Multi-level data integration to predict the immune therapy response in glioma Michael Platten, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University + Benedict Brors, DKFZ
Amritha Sathyanarayanan, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University
Using Single Cell RNA-sequencing and Spatial Transcriptomics to Elucidating the Ovarian Cancer Tumor Microenvironment in Patients treated with Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors and PARP inhibitors
Frederic Marmé, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University + Benedict Brors, DKFZ
Andrea Zanotti, DKFZ
General and cell type-specific mechanisms for the coupling of protein uptake and lysosomal catabolism
Wilhelm Palm, DKFZ + Matias Simons, Medical Faculty Heidelberg, Heidelberg University
Katharina Zirngibl, Medical Faculty Heidelberg, Heidelberg University
Understanding regulation of differentiation from multi-omics single-cell assays
Simon Anders, Heidelberg University + Ana Martin-Villalba, DKFZ
Maja Bencun, Medical Faculty Heidelberg, Heidelberg University
Functional characterization of uORF-encoded microproteins in cardiomyocytes
Christoph Dieterich, Medical Faculty Heidelberg, Heidelberg University + Rebecca Wade, Heidelberg University
Aylin Camgöz, DKFZ
Oncogenic roles of PRDM16 in ST-EPN-ZFTA ependymomas
Marcel Kool, DKFZ + Magdalena Laugsch, Medical Faculty Heidelberg, Heidelberg University
Rafael Cardoso, DKFZ
Discovery and evaluation of non-invasive tests and risk models for personalized colorectal cancer screening
Hermann Brenner, DKFZ + Nuh Rahbari, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University
Ines Castro, Medical Faculty Heidelberg, Heidelberg University
The Nuclear Pore Complex as a site for genomic transcription and splicing
Marina Lusic, Medical Faculty Heidelberg, Heidelberg University + Sinem Saka, EMBL
Florian Constanty, Medical Faculty Heidelberg, Heidelberg University
Dissecting the cardiac regenerative microenvironment using spatial OMICs
Arica Beisaw, Medical Faculty Heidelberg, Heidelberg University + Chi-Chung Wu, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University
Taniya Chakraborty, Heidelberg University
Bottom-up assembly of a macrophage-mimicking synthetic cell
Selhuber-Unkel, Heidelberg University + Kerstin Göpfrich, MPI, Heidelberg University
Quinten Ducarmon, EMBL
Discovery of novel gut bacterial carcinogenesis mechanisms
Georg Zeller, EMBL + Eran Elinav, DKFZ
Charles Dussiau, EMBL
Integrative analysis of single cell omics with cellular and functional features of ageing at a whole organ level using machine learning
Judith Zaugg, EMBL + Michael Milsom, DKFZ
Büşra Erarslan-Uysal, Medical Faculty Heidelberg, Heidelberg University
Characterizing genomic structural variation and leukemogenesis in Shwachman-Diamond-Syndrome
Joachim Kunz, Medical Faculty Heidelberg, Heidelberg University + Jan Korbel, EMBL
Nir Fulman, Heidelberg University
Interdisciplinary research platform “Urban nature experience, biodiversity and mental health”
Alexander Zipf + Marcus Koch + Gerd Hoefele, Heidelberg University + Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg, ZI
Marie Jacobovitz, EMBL
Plasticity of nuclear cycling in response to the environment
Gautam Dey, EMBL + Markus Ganter, Heidelberg University
Nicolai Karcher, EMBL
Towards personalized microbiome-informed immunosuppressive therapy in transplant medicine
Michael Zimmermann, EMBL + Burkhard Tönshoff + David Czock, Medical Faculty Heidelberg, Heidelberg University
Suzan Kors, Heidelberg University
A molecular and ultrastructural analysis of mitotic organelle remodeling and of organelle interactions during mitosis
Anne Schlaitz, Heidelberg University + Yannick Schwab, EMBL
Florian Marx, Medical Faculty Heidelberg, Heidelberg University
Multiplex serology to identify novel biomarkers for tuberculosis
Claudia Denkinger, Medical Faculty Heidelberg, Heidelberg University + Tim Waterboer, DKFZ
Svenja Müller, ZI
Molecular principles underlying the effects of prenatal maternal stress on placenta and neurodevelopment: from a human longitudinal cohort to mechanistic insight
Stephanie Witt, ZI + Alexander Aulehla, EMBL
Maria Lucia Pigazzini, EMBL
Unraveling the emerging link between structural centrosome aberrations and cancer
Niccolò Banterle, EMBL + Ingrid Hoffmann, DKFZ
Daniela Ramirez Butavand, Heidelberg University
Training the sleeping brain: effects of high intensity training on sleep-dependent brain plasticity in major depression
Simon Steib, Heidelberg University + Gordon Feld, ZI
Fredrika Rajer, EMBL
Quantifying the effect of long-term antibiotic prophylaxis in infants on the pediatric microbiome and the development of antibiotic resistance
Michael Zimmermann, EMBL + Christan Gille + Burkhard Toenshoff + Alexander Dalpke, Medical Faculty Heidelberg, Heidelberg University
Vladimir Ryabov, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University
Role of inflammation in fully humanized and immunologically active 3D bone marrow models of healthy and neoplastic hematopoiesis
Daniel Nowak, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University + Marieke Essers, DKFZ
Petr Smirnov, EMBL
Merging histopathology imaging and genome sequencing using machine learning to discover fundamental properties and translational opportunities of tumors with chromothripsis
Wolfgang Huber, EMBL + Aurelie Ernst, DKFZ
Joshua Stevenson-Hoare, DKFZ
Linking Hyperscanning in EEG and fMRI measures for studying social interactions
Hermann Brenner, DKFZ + Beate Ditzen, Medical Faculty Heidelberg, Heidelberg University + Judith Zaugg, EMBL
De-en Sun, MPI
Spying on brain tumors with chemogenetic integrators
Kai Johnsson, MPI + Frank Winkler, DKFZ
Matthias Wagner, Medical Faculty Heidelberg, Heidelberg University
GPI-anchored surface proteins of protozoan parasites as targets for therapeutic antibodies
Friedrich Frischknecht, Medical Faculty Heidelberg, Heidelberg University + Nina Papavasiliou + Hedda Wardemann, DKFZ
Contact
Dr. Sabine Rehberger-Schneider
Email: programs [at| health-life-sciences.de
Phone: +49 0162 174 5244