PhD Positions in AI-Powered Personalized Nutrition, Multi-Omics, Microbiome Science, and Behavioral Science at University of Vienna University of Vienna in Austria

University of Vienna is recruiting PhD students for the AI-powered Personalized Nutrition (AIPN) research platform. These positions sit at the intersection of biology, computer science, and public health, with strong links to multi-omics, metabolomics, microbiome science, machine learning, AI-based modeling, nutritional physiology, and psychology/behavioral science.

There are multiple open topics with different supervisors: Wolfram Weckwerth (multi-omics, metabolomics, clinical studies), Steffen Waldherr (machine learning for personalized nutrition), Karl-Heinz Wagner (nutritional physiology and personalized nutrition), Laura König (psychology and behavioral science), and David Berry (microbiome science).

The projects involve conducting research within the AIPN framework, designing and performing nutritional intervention studies or laboratory experiments, generating and analyzing metabolomics and other multi-omics datasets, developing predictive models for individual nutritional responses, and publishing results in peer-reviewed journals. Students will also supervise junior students and collaborate in an interdisciplinary team.

Eligibility is broad but requires a completed Master’s degree or equivalent in a relevant field. Preferred backgrounds include biochemistry, molecular biology, systems biology, nutrition science, food science, public health, metabolomics, proteomics, microbiome research, computer science, data science, machine learning, AI, biomedical/medical sciences, bioinformatics, computational biology, biotechnology, psychology, behavioral science, and human-computer interaction. Strong motivation for interdisciplinary research and excellent communication skills are emphasized. For some roles, very good English is required; German is helpful but not mandatory.

The positions are based at the University of Vienna and are offered as employment contracts for 4 years (initially limited to 1.5 years, then extendable). The workload is 30 hours per week. The announcement does not specify a stipend amount, but it is a funded PhD employment opportunity rather than a self-funded call.

Applications should be submitted via the University of Vienna PhD application platform under the STEM Call: Doctoral Positions in the Life Sciences and Natural Sciences. Applicants should indicate the topic/supervisor they are applying for. Questions may be directed to the individual supervisors by email. For the David Berry project, candidates are asked to contact him directly by email because that position is not listed on the STEM call.