PhD candidate or Medical Research Assistant (f/m/d)

Job Title: Research Position in Psychoneuroimmunology
Location: University Hospital Ulm

The University Hospital Ulm and its employees stand for a modern and high-quality patient care, excellent university research, and medical education focused on the future, as well as apprenticeships in attractive professional fields. The requirements for this are qualified and committed employees.

This position is part of a DFG sponsored project beginning in January 2026, limited to three years. The title of the project is: Effects of Lactobacillus reuteri DSM 17938 on the acute psychological, endocrine and immunological stress response in healthy city dwellers.

Both preclinical and clinical data support the hypothesis that an excessive and inadequately regulated inflammatory stress response is causally involved in the development of many stress-associated disorders. This is consistent with studies showing that stress-associated disorders are more prevalent in urban than in rural areas and that healthy male subjects who grew up in an urban environment (URBANs) without contact with household pets show a more pronounced inflammatory response to a standardized laboratory stressor (Trier Social Stress Test; TSST) than subjects who grew up on a farm with regular contact with livestock.

An innovative research approach is therefore to increase an individual's immunoregulatory capacity in order to promote stress resilience. In our preclinical studies, we have already shown that the induction of regulatory T cells (Tregs) through repeated administration of various heat-inactivated non-tuberculous mycobacteria significantly increases stress resilience in mice. In the current DFG-funded study, these promising preclinical results should now be translated to the human situation by investigating the stress-protective effects of the probiotic Lactobacillus reuteri DSM 17938 in healthy URBANs. Nowadays, L. reuteri DSM 17938 is becoming increasingly rare in both the gut flora and breast milk, which is at least in part due to the urban lifestyle (i.e., low-fiber diet, antibiotics, drinking water treatment, increase in the rate of cesarean births) of the Western, industrialized world. Thus, in modern industrialized cities, contact with immunoregulatory "old friends" is significantly reduced, which could explain the overactivity of the immune system towards harmless environmental allergens (i.e., allergies), the body's own antigens (i.e., autoimmune diseases), but also social stressors (i.e., psychosomatic illnesses), observed primarily in urban areas. If our hypothesis is confirmed, this could lead to an innovative, unconventional, and promising therapeutic and prophylactic approach to more effectively combat stress-related illnesses in the near future.

Ideal Candidate Must Have:

• A background and/or strong interest in Psychoneuroimmunology
• Sound knowledge in stress physiology and immunology
• Extensive laboratory experience
• Experience in performing clinical studies
• Excellent German speaking and writing skills, as study participants will mostly be German speaking
• High motivation level to participate in goal-oriented research approaches
• Strong communication skills
• Excellent team working skills

We Offer:

• Attractive salary and benefits according to the German TV-L system (65%) or TV-Ä system (50%)
• Offers to reconcile family and career, e.g., in-house kindergarten and crèche
• Staff residence and subsidized public transport
• Company health promotion (e.g., cooperation with various fitness studios)
• Wide range of corporate benefits/privileges

For medical assistants, there might be an option to combine this part-time scientific position with a part-time clinical specialist training at the Clinic for Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy up to a full-time employment (100% TV-Ä).

The hiring will be conducted by the administration of the hospital on behalf of the state of Baden-Württemberg. Persons with disabilities will be given priority in case of equal qualification. The University Hospital Ulm aims to increase the proportion of women in areas where they are underrepresented. Accordingly qualified women are encouraged to apply. A continuation of employment after the fixed term is possible.