PhD Fellowship in Structural Biology and Protein/Vaccine Design at the University of Copenhagen University of Copenhagen in Denmark

PhD fellowship opportunity at the University of Copenhagen within the Novo Nordisk Foundation Initiative for Vaccines and Immunity (NIVI), focused on structural biology, computational protein design, vaccine development, and immunology.

The project sits in an interdisciplinary research environment at NIVI-R, Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences. The research group develops computational and structure-guided approaches to understand immune recognition and design next-generation vaccines against respiratory pathogens and infectious diseases. Methods mentioned include RFdiffusion, ProteinMPNN, AlphaFold, Chai, cryo-EM, cryo-EMPEM, molecular dynamics simulations, machine learning, and structural biology workflows.

The successful candidate will work on vaccine antigen and immunogen design, including conserved B-cell and T-cell epitopes, de novo protein scaffolds, nanoparticles, multivalent immunogens, and antibody-antigen interaction analysis. The exact project will be tailored to the candidate’s interests and background.

This call includes a 6-month Research Assistant position and a 3-year PhD fellowship, starting 15 September 2026 or soon thereafter. The PhD employment is conditional on successful enrolment at the University of Copenhagen Graduate School.

Eligibility highlights: applicants should hold a master’s degree equivalent to a Danish two-year master’s degree in a related field. The assessment also considers GPA, relevant qualifications, publications, work experience, other professional activities, strong interest in protein design and structural biology, and language skills.

Application deadline: 7 July 2026, 23:59 CET. Apply electronically through the university portal and upload a motivated letter, CV, certified MSc diploma and transcript, and publication list if available.