Doctoral Candidate Position in Spatial Multi-Omics KU Leuven in Belgium

Doctoral Candidate Position in Spatial Multi-Omics at KU Leuven, Belgium

KU Leuven is offering a 36-month PhD position in spatial multi-omics within the KU Leuven Institute for Single Cell Omics, under the supervision of Prof. Thierry Voet, with co-supervision by Dr. Jon Pey (Intelligent Biodata, Spain) and Dr. Jennifer Garbarino (AtlasXomics Inc., United States).

The project is part of SPACE-MEL, an EU-funded MSCA Doctoral Network focused on the next generation of spatial single-cell omics technologies for precision medicine. The doctoral researcher will develop a workflow to generate spatial transcriptome, protein, and epigenome readouts from the same tissue section, combining single-cell and spatial multi-omics with DBiT-seq-based spatial omics sequencing and COMET-based spatial proteomics.

The work is strongly interdisciplinary and includes collaboration with both academic and industry partners. A first secondment at AtlasXomics (3 months, USA) will focus on spatial epigenomic assay development and workflow optimisation. A second secondment at Intelligent Biodata (4 months, Spain) will focus on computational analysis and AI-supported integration of the generated spatial multi-omics data. The final application will be to melanoma samples to study tumour and immune cell organisation across molecular layers.

KU Leuven and the Institute for Single Cell Omics provide a rich training environment, bringing together researchers from many groups across KU Leuven, University Hospitals Leuven and VIB. The position offers access to dedicated workspace, research facilities, and coverage of bench/consumables costs. Network-organized training, travel and accommodation for meetings are also funded through the Horizon Europe MSCA-DN grant.

Eligibility highlights: applicants must hold a Master’s degree in life sciences or an equivalent background such as bioengineering, biomedical sciences, genetics or genomics; they must not already have a PhD; and they must satisfy the MSCA mobility rule. Strong molecular biology, cell biology, biochemistry, microfluidics and bioinformatics skills are desirable, and experience with single-cell or spatial omics is an advantage. English proficiency is required, with accepted tests including TOEFL, IELTS, Cambridge English, and ITACE, unless exempt.

Application deadline: 31 August 2026, 23:59 Europe/Brussels.

How to apply: submit your application via the KU Leuven platform only. Include the motivation letter, CV, degree documents, transcripts, English certificate, and contact details for at least two referees. Applications sent by email will not be considered.