PhD position in Developmental Computational Psychiatry E13 TV-L 65% (f/m/d)

Application deadline: 05/12/2025

The University Hospital of Würzburg is looking for a PhD candidate to work part-time (25.03 hours per week) in the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, starting immediately. 

• A friendly and interdisciplinary team (psychologists, neuroscientists, medical doctors) that is well integrated into the local, national, and international research communities
• The opportunity to develop a variety of methodological skills, including computational psychiatry approaches
• Close scientific supervision and mentorship by enthusiastic project leaders
• Access to excellent research infrastructure
• Graduate training opportunities through Graduate School of Life Sciences (GSLS) / DFG-funded Research Training Group Approach Avoidance
• Flexible working hours to support work-life balance

The Neuroscience in Developmental Psychiatry Lab at the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry of the University Hospital Würzburg, in cooperation with the Department of Neurology at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences invites applications for a PhD position within the DFG-funded project ‘Sources of noise – neurocomputational underpinnings of non-greedy decision-making in youth and ADHD’ (PIs: Dr. Maria Waltmann and Prof. Lorenz Deserno). The position is initially funded for 3 years (extension intended).

Background

Human decision-making is remarkably inconsistent: the same person will often make different choices when facing identical situations – for no apparent reason. This seemingly random variability, or “noise”, can have profound real-world consequences. On the milder end, it can lead individuals to occasionally make suboptimal choices (like risky or impulsive decisions). On the more extreme end, excessive noise can create an unpredictability that may undermine a person’s sense of self-efficacy and self-control, and strain relationships with others. Despite its pervasive influence on decision-making, particularly during childhood and adolescence and in common developmental disorders like ADHD, noise remains poorly understood from a neurocomputational perspective. It is typically dismissed as meaningless variance – a methodological nuisance in investigations of learning and decision-making, their development and alterations in psychiatric disorders. This project turns this logic on its head: by treating noise as a signal, we aim to transform it into a source of mechanistic insight, helping us understand why kids make decisions differently than adults, why people with ADHD struggle with impulsive decisions and attentional lapses, and how medications such as methylphenidate may stabilise behaviour.

Research questions

As part of their PhD work, the candidate will explore:

• Development of noise – How do different types of noise change as we grow up and how do they interact with the development of other parts of the learning and decision-making system?
• Noise in ADHD – How does noise differ between children with ADHD and controls? Can monoaminergic medication change noise within children and adolescents with ADHD? Does this relate to longitudinal differences in treatment response?
• Modulation of noise – Can we alter noise within healthy individuals using brain stimulation?

Methods

We employ state-of-the-art methods in cognitive neuroscience, including tailor-made behavioural experiments, neuroimaging using task-based fMRI combined with ECG (capturing heart-brain interactions) and pupillometry (indexing autonomic arousal and noradrenergic activity), analysis using computational models of reinforcement learning, and ecological momentary assessment to link lab-based metrics with real-world behaviour.

This PhD position is ideal for candidates with a strong interest in clinical and developmental applications of cognitive and computational neuroscience, and enthusiasm for interdisciplinary research at the intersection of psychiatry, neuroscience, and computational modelling (“Computational Psychiatry”). The candidate will focus on the clinical aspects of the research programme. They will become part of the Neuroscience in Developmental Psychiatry Lab and work at University Hospital Würzburg under the direct supervision of Lorenz Deserno. They will have access to graduate training opportunities with the Graduate School of Life Science of the University as well as with the Research Training Group on Approach and Avoidance hosted by the Psychology Department. Additional supervision will be provided by Dr. Maria Waltmann.  

• Challenging, diverse and evolving area of responsibility
• Attractive salary according to TV-L incl. annual special payment
• Training and Continuing Education
• Retirement Pension Plan
• Company daycare center with extended opening hours
• Company sports program
• Flexible Working Hours
• JobBike
• Corporate Benefits

In the case of a university degree from a non-EU country, a long version of the certificate evaluation from the Central Office for Foreign Education is required.

Remuneration is in accordance with the relevant collective agreements. Severely disabled applicants will be given preference if they are otherwise equally qualified.