MSCA-Doctoral Network MERIT: 15 PhD Positions in Virus-Induced Metabolic Reprogramming
MSCA-Doctoral Network MERIT (MEtabolic Reprogramming in viral pathogenesis: from Infection to Therapeutic innovations) is offering 15 PhD positions across a European consortium led from Amsterdam UMC (location AMC) and involving seven academic institutions and 12 associated partners. This is an EU-funded Horizon Europe MSCA training programme focused on understanding how viruses reshape host metabolism and how these changes contribute to disease and therapeutic opportunities.
The project combines three major methodological pillars: human organoids, integrative and spatial omics, and advanced microscopy. Students will work on topics spanning viral pathogenesis, host-virus interactions, metabolic reprogramming, neurobiology, immunometabolism, and translational infection biology. Example research themes include mitochondrial dysfunction in enterovirus CNS disease, safe virus research strategies in EU laboratories, coronavirus effects on the lung and CNS, long-term CNS alterations after infection, multimodal microscopy of viral infections in organoids, Raman and autofluorescence micro-spectroscopy, HIV-induced neurodegeneration, alphavirus-host lipid homeostasis, gut-brain axis metabolic footprints, lipid metabolism in virus-induced neurodegeneration, macrophages in the lung cancer-infection niche, SARS-CoV-2 persistent reprogramming in long COVID, and immunometabolic engineering for HIV cure and alphavirus therapeutics.
The coordinating supervisors named in the announcement are Dr. Adithya Sridhar, Assistant Professor, and Prof. Dr. Dasja Pajkrt, Professor of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, from the OrganoVIR Labs at Amsterdam UMC. The network is highly international, with PhD positions distributed among Amsterdam UMC, Karolinska Institutet, Jagiellonian University, University of Oslo, Medical University of Innsbruck, Leiden University Medical Center, and Justus Liebig University Giessen.
Eligibility highlights include a Master’s degree or equivalent, excellent English communication skills at C1/C2 level, and compliance with MSCA mobility rules. The application deadline is 30 October 2026 at 23:59 (Europe/Amsterdam), and the expected start date is 1 April 2027. Interested candidates should apply through the MERIT careers page and consult the project website for further details on the individual PhD projects and application instructions.
