Join Us
At any time, we welcome applications from creative researchers of all nationalities and at all levels (Bachelor’s and Master’s theses, PhD, and postdoc). In Germany, it is common to apply to research groups even when no specific position is advertised. If our research closely matches your interests, please do not hesitate to send us your application.
How to apply
Application documents
Please send a single PDF to application.priesemannATds.mpg.de, including:
- Short letter of motivation
- CV
- Transcript of records
- Names of referees
Skills and use of AI
Please also include an informative statement about your programming, AI/ML, and/or analytical skills, and explain how you used AI tools to prepare your application.
Equal opportunity
We encourage applicants from all backgrounds and genders to contact us.
Programs & Fellowships
These programs offer funded routes into Master’s, PhD, and postdoctoral research. Where permitted, our group can serve as a potential research or host group.
Max Planck School Matter to Life (MtL)
How does life emerge from matter? This fully funded five-year program combines a two-year interdisciplinary Master’s phase with a three-year PhD research phase and is particularly relevant to applicants at Bachelor’s or Master’s level. It is open to students with a Bachelor or Master degree. We recommend this program explicitly also to students who already have a Master’s degree, because the first two years offer ample time for research, preparing your PhD project.
Max Planck Artificial Intelligence Network (MP-AIX)
MP-AIX connects artificial intelligence methods with scientific application fields. It centrally co-funds 50% of the personnel costs for new PhD positions, with the remaining funding provided by the participating institutes, and matches shortlisted applicants with potential advisors.
CIDAS Fellowship
CIDAS regularly offers fellowships for early-career postdocs developing independent data-science projects. If you are interested in applying with our group as your host, please contact us. Submit your application by email to cidas@uni-goettingen.de.
Annual PhD positions: Experimental and Computational Neuroscience
Each year, the Göttingen Campus opens several PhD positions in experimental and computational neuroscience. Please consider applying before (about) 15 January each year.
Degree programs in Göttingen
Interested in studying physics or data science in Göttingen? These degree programs offer routes from a broad undergraduate foundation to specialized, research-oriented Master’s study.
Physik+ (B.Sc.)
The four-year Bachelor “Physik Interdisziplinär” combines a strong foundation in physics with flexible interdisciplinary pathways such as artificial intelligence, philosophy, or sustainability.
Discover Physik+Physics (B.Sc.)
The standard six-semester Bachelor of Science in Physics provides a broad foundation in experimental and theoretical physics.
Explore the Physics B.Sc.Physics (M.Sc./Joint Degree)
The research-oriented Master of Science in Physics offers advanced study and specialization across Göttingen’s broad physics research landscape.
Explore the Physics M.Sc.Applied Data Science (M.Sc.)
We also recommend this program to German and international students. It can be studied without German, and a student job may help fund your studies.
Program information and application portalPrevious calls
PhD position: Resilience of water-limited ecosystems (CASUS–HZDR & MPI-DS)
We are seeking an enthusiastic and talented PhD candidate to join a collaborative project between CASUS–HZDR (Görlitz, Germany) and the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization (Göttingen, Germany), jointly supervised by Ricardo Martinez-Garcia and Viola Priesemann.
The project will investigate the resilience of water-limited ecosystems under global change scenarios. In particular, we aim to understand the relationships between spatial self-organization and ecosystem resilience, both in simulated and remote-sensing data, and using a combination of pattern-formation theory, functional network analysis, and Bayesian inference tools. The position is based primarily at CASUS (Görlitz), with regular research stays in Göttingen. The starting date is flexible, but should be as soon as possible.
More information and application link: hzdr.de/db/Cms?pOid=75779
The Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden–Rossendorf and the Max Planck Society are committed to increasing the participation of individuals with disabilities and therefore encourage applications from qualified candidates. They also seek to increase the representation of women in underrepresented research areas and explicitly encourage women to apply.
Postdoctoral Fellow: MEG and Cognition of Interaction
We are seeking a highly motivated and talented Postdoctoral Researcher to develop and implement a cutting-edge dyadic interaction platform allowing for OPM-MEG recordings in pairs of interacting human subjects.
Research Focus
You will have the exciting opportunity to establish neural recordings in pairs of freely interacting human subjects, pushing the boundaries of our knowledge in this field. Our unique laboratory setting, featuring two synchronized OPM-MEG devices with high channel counts and a tailor-made magnetically shielded room with ultra-low residual magnetic fields, provides an ideal environment for innovative research.
This opportunity presents a collaboration with Prof. Michael Wibral, and with our Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) 1528 “Cognition of Interaction” where you will have the chance to explore novel dyadic games unfolding in continuous time with full mutual visibility and advance our understanding of the neural basis of human interaction.
Your Profile
We are looking for a Postdoctoral Researcher with a PhD in Physics, Engineering, Neuroscience or a related field, complemented by strong communication and programming skills and a passion for collaborative research in neuroscience.
Prior experience with EEG or MEG, particularly OPM-MEG, and a background in designing and organizing studies in neuroscience are desirable. Additionally, knowledge in optics, electronics, or mechanical design would be a plus.
We encourage interested applicants from all backgrounds and genders to contact us.
Link: mpg.de/25532084/postdoctoral-fellow-meg-and-cognition-of-interaction
Two Fellow or PostDoc positions: Complexity, Information, and Societal Dynamics
To study the self-regulation of social networks and the spread of (mis)information, we curated a large social-media data set (Telegram), which allows novel insights into the spread of information and misinformation. Complementarily, we make use of the outbreak of COVID-19, which posed a major challenge to societies and individuals – but also provided research with an extremely rich behavioral and epidemiological data set to study collective human behavior. If you want to join our team as PostDoc, or independent Fellow to develop your own research profile in our group with your own students, let us know. We can offer a long research perspective (3+3 years), a vibrant team, and highly motivated students.
PhD position: Computational Neuroscience of “Curiosity”
Across eleven projects, scientists in the second cohort of the RTG 2906 will investigate the neuropsychological, biological, and computational underpinnings of curiosity. The network comprises a highly interdisciplinary consortium of psychologists, biologists as well as systems and computational neuroscientists who will work together to answer three broad research questions: (A) When are we curious? (B) Why are we curious? and (C) How are we curious? Please note that we do not advertise all the positions simultaneously, so please consult the webpage below frequently.