The [Institute for Pathology](https://www.ukaachen.de/kliniken-institute/institut-fuer-pathologie/institut/)-Research Group of Jun.-Prof. Dr. R. Bülow- is offering a

PhD student position (f/m/d)

to interrogate heart failure and cardio-renal crosstalk using cutting-edge multiplex-immunofluorescence and bioimage analysis techniques, including deep learning.

Workplace: Institute for Pathology -Research Group of Jun.-Prof. Dr. R. Bülow-
Working hours: Part-Time 26 hours/week
Duration/Term of employment: the position is limited for 3 years in accordance with the WissZeitVG (German Academic Fixed-Term Contract Act) with the option of prolongation. The successful applicant will be encouraged and supported to achieve a doctoral degree.
Start date: as soon as possible
Remuneration/Rates: EG 13 (TV-L)

Why choose us?

We offer…

- 30 days of vacation
- A bonus of 3,000 euros for employees who help recruit employees in the care sector
- An attractive company pension scheme from VBL
- Education opportunities, including updating and upgrading
- Access to public transport
- In-house kindergarten (places subject to availability)
- Staff residences (places subject to availability and by arrangement)
- An onboarding app for new employees
- Extended opening hours in the staff restaurant

Project Title: Dissection of platelet-macrophage-fibroblast interaction in CKD-driven cardiac remodeling. Institute for Pathology, RWTH Aachen University in close cooperation with the Hoeft Group (Med. clinic II - Nephrology).

Within this PhD-Project the PhD candidate will interrogate cardiac remodeling and heart failure in patients with chronic kidney disease. The PhD candidate will learn both (i) the generation and (ii) bioinformatic analysis of multiplexed immunofluorescence images. Being closely integrated with the Digital Pathology research group, the candidate will also learn to train and deploy histology segmentation models, as well as the downstream analysis of morphometric features in conjuncture with further data (specifically, multiplex immunofluorescence and spatial transcriptomics - which will be generated by the Hoeft Group).

This PhD-Program is meant to built a new generation of scientists that are rigorously trained in both cutting-edge wetlab technologies and computational tools to perform analyses of the gerenated results, specifically, advanced image analysis. This combined skillset will enable the candidate to excel in their further academic or industry career after concluding the PhD training.

This PhD-Project is embedded within the Sonderforschungsbereich (SFB) of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) SFB/TRR219 Mechanisms of Cardiovascular Complications in Chronic Kidney Disease (https://www.sfb-trr219.de/). PhD candidates will be part of the integrated Research Training Group (IRTG, https://www.sfb-trr219.de/irtg) of the SFB, which offers a comprehensive training program for PhD candidates. This includes (i) medical-scientist programs, (ii) Peer-to-Peer Mentoring, (iii) lectures series on cardio-renal disease with distinguished external speakers, (iv) soft-skill courses, (v) (hands-on) training for new methodologies and technologies, (vi) summer-schools and (vii) networking events.

Tasks:

- Generation and Analysis of highly multiplexed sections of murine and human hearts
- Generation of a Pathomics model for H&E-stained histological slides of murine and human hearts
- Application and further development of techniques for joint analysis of Pathomics and multiplex immunofluorescence
- Writing scientific publications

Your profile:

- We seek a researcher interested in working at the intersection of computational pathology/bioinformatics and experimental pathology. Ideally, applicants should have prior experience in either wetlab techniques (specifically performing stainings) or computational pathology approaches.

Applicants should have a master's degree in biology, medicine, or a related field (e.g., molecular biology, molecular medicine, physics).

- Desirable:

- We are looking for a highly motivated and curious PhD candidate who is eager to learn new wet-lab and computational methods, takes ownership of a project, and drives it forward with a structured, reliable working style. Strong communication skills in English and enthusiasm for interdisciplinary teamwork are highly valued.

- Motivation and eagerness to lean

- Ability to work indepedently / self-directed working

- Attention to detail

- Teamwork

Application:

The application deadline for the advertised position GB-P-54487 is 20.02.2026.

Contact:

University Hospital of the RWTH Aachen, Institute for Pathology, Univ.-Prof. Dr. med. Danny Jonigk, FRCPath, Pauwelsstraße 30, 52074 Aachen.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Jun.-Prof. Dr. med. Roman Bülow
E-Mail: rbuelow@ukaachen.de
Phone: +49 (0)241 80 35507

We look forward to receiving your application!

This job advertisement is aimed at all genders.

The RWTH Aachen University Hospital promotes equal opportunity and diversity. Applications from women are expressly sought and, in accordance with relevant laws, will be treated preferentially.

We welcome applications from people with disabilities and they will be given priority if they are equally suitable.

Employment at a fraction less than the weekly full-time working hours stated above is generally possible.

It is preferable to use our digital application portal at www.karriere.ukaachen.de to apply. The portal allows you to upload your documents to an electronic application folder, which is protected from unauthorized access. Applications received by email are transferred to our application portal and then deleted in accordance with data protection regulations. (Transmission by email is usually inadequately protected.) If you do not agree to the transfer of your data to our portal, we unfortunately cannot consider your application. The data in the portal will be deleted after the retention period has expired.