research associate phd candidate

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When is Research Assistant/Associate/Fellow a correct title for a PhD student?

What is the correct term for a PhD student who does entirely research and is paid through third-party funds?

One can see that sometimes people doing a PhD call themselves a Research Associate or Research Assistant (in a very few cases also Research Fellow). I am looking for clarification regarding which term would be appropriate and also why the others are not.

I can't find a clear definition. If this is country dependent I would like to know this for the UK and Germany.

6 Answers 6

Answering in the sense of the German system and as I understand it and have experienced it:

Research Assistant: Someone holding a BSc (often a MSc student working alongside their studies)

PhD student/ PhD candidate/ Doctoral candidate (Doktorand) (used interchangeably): Someone enrolled for a PhD program at a University. Usually not anyone can enroll. You will have to have supervisors supporting your idea and submitted a qualified research proposal.

Research Fellow (Wissenschaftliche_r Mitarbeiter_in) : Scientist with a MSc or PhD, usually a fixed-term contract through a third-party funded project. Often PhD students also hold a position as research fellow (e.g. opposed to receiving a stipend).

Research Associate (Wissenschaftliche_r Mitarbeiter_in) : Scientist with a MSc or PhD, same term in German. In English, the difference apparently refers to the position being a permanent one and independent of third party funding ( https://www.researchgate.net/post/Whats_the_difference_between_a_research_associate_and_a_research_fellow ). This is a less likely context for doing a PhD, but possible.

Post Doc (Wissenschaftliche_r Mitarbeiter_in) : Referring to a scientist with a (nearly) completed PhD. Usually fixed-term and running on third-party funding. In the German academic system, the salary is usually the same as for research asscociates/fellows. They all count into the same category (Wissenschaftliche_r Mitarbeiter_in).

Regarding the initial Question : In German academia, you can technically be both at the same time: a PhD student (referring to the status of your studies) and a research fellow (referring to your status as an employee). During my PhD, I was enrolled as PhD student at one Uni and employed as a research fellow at another.

How about "PhD student"?

Since you also asked about Germany: in German you can call yourself "Doktorand" or "Promovend". But also in Germany, "PhD student" would be perfectly fine.

If you want to leave out the "student" part, you might call yourself "PhD candidate".

Be careful to avoid calling yourself something you are not (e.g. "Dr."), since particularly in Germany that might be illegal.

• I agree with your answer. However one can see that sometimes people doing a PhD call themselves a Research Associate or Research Assistant (in a very few cases also Research Fellow). Hope you can clarify which term would be appropriate and also why the others are not. –  holzkohlengrill Commented Aug 23, 2016 at 8:40
• 1 @holzkohlengrill: as long as it isn't a protected title, you can call yourself anything. However, you need to consider what you want to achieve. If you want to achieve that people understand what you do (conducting a PhD project), then I think that "PhD student" or "PhD candidate" is more appropriate. –  Danny Ruijters Commented Aug 23, 2016 at 8:48
• I've added the OP's comment to the text of the question, since it seems to be an integral part of what they are trying to ask. You may want to edit your answer to incorporate your own response comment. –  ff524 Commented Aug 23, 2016 at 15:59
• 6 I'll mention that at my alma mater, there was in fact a difference between a PhD student and a PhD candidate. A PhD student was anyone enrolled in the doctoral program, but you were only admitted to PhD candidacy after a couple of years of coursework and a qualifying exam. All candidates were students, but not all students were candidates. –  Nuclear Hoagie Commented Jun 23, 2020 at 20:00
• @Danny Ruijters: Simply being referred to as 'PhD student' can feel quite degrading as the term does not acknowledge that one is usually doing paid work on novel aspects of science (not to mention teaching, student supervision, etc.) –  critterz Commented 2 days ago

I'm not sure if it is the same in the UK and Germany, but in the US, "Research Assistant" typically means a person is being paid by a professor (typically using 3rd party funds) to work on their project, while "Research Fellow" typically means the student is being supported directly in their studies and/or research.

Fellowships are thus generally more prestigious, since they are a direct recognition of the student's value and potential by an organization, whereas assistantships simply mean that a particular professor thinks the student might be a good worker for a particular purpose.

Note that these titles are somewhat orthogonal of the question of being a Ph.D. student, as they are essentially describing one's "job" and means of support rather than one's educational program: a Masters student may also hold them, and a Ph.D. student may also hold other "job" titles (e.g., "Teaching Assistant", or even none at all).

• So the PhD student, referenced in the question, working on research and being paid using 3rd party funds would be a "Research Assistant" in the US? I'm not entirely convinced this answers the question. What was asked was what would such a PhD student be called. The answer just describes the Research Fellow/Assistant difference –  Ian_Fin Commented Aug 23, 2016 at 11:33
• 1 @Ian_Fin I've added a clarifying paragraph that connects the dots. –  jakebeal Commented Aug 23, 2016 at 11:40

In Germany, the payment (be it from 3rd-party sources or not) usually comes as a salary for an employment. That position is typically called wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter ( research employee ).

You should note, though, that the "only research" part is not included in that title, as there is no real distinction to teaching duties, as it exists, for instance, with "RA/TA".

I see that this question has been inactive for almost two years, but I notice the asker was specifically interested in the UK , and none of the answers cover that country specifically.

From my last three years of experience in the UK academia, those two positions are fairly well defined, and refer to the following:

A Research Assistant (RA) is typically neither a PhD holder nor a PhD candidate. These positions are aimed at people holding a Master degree in the relevant field, and are common in short, 1-year, research projects (such as feasibility studies). They do not count for direct progress towards any degree (but could result in publications and therefore straighten one's PhD application in the future). Additionally, they are typically one pay grade lower than the Research Fellow positions.

A Research Fellow (RF) is what one would informally call postdoctoral researcher (or just post-doc ). These are typical positions one would aim at after their PhD (and usually encourage PhD candidates close to finishing to apply as well). They typically rely on funding from longer projects, and last for 2-3 years. They also do not count for direct progress towards any degree (as the holder is expected to have a PhD, the highest possible degree in the field, already), but are a logical and expected step for a young career researcher aiming at a permanent academic position. They are also better paid than Research Assistant positions, being one pay grade higher.

For immigration purposes, universities will always have the ability to sponsor non-British applicants and support their immigration application for RF positions, while some universities and some positions are unable or unwilling to do that for RA positions. (This might be restricted to sponsoring EU-immigration, unsure about this bit).

A PhD student , PhD candidate , or just doing one's PhD are all valid terms to refer to somebody working towards obtaining their doctoral degree, regardless of their funding source. (Sometimes even just "I'm a PhD" is used, but that's common more than valid in the strictest sense.) Additionally, PhD students doing only research, as opposed to having some teaching duties attached to their contract or funding, are often times referred to as lucky .

I use the word typical a lot in my descriptions, as exceptions do exist, and I was one of them, but the details go far out of scope of this question.

• I'm late to the party, but I found your answer nice and complete so I'd like to ask you: what about research associate ? –  Luismi98 Commented Nov 5, 2021 at 18:01
• 1 @Luismi98 I've never heard the term used, but a quick search and comparison of pay grades seems to indicate that it's an alternative name for "postdoctoral researcher" (holding a PhD degree already). Actually the full term is more frequently used, PDRA: Post-Doctoral Research Associate. –  penelope Commented Nov 5, 2021 at 18:30
• I don't think this is (still) accurate, at least everywhere in the UK: I was a postdoc at a British university after my PhD and my official title was Research Assistant. –  Andrea Commented 2 days ago
• I work at a research focused UK university and here postdocs are called Research Associates unless they have their own fellowship, in that case they are Research Fellows. PDRA is often used in a admin context. –  Marianne013 Commented 2 days ago

In Germany and Spain, if you're a PhD student who gets paid via assisting professors in their projects, typically the position is regarded as Research Assistant. I rarely see who wrote it down in CV as Research Fellow, while research associate sounds more of a postdoc.

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Nicole Itzkowitz

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I am a 2nd year PhD student in the Department of Epidemiology and a pre-doctoral fellow in the Advanced Training in Environmental Health and Data Science T32 Training Program. I entered the program in 2022 with an MSc in epidemiology from The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and a BA in public health from the University of Rochester. My research interests are broadly concerned with quantifying urban environmental and built environment exposures and exploring their relationship with injury and other non-communicable disease outcomes. My previous work at Imperial College focused on examining the causal relationship between acute noise pollution exposure and cardiovascular disease hospitalizations and creating a composite metric to estimate smoking behavior at small spatial resolutions. I am currently working with Dr. Andrew Rundle and the Built Environment and Health research group on several projects related to pedestrian and micromobility injuries and fatalities in the context of the built environment and alcohol use.

• Environmental Exposures
• Built Environment
• Non-communicable Disease 

German Rivera-Castellar

• [email protected]

I started my PhD in Epidemiology in 2022 after finishing my MPH at New York University GPH. Before moving to NYC, I completed a MS in research and evaluation of health systems and a BS in industrial microbiology at the University of Puerto Rico. Previously, I have worked in evaluation of CDC funded public health programs at UPR Comprehensive Cancer Center, knowledge management at UNICEF HIV/AIDS section, and research regarding HIV/AIDS in Puerto Rico and vaccination hesitancy amongst PWID. Currently, I am a fellow in T32 Social Determinants of HIV and my research interest include disparities in HIV amongst racial and ethnic minorities as we as sexual and gender minorities. My current work also addresses changes in the gut microbiome and its effect in the body. 

• Racial and Ethnic Disparities
• Sexual and Gender Minorities
• Spatial Epidemiology

Michelle Smith

• [email protected]

I am a second-year PhD student specializing in Epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health. I am also a Lead Teaching Fellow at the Center for Teaching and Learning, and am a Trainee Associate Member of the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center. I received my BS in Biology from Stony Brook University and my MPH in Epidemiology from SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University. My professional experience spans medical research in start-up companies, academic hospitals and research centers. Previously, I worked in start-up companies geared towards cancer outcomes and precision medicine where I focused on data abstraction and analysis of breast, colorectal and lung cancers using electronic medical records. I contributed to research at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center on integrative medicine techniques addressing chemo-induced neuropathy, and administratively managed multiple projects at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, encompassing population health, neurosurgery, and Alzheimer’s disease research. At SUNY Downstate, I began research on adverse pregnancy outcomes and social determinants of health (SDOH) among predominantly Caribbean and African communities in Brooklyn. My current research focuses on examining the nuances of the breast cancer tumor microenvironment, particularly around pregnancy and hormonal shifts. This work involves spatial analysis, T-cell distribution, proteomics and traditional epidemiologic methods. 

• Breast Cancer
• Cancers of the Reproductive System
• Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals
• Machine Learning
• Digital and Computational Pathology
• Social Determinants of Health (SDOH)
• Health Disparities

Sara Wallach

• [email protected]

I am a second-year pre-doctoral candidate in Epidemiology and a second-year pre-doctoral fellow in the Global HIV Implementation Science Research Training Fellowship. I received my BA in Anthropology and Global Public Health from New York University and my MPH, with a focus on the evaluation of international health programs, from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. In my work with the New Jersey Department of Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Zimbabwe Office, I implemented, managed, and evaluated large-scale HIV programs. My research currently focuses on using novel epidemiologic methods to evaluate the impact of HIV programs using routinely collected data. I also perform research to determine drivers of HIV acquisition and opportunities for prevention in various contexts and populations using population-based HIV impact assessments and other data sources. My research interests include HIV, implementation science, health and human rights, LGBTQ+ health, and infectious diseases.

• Health and Human Rights
• Infectious Diseases

John Wetmore

• [email protected]

John Wetmore began his PhD studies in the Department of Epidemiology in Fall 2022. Previously, he earned a master’s of public health in epidemiology & biostatistics from the CUNY School of Public Health and a bachelor of art’s degree in psychology and classical studies from Macaulay Honors College at Hunter College. He is a Graduate Research Assistant at the at the Gertrude H. Sergievsky Center, Columbia University Irving Medical Center. Wetmore’s research interests include the psychosocial impacts of neurological disorders, genetic and behavioral interventions, and health disparities. He has conducted research to determine how Latinos respond to learning their genetic risk for Alzheimer’s disease, to understand the psychosocial impacts of living with epilepsy, and to validate clinical rating scales for use in patients with Parkinson’s disease.

2021 Cohort

Dana bezuidenhout.

• [email protected]

I am a third-year pre-doctoral candidate in Epidemiology and a pre-doctoral fellow in the Global HIV Implementation Science Research Training Fellowship. I received my BA in Biology, Society, and the Environment from the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities in 2016 and my MPH, focusing on Epidemiology and Global Health, from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in 2018. Previously I worked as a project manager and epidemiologist at The Foundation for Professional Development in East London, South Africa, working on tuberculosis (TB) point-of-care diagnostics, TB stigma, and HIV prevention interventions for adolescent girls and young women. My research currently focuses on incorporating spatial and genomic data as an innovative way to understand community TB transmission and to inform active case-finding strategies in TB-endemic settings. I also perform research assessing the impact of diabetes on TB treatment outcomes. My research interests include TB transmission, spatial epidemiology, and implementation science.

• Tuberculosis Transmission

Antonio Bustillo

• [email protected]

Sarah Forthal

• [email protected]

I am a PhD candidate and pre-doctoral fellow in the T32 Psychiatric Epidemiology Training Program at the Mailman School of Public Health. I am also a biostatistical analyst with the Global Psychiatric Epidemiology Group at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. I received an MPH in epidemiology from Mailman in 2019 and a BA in political science and statistics from Columbia’s undergraduate college in 2015. My core research interests include identifying mental health-protective factors following exposure to traumatic events, global mental health, intervention evaluation, and research with Multiracial populations. My current projects include investigating the role of parental social support in intergenerational trauma transmission, understanding depression risk in Multiracial American adults, developing an accessible guide to Single World Intervention Graphs, and co-authoring a book chapter on the health of Multiracial youth. Prior to entering the PhD program, I held research positions at the Partnership to End Addiction and Columbia-World Health Organization Center for Global Mental Health.

Catherine Gimbrone

• [email protected]

My research focuses on policy impacts and social disparities within psychiatric epidemiology. I'm passionate about exploring related areas and have been involved in a wide range of projects. These include studies on reproductive health policy, firearm legislation, naloxone access laws, adolescent political beliefs, and suicide trend forecasting. My goal is to identify emerging mental health trends among vulnerable populations, to help improve treatment efforts and inform policy decisions. I've co-authored several publications and enjoy using my skills in statistics to deepen my understanding of these complex issues. I graduated with an MPH from Columbia University in 2020 and, in a past life, worked in filmmaking and fashion.

• Psychiatric Epidemiology
• Policy Research
• Reproductive Health
• Adolescence

Anton Kociolek

• [email protected]

I am a third-year pre-doctoral candidate in Epidemiology and a graduate research assistant at the Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain. In 2014, I received my BA in Anthropology from the City University of New York and in 2017 received my MA in Anthropology from the same institution, with a focus on historical anthropology of the Caribbean. I received my MS in Epidemiology from the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health in 2020. Prior to entering the Doctoral program in Epidemiology at Mailman, I worked as a study coordinator for Dr. Yaakov Stern at the Taub Institute, working on observational cohort studies of late-onset Alzheimer's Disease. My research focuses on investigating the relationships between underlying neuropathological processes and clinical signs in Alzheimer's Disease and the application of causal inference and machine learning methods to dementia research. My research interests include dementia and aging, neuroepidemiology, biomarker development and validation, causal inference, and machine learning. 

• Alzheimer's Disease
• Movement disorders
• Neuroepidemiology
• Causal Inference
• Machine Learning 

Megan Marziali

• [email protected]

I am a 3rd-year PhD Candidate in the Department of Epidemiology and a pre-doctoral fellow in the NIDA-funded T32 Substance Abuse Epidemiology Training Program (SAETP). I received my BSc in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of British Columbia in 2018 and my MPH in Epidemiology with a certificate in Advanced Epidemiology from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in 2021. My research focuses on substance use, including polysubstance use, fatal and nonfatal overdose, social networks, and psychosocial factors (e.g., loneliness). My work is often situated at the intersection of substance use and HIV. In addition, I perform research exploring the impact of various social and substance use policies on substance use outcomes.

• Social Networks
• Social Determinants of Health
• Social Policies
• Substance Use Policies

Hoisum Nguyen

• [email protected]

Inspired by the stories of immigrants and social justice movements in the United States, Hoisum's research centralizes psychiatric and mental health outcomes with a particular focus on trauma and violence as it relates to firearms, racial/ethnic populations, LGBQIA+ communities, and financial means. Equipped with prior training in causal theories from UCLA (2021-2023), Hoisum hopes to create research of consequence for policy formulation. Hoisum is also a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Research Scholar receiving health policy and leadership training from Johns Hopkins University (Class of 2026).  

2020 Cohort

Navdep kaur.

• [email protected]

I am a fourth-year Epidemiology PhD candidate and predoctoral fellow in the Psychiatric Epidemiology Training Program (Director: Katherine M. Keyes ). I hold an Epidemiology MPH from Columbia University, and a Math BS and Biology BS from SUNY Binghamton University. As a Punjabi woman, I have both witnessed and experienced racialized inequities in US healthcare access. My family was uninsured for over ten years of my childhood, and we struggled to meet basic healthcare needs due to financial constraints and other structural barriers. Our collective struggle has inspired the work I do. My research is dedicated to improving mental healthcare access for BIPOC individuals. I have led studies to understand mental health and treatment utilization trends in BIPOC populations. My dissertation aims to improve mental health provider access for Medicaid recipients residing in low-income and racially segregated neighborhoods. I am also a social activist for the Punjabi community and volunteer at Sakhi, a South Asian survivor-led non-profit that serves gender-based violence survivors in the diaspora. Together, we are developing a psychoeducation program for South Asian caregivers that aims to reduce childrearing stressors and mitigate intergenerational trauma. I am also providing my epidemiologic expertise to develop a mixed-methods evaluation of the program. 

• Mental Health
• Health Equity

Aleya Khalifa

• [email protected]

As a PhD Candidate in the Department of Epidemiology, my research aims to improve HIV programs and research methodologies for mobile populations, from truck drivers to cross-border migrants. My dissertation - Unpacking The HIV Epidemic Among People On The Move In Uganda - is funded by the National Institute of Mental Health under the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (F31). My research employs demographic, missing data, and spatial network methods to relate human movement to HIV outcomes. I have ten years of global experience at CDC, UNICEF, and ICAP designing HIV surveillance studies, modeling the epidemic for children and adolescents, and conducting implementation science to improve service delivery for vulnerable populations. I received my MPH in epidemiology from the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine with a concentration in infectious diseases.

• Infectious Disease Epidemiology
• Migrant Health
• Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights

Christina Mehranbod

• [email protected]

Christina Mehranbod is a fifth-year doctoral candidate in the Department of Epidemiology at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Using geospatial techniques and built environment research, I am interested in examining how the places individuals frequent over time and various environmental characteristics influence health, particularly injury risk and substance use. My doctoral research explores the social determinants of injury and violence (i.e., firearm violence) with a particular focus on neighborhood definitions and spatial analyses relating environmental characteristics to alcohol related harms. I applied for and successfully received an NRSA F31 Award from the National Institute of Health National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to create an innovative GPS-informed measure of alcohol outlet density. I have also received grant funding as a Principal Investigator to study alcohol consumption, environment, and norms in the context of traumatic events in Armenia from the Columbia University Global Mental Health Council. I completed my MPH in Epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University and my BA in Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley.

• Neighborhood Health
• Injury and Violence Prevention
• Substance Use

Stephen Uong

• [email protected]

I am a fourth-year pre-doctoral candidate in Epidemiology and a former pre-doctoral fellow in the Advanced Training in Environmental Health and Data Science Training Program. My current research interests are in spatial and environmental epidemiology, particularly in the built environment, social infrastructure, housing, and queer and immigrant populations. Methodologically, I am interested in GIS/spatial analyses, making R programming more accessible for public health practitioners, and machine learning applications in public health, particularly in natural language processing. 

I received a BS in Public Health and Microbiology from The University of Texas at Austin and an MPH in Global Epidemiology from Emory University. During my MPH studies, I interned for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Council for State and Territorial Epidemiologists for teams focusing on enteric zoonotic outbreak investigations, HIV, and substance use. Before I entered the PhD program, I was a Consulting Data Analyst at the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research focused on racial and ethnic & immigrant health disparities in breast cancer, air pollution and cardiovascular disease, and healthcare delivery science.

• Spatial and Environmental Epidemiology
• Built and Social Environment
• Social Capital and Infrastructure
• Urban Planning and Health
• Immigrant Health
• Natural Language Processing

2019 Cohort

Christopher crowe.

• [email protected]

My primary goal as an epidemiologist is to facilitate the healthy aging of our population by better understanding how exposure to psychological and social factors throughout the life course may influence health during older adulthood. Under the supervision of Dr. Sarah Tom , my current research aims to evaluate potential causal relationships between structural, functional, and quality aspects of social connection or the lack thereof (e.g., social isolation, perceived loneliness) and cognitive health outcomes (e.g., cognitive decline, dementia) among older adults. 

Outside of my research work, I also have a strong interest in teaching and have experience both designing and delivering course content for undergraduate and graduate students. Most recently, I have worked as a teaching assistant for Epidemiology II: Design and Conduct of Observational Epidemiology under the supervision of Dr. Sharon Schwartz and (Y)our Longer Life under the supervision of Dean Linda Fried and Dr. Dana March Palmer .

Neal Jawadekar

• [email protected]

I am a 5th year PhD candidate in Epidemiology and an NIH F31 predoctoral fellow. Prior to joining Columbia, I earned my BA and MPH degrees at Tufts University, and I also gained valuable experience in data engineering and predictive modeling as a Data Scientist in the healthcare industry. As a PhD student, I am currently employing causal inference methods to investigate the relationship between cardiovascular risk factors, cardioprotective drugs, and dementia. My dissertation focuses on using machine learning methods, notably Bayesian Additive Regression Trees, to estimate the heterogeneous treatment effects of statins on dementia. I am particularly interested in utilizing data-driven approaches to help understand how treatment effectiveness varies across subgroups.

I have also been recognized as a national finalist for the 2023 Epidemiology Tyroler Student Prize Paper Award. My nominated paper, “Practical Guide to Honest Causal Forests for Identifying Heterogeneous Treatment Effects,” highlights my dedication to advancing statistical methodologies within the field of public health. As I continue my academic journey, I remain committed to combining the powers of big data and advanced analytics to help propel medical advancements forward.

• Predictive Modeling
• Heterogeneous Treatment Effects
• Cognitive Aging

Sneha Kannoth

• [email protected]

I am a fifth-year PhD candidate in the Department of Epidemiology at Columbia University. I have completed pre-doctoral training in the NIEHS Environmental Health and Data Science T32 Fellowship Program, and I am currently supported by the NIAID Global HIV Implementation Science T32 Fellowship. I received a BS in Neuroscience in 2016 from Carnegie Mellon University and an MPH in Chronic Disease Epidemiology in 2018 from Yale University. I am interested in understanding the pathways by which social and physical environmental factors influence infectious and chronic disease morbidity. My dissertation focuses on defining the role of cardiovascular morbidity in the relationship between ambient air pollution exposure and adverse COVID-19 outcomes in New York City. My previous work examined the relationship between physical environmental stressors, specifically ambient air pollution exposure, neighborhood-level vulnerability to environmental exposures, and health outcomes, such as COVID-19 and pediatric asthma morbidity. I have further explored how social environmental stressors, such as ageism, amplifies the incidence and cost of health conditions among older adults. My primary research interest includes examining the relationship between environmental exposures, factors that contribute to greater vulnerability to environmental exposures, and the onset of infectious and chronic disease outcomes among pediatric and elderly populations.

• Environment
• Pediatric Populations
• Older Adult Populations
• mHealth Interventions

Shabnaz Siddiq

• [email protected]

I am a fifth-year doctoral candidate in Epidemiology. I received my BHSc in Health Sciences and MSc in Epidemiology from the University of Ottawa in Canada. I was a fellow in the Environmental Health and Data Science training program from 2020-2023 at MSPH. I currently receive the Kirschstein-NRSA predoctoral fellowship (F31) award under the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. My current research uses existing and novel epidemiologic methods to evaluate the impact of phthalate metabolites and their mixture on maternal-fetal outcomes such as maternal gestational weight gain and fetal growth.

Research Interests 

• Maternal Child Health
• Environmental Health

Brandi Vollmer

• [email protected]

I am in my fifth year in the doctoral program here at Columbia University. I received my BS in biochemistry with a minor in molecular biology in 2014 from Colorado State University, and my MPH in Epidemiology from the Colorado School of Public Health in 2016. Previously, I worked as a research assistant in the Department of Neurology at the University of Colorado conducting comparative effectiveness studies investigating therapeutics used in the treatment of Multiple Sclerosis. Since coming to Columbia University, I have utilized large claims-based data to examine the relationships of influenza-like illness and flu vaccination on stroke risk in young populations. Additionally, I have assisted in the exploration of healthcare utilization on cardiovascular outcomes. My current interests are in the relationship between inflammation throughout the lifetime and cognition or dementia risk. 

• Multiple Sclerosis

2018+ Cohort

Autumn clemons.

• [email protected]

My name is Autumn Clemons, and I am a sixth-year doctoral candidate in Epidemiology. I have an MPH in International Health, where I conducted field research in Uganda, and an MS in Epidemiology. I also have extensive cardiovascular research experience. As a doctoral student, I worked on projects that use latent growth trajectory methods to assess how low-density lipoprotein (LDL) exposures throughout the life course contribute to cardiovascular disease burden and disparities later in life, leading to a manuscript published in JAMA Cardiology. I also worked on pilot projects that examined both chemical exposures and modifiable behaviors (e.g., breastfeeding) that increase breast cancer risk in Black and Hispanic women as an Initiative for Maximizing Student Development predoctoral fellow. My current research with Dr. Pam Factor-Litvak focuses on evaluating the socio-environmental (e.g., phthalate and psychosocial stress exposures) impact on adverse pregnancy outcomes in an ethnically diverse nulliparous pregnancy cohort in the United States. I began this research as a T32 Advanced training in environmental health and data science predoctoral fellow, where I contributed to peer-reviewed publications. During this fellowship, I was also awarded an F31 diversity grant to complete my dissertation to investigate psychosocial stress during pregnancy as a causal mechanism to explain the associations between maternal race and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy in the United States. 

• Maternal and Child Health
• Cardiovascular Health
• Environmental Health 

Anna Krasnova

• [email protected]

I am a pre-doctoral candidate in Epidemiology and a graduate research assistant with the Global Psychiatric Epidemiology group at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. I received a BSc in Computer Science and Statistics from the University of British Columbia and a MHS in Mental Health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. My research is currently focused on using novel causal inference methods, including causal mediation, to evaluate the pathways for the unintended consequences of Section 8 housing voucher receipt on adolescent mental health outcomes. In addition, I conduct research to determine the effect of neighborhood and family environments on sleep quality and the risk of obesity among high-risk adolescents. My research interests include epidemiological methods, adolescent mental health, and social determinants of health. 

• Epidemiological Methods
• Adolescent Mental Health

Kathleene Ulanday

• [email protected]

I am a doctoral candidate in Epidemiology. I received my BS in Biochemistry and Cell Biology from the UCSD and my MPH in Epidemiology from SDSU. I am interested in cancer control and prevention research, with a focus on health disparities. Previously, as a Cancer Research Training Fellow at the NCI’s Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, I managed a data harmonization project for trans-NIH health disparities and Native American health research programs, engaged in understudied and small populations research think tanks, and analyzed Department of Defense data examining psychosocial factors and tobacco use among military personnel. At Columbia University, my pre-doctoral research with Dr. Heather Greenlee (NCI-Diversity Supplement funded) gave me valuable experience in the implementation and analyses of a culturally based randomized controlled diet and physical activity intervention for Latina breast cancer survivors. Currently, as a Cancer Trainee Associate Member at the Herbert Irving Cancer Center, I work with Drs. Jasmine McDonald , Lauren Houghton , and Mary Beth Terry conducting cancer etiology research among high-risk groups via prospective cohort studies. My goal is to better understand the social, environmental, and biobehavioral factors, including the cultural and historical contexts, associated with cancer across the life course.

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Research associate / PhD candidate (f/m/d)

As soon as possible

For further information, please contact Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dr. h.c. Thomas Zwick, E-Mail: [email protected]

Find all further informations here

Job description.

• THz systems: Antennas, passive components, packaging and system concepts for highly integrated THz systems from 70 GHz to 1 THz
• Ultra-wideband photonic-electronic systems: Packaging and interconnection technology for electronic interfacing of photonic components with wide bandwidth of up to more than 100 GHz
• Radar signal processing for industrial, medical and automotive applications

Your responsibilities will include working on research projects as well as coordinating them independently. You will implement your research results in prototypes and be involved in teaching including supervision of student projects. The positions offer the possibility of a doctoral degree (PhD).

Personal qualification

• You have an above-average university degree (university diploma/master's degree) in electrical engineering and information technology or physics.
• Experience in microwave technology/radar technology is desirable.
• Ideally, you have previous knowledge in the field of electromagnetic field simulation, antennas, circuits or radar signal processing and Matlab.
• You have a high interest in scientific research and are able to work independently.
• Ideally, you are familiar with the typical measurement tools used in high frequency technology.
• Furthermore, you are able to communicate and work in a team and have a very good command of written and spoken English.
• A good knowledge of German is a plus.

The remuneration occurs on the basis of the wage agreement of the civil service in TV-L E13, depending on the fulfillment of professional and personal requirements.

Contract duration

limited to 1 year with the possibility of extension

Application up to

Contact person in line-management.

For further information, please contact Prof. Dr.-Ing. Thomas Zwick, phone +49 721 608-42523, email: thomas.zwick∂kit.edu .

Application

Please send your application including a cover letter, your CV, and all certificates/references with indication of the vacancy number in electronic form (all in one PDF) to:

We prefer to balance the number of employees (f/m/d). Therefore, we kindly ask female applicants to apply for this job.

Recognized severely disabled persons will be preferred if they are equally qualified.

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Research associate / PhD candidate (f/m/d)

Job Details

Scientific / postdoctoral posts

The position is suitable for part-time employment.

The Institute of Process Engineering in Life Sciences (BLT) - Section IV: Molecular Processing of Bioproducts (MAB) pursues research in the field of downstream processing of bioproducts especially of pharmaceuticals. We deal with all aspects of modern purification, formulation and analytics in the biopharmaceutical industry. The project work within the scope of this call is designed for the preparation of two dissertations dealing with separation processes for bionanoparticles in downstream processing with a focus on process analytical technology (PAT). Two PhD positions are available:

• ‘Multisensory in-line PAT in DSP for in-silico model-based process monitoring and control’ (DC6)
• ‘Investigation into analytical tools and PAT development to analyse integrity and stability of VLP and AAV during processing’ (DC7)

The positions are part of the EU-funded Doctoral Network CAARE - “Characterization and Recovery of Bionanoparticles for Vaccine Delivery and Gene Therapy”, that deals with the characterization and recovery of bionanoparticles for vaccine delivery and gene therapy. Overall, 14 Doctoral Candidates will be trained at seven institutions in five European countries and will be supported by a network of industrial and academic partners.

Compare also further information on: euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/252559

This research center is part of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centers. With more than 42,000 employees and an annual budget of over € 5 billion, the Helmholtz Association is Germany's largest scientific organisation.

The Helmholtz Association contributes to solving major challenges to assure the future of our society. With more than 39,000 people on staff in 18 national research centres, the Helmholtz Association is Germany’s largest scientific organization. The name Helmholtz stands for concerted research in which networks form the key principle behind inquiring thought and action. Concerted research is efficient and flexible.

The profile of the Helmholtz Association

The Helmholtz Association performs cutting-edge research which contributes substantially to solving the grand challenges of science, society and industry. To succeed in meeting these responsibilities, Helmholtz concentrates its work in six research fields: Energy, Earth and Environment, Health, Key Technologies, Matter, as well as Aeronautics, Space and Transport. Within each of these fields, research programs are developed by our scientists and regularly evaluated by renowned international experts. Their evaluation forms the basis for the programme-oriented funding that is allocated to Helmholtz research. Within the six research fields, Helmholtz scientists cooperate with each other and with external partners – working across disciplinary, organizational and national borders.

Promoting young academics

Helmholtz scientists, a high-performance infrastructure and modern and efficient research management are the ingredients to the Helmholtz Association‘s success and global impact. Promoting young researchers is a major priority for the Helmholtz Association. Its qualification schemes for young researchers are geared mainly towards PhD students, postdocs and young managers. The Helmholtz Association has set high standards for its talent management. Its strategy begins with targeted recruitment of highly qualified staff at all levels, followed by comprehensive support aimed at further developing their potential. Ensuring equal opportunities is an essential element in all talent management activities undertaken by the Helmholtz Association.

The Helmholtz Graduate Schools  and  Research Schools  at almost all Helmholtz Centres provide doctoral students with the general and specific skills and training they need, as well as ample opportunity to network with other working groups. The period following a doctorate is decisive in determining the direction and success of a scientific career. For this reason, we are about to establish Career Centers for postdoctoral researchers in the Helmholtz centres and a mentoring programme for especially gifted PostDocs in order to foster career orientation. This equips young researchers with the skills they need to go on to head a  Helmholtz Young Investigators Group , for example. As a Young Investigator Group leader, junior scientists can independently set up their own group to conduct research in their specialist field.

Within its talent management strategy, the Helmholtz Association pays special attention to the increased recruitment of talented female scientists both from Germany and abroad. To this end, there are currently two funding programs supporting this policy ‘ Funding of first-time appointments of excellent women scientists (W2/W3)’ and ‘Funding to recruit top-level international women scientists (W3)’ .

The increasing complexity of the content, structures and framework conditions of scientific work today requires researchers to organise their projects, their employees and, of course, themselves in a highly professional and effective way. In response to these demands, we have set up the  Helmholtz Management Academy  to provide junior leaders in science with professional management training. Furthermore, the Helmholtz network provides a platform for the alumni of the Helmholtz Management Academy and Mentoring programme to come together and share their experiences of leadership, career development and lifelong learning.

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51 PhD jobs in Germany

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R38 Research Pathway Program Open for Internal Medicine Residents with a Research Focus

Internal Medicine residents are invited to apply to the R38 Research Pathway program . It's a two-year program for trainees who want to focus on research during residency. “The R38 grant provides support for residents to step away from the clinic and into the lab,” said Maria Price Rapoza, PhD , associate professor of medicine in the Duke Department of Medicine, and R38 Research Pathway Program contact.   

The grant allows up to 18 months of protected time for research, 80% will be dedicated lab time but residents will be required to spend one half day in clinic each week. “They will still be going back and forth between the two, but with 80% they can be in the lab enough to feel like they’re connected and working towards publications,” Rapoza said.

The R38 program is approved by the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) and funded by multiple grants, including a recent award from the National Institute of Health’s (NIH), National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHILBI).  

The Duke Department of Medicine partnered with the Duke Department of Surgery and the Duke Department of Pediatrics to obtain the NIAID award and the NHILBI award for the R38 program.  Scott Palmer, MD , vice chair for research in the Department of Medicine, serves as the Department of Medicine principal investigator (PI) for these multi-departmental partnership awards. The partnership allows the program to be flexible in accommodating the number of residents who wish to participate.  

While the R38 program does make residency a year longer, trainees appointed to the program receive the same salary as other residents and an additional $20,000 dedicated to travel expenses and lab supplies.   

“Residents who complete this program are much farther along on the path to being a physician scientist. If they are interested in having one foot in the clinic and one foot in the lab, this is a great opportunity for them to consider,” Palmer said.  

Applicants must have a research mentor who is an established faculty member with a lab, but program leaders can help identify a potential match for interested candidates without one. “This is what makes us an academic medical center, not just teaching the medical students, but also having faculty who are connected to research,” Rapoza said. Selected residents will also meet with a scholarship oversight committee at least twice per year to create a career development plan.

“As an MD you are always thinking about the patient when you’re back at the lab, and I think that gives a unique perspective that’s important,” she continued. 

Residents committed to either laboratory-based basic science research or clinical research are encouraged to apply during PGY-2. Interviews will be conducted with Dr. Palmer and other members of the selection committee. Up to two residents in good clinical standing will be admitted to the program at the beginning of the JAR year.   

“It’s a great credit to the Department of Medicine that they do support research at the resident and fellow level and the R38 grant is a great tool in the toolkit,” Rapoza said.  Trainees interested in this opportunity should contact Maria Price Rapoza for additional information.   

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• Media Centre

PhD candidate ‘cooking’ brain cancer with magnets

September 24, 2024

Emerging research could target tumours while preserving healthy cells

Alice O’Keefe’s fascination with science began with magnets. As a child, she loved experimenting with them, seeing which objects they attracted and which objects they repelled.

That fascination has continued throughout her life, and now, the University of Wollongong (UOW) PhD candidate jokes that she has found a way to play with magnets as an adult.

Part of the Targeted Nanotherapies Team in the Centre for Medical Radiation Physics , Alice is an emerging cancer researcher whose PhD is focused on using magnets to treat brain cancer.

It is deeply complex research, but Alice has a talent for breaking down complicated science in a way that is easy for everyone to understand. It is this talent that has seen her named the NSW/Queensland finalist in the upcoming Fame Lab Australia Awards.

FameLab , hosted in Australia by the Foundation for the WA Museum , is the largest public-facing science communication training program and competition in the world.

Alice said her research aims to develop a way to treat inoperable brain tumours without taking the scorched earth approach.

“Brain cancer is one of the scariest cancers to be diagnosed with, because it is in such a delicate area of the body,” Alice said. “The brain can’t repair itself and there is also a risk with treatment that it can result in memory loss, impaired cognitive function or it can damage the parts of the brain that really make up someone’s personality.

“The other risk factors with all cancer treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation are that we often damage healthy cells in a bid to get rid of the cancerous cells. It is hard to separate those two things out.”

With that in mind, Alice has been focused on how to use magnets to ‘cook’ brain cancer from the inside out, without damaging the healthy tissue.

She has developed nano-sized particles, akin to tiny crystals, which are injected into the site of the brain tumour. The particles act like bar magnets and are gobbled up by tumours, which love glucose.

When the particles are exposed to a magnetic field, they start to move and heat up. Tumours can’t cope with heat, so as they heat up, the particles become hot enough to damage or kill the cancerous cells, without impacting the healthy tissue. 

Once they reach a certain temperature, the particles switch off and start to cool down. The scientists can then repeat the process, hopefully reduce or entirely removing the cancer.

Alice stresses that the research it in its infancy, but she is excited about its possibilities in the future.

The positives, Alice says, are the ability to target the tumour in a way that traditional treatments such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy can’t, while minimising the impact on healthy brain tissue.

Alice’s flair for science communication is driven by a desire to break down the barriers that typically surrounds many areas of research.

She also just genuinely loves science and loves communicating that to the world.

“I am really passionate about science outreach. It really helps the community to understand what is going on in the world of science. For me, being able to articulate science also helps me to understand it better.

“Cancer research is such a noble pursuit. I feel so lucky to be able to work with the Targeted Nano-Therapies team, led by Associate Professor Moeava Tehei , to have the space and time to explore research that really interests me and to work out what I am best at.

“I have always loved science. My formative memories are of playing with magnets when I was a child, so the idea that I can use magnets to make a difference in the lives of cancer patients is deeply rewarding.”

Alice will take part in the FameLab Australian finals at the end of September, with the finalists given just three minutes to communicate their science research to the audience. They are judged on FameLab’s Three Cs: content, clarity, and charisma.

If she wins, Alice will receive an all-expenses paid trip to the world-renowned Cheltenham Science Festival in the United Kingdom next year, an opportunity to meet with some of the best scientists in the world. 

The FameLab Australia National Final will be live streamed via on Thursday, 26 September from 8pm AEST  https://perthvideo.net/famelab-2024

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PhD candidate Hogan receives Smithsonian Fellowship to investigate textile and fiber arts collections

Design Studies PhD candidate Maeve Hogan’s dissertation research at UW–Madison has been driven by unique objects in the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection at the School of Human Ecology. These works have the potential to help revise and broaden the story of craft made and collected in America, Hogan said. However, many of the items in the collection that Hogan studies lack essential documentation, making that task a difficult one.

This fall, Hogan is in residence at the Smithsonian Museum of American Art (SAAM) in Washington, D.C. as a SAAM Predoctoral Fellow in American Craft and Big Ten Academic Alliance Smithsonian Fellow . There, she’ll study key objects and players in the history of fiber art to better tell the story of UW–Madison’s collection and midcentury craft more broadly.

Hogan focuses on a subset of the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection consisting of fiber art created between the mid-1950s and mid-1960s gathered by the collection’s founder Helen Louise Allen herself. These items provide a unique window into how textiles were considered by the art and design world before the fiber arts movement catalyzed into something bigger, more political, and conceptual in the late 1960s and 1970s, Hogan said.

“We have this really important time capsule assembled by a single woman, Helen Allen, who was an educator in weaving and decorative arts at UW. Her collection helps us understand how she was keeping abreast of national and international conversations about art and what she thought was important for her students to know as they were entering the careers in art, craft, and design, in the middle of the 20th century,” Hogan said. “Sometimes, after a movement or idea becomes really big, our understanding about what was important leading up to that success can be overwritten by later retellings. Seeing this nascent moment through the lens of all of these objects has been really exciting.”

As a student in the Design History pathway of the Design Studies PhD program, Hogan brings a background in art practice, material culture studies, and decorative arts history, as well as work experience at New York museums to her doctoral research. Her previous focus on craft and design in the late 19th and early 20th centuries gives her a unique view of the mid-century objects in UW–Madison’s collection compared to scholars who might approach the collection from a contemporary art-historical mindset.

That unique viewpoint helps Hogan to see a throughline: from the arts and crafts movement of the 19th century represented in the collection as usable domestic objects with artistic qualities, through to the fiber art pieces created specifically to hang on walls in the 1960s and beyond.

As a fellow at the Smithsonian Museum of American Art, Hogan will examine similar object collections, artist files, and exhibition records at SAAM, the National Gallery, and the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum.

“The Smithsonian also houses the Archives of American Art, which hold deep archival records on particular makers or gallerists that are related to objects that I’m looking at,” she added.

In some cases, the archives might provide the only window into the identities of the objects’ creators, the thoughts of curators who included them in exhibitions, or the networks of the gallerists who promoted and sold these artworks. For example, Hogan looks forward to looking at the archives of interior designer and gallerist Bertha Schaefer, from whom Allen purchased several items. Hogan hopes to learn more about how Schaefer exhibited and promoted those objects and how they eventually made their way out of New York to Madison.

Hogan describes the UW’s Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection as a unique and active teaching collection notable for its size and breadth of objects, particularly when compared with collections at larger institutions that have more resources, but which might provide less access for individual study. This makes it a particularly rich collection to work with, she said.

“We’ve got a group of objects, of Scandinavian tapestry and damasks, that are sort of a one-for-one parallel with the Cooper Hewitt [National Design Museum] collection,” she said. “That’s wild because they’re in New York and they had a much larger donor base, so the spread of their collection comes from multiple donors and over time. What’s unique here is this is a single collector and a very short period of collecting.”

Hogan is excited to learn more about the items in UW–Madison’s collection through her work as a Smithsonian fellow. She sees it as an opportunity to restore artists’ names and stories to the catalog of their works and to add complexity to our understanding of the rise of fiber art. As one example, she found a crocheted wall hanging in the collection made by Kate Auerbach, who emigrated from Germany in 1941 and worked as a knitwear designer. Before emigrating, she had been the principal of an arts and crafts school in Berlin and studied with Johannes Itten, later known as a core faculty member of the Bauhaus. However, the collection record for the wall hanging had previously not included the artist’s name or any of the details of her life. Adding those details to the collection record will help other scholars find pieces like this and know more about them, providing a scaffolding for further research and writing, Hogan said. Additionally, as a result of this preliminary research, Auerbach’s wall hanging will likely be on view next spring in the Center for Design and Material Culture’s (CDMC) upcoming exhibition Afterlives.

“This is a really stunning piece, and I’m so excited to have rediscovered this woman’s story and to give her some space to be seen,” Hogan said.

While Hogan’s research as a SAAM fellow will contribute to her dissertation, she also hopes to curate a public-facing exhibit with the CDMC in parallel with that scholarly project that will share these stories with the Madison community — perhaps connecting them with people who remember when the fiber arts movement took off, or for whom these textiles might provide inspiration for future projects. As one of a handful of students currently focused on design history within the Design Studies PhD program, Hogan pointed out that the recognition her work is receiving through this Smithsonian Fellowship is significant and adds to the accolades that design history students at UW–Madison have received so far. Last year, design history PhD student Natalie Wright also received the Smithsonian American Art Museum Fellowship, and design history PhD candidate Addison Nace received a Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship. Hogan, Wright, and Nace are three of five students currently enrolled in this highly specialized course of study. These accomplishments are one piece of external recognition for the important work being done in design history at UW–Madison, Hogan said.

“I’m really proud to represent the design history pathway of Design Studies, and to be contributing to craft history scholarship,” Hogan said. “I’m excited for how it impacts our little community here to share this research [and] show other scholars that we’re out here and doing really exciting work.”

Read more about Hogan’s fellowship at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

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• Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
• Posted on: 22 June 2024

Research associate / PhD candidate (f/m/d)

Job Information

Offer description.

Area of research:

Scientific / postdoctoral posts

Part-Time Suitability:

The position is suitable for part-time employment.

Starting date:

Job description:

The Institute of Radio Frequency Engineering and Electronics conducts research in the field of highly-integrated millimeter-wave wireless modules and integrated photonic-electronic systems as well as signal processing for radar and communication systems. Multiple research associate / PhD candidate positions are available within the following research fields:

• THz systems: Antennas, passive components, packaging and system concepts for highly integrated millimeter-wave and THz systems from 70 GHz to 1 THz
• Ultra-wideband photonic-electronic systems: Packaging and interconnection technology for electronic interfacing of photonic components with wide bandwidth of more than 100 GHz
• Signal processing for Joint Communication and Sensing (JCAS)
• Radar signal processing for industrial, medical and automotive applications

The offered positions will provide the PhD students with a comprehensive set of theoretical and practical skills relevant for innovation and long-term employability in a rapidly growing sector. The candidates are expected to perform research activities independently, contribute to development of future research directions and participate in teaching and supervision of student theses.

This research center is part of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centers. With more than 42,000 employees and an annual budget of over € 5 billion, the Helmholtz Association is Germany's largest scientific organisation.

Where to apply

Requirements, additional information, work location(s), share this page.

CAS-TWAS President’s Fellowship Programme For PhD Candidates from Developing Countries