PhD Programs & Mentoring
ZMB PhD Programs & Mentoring
PhD Programs
We offer students access to a wide range of structured doctoral programs in the field of biomedical research. This includes DFG funded graduate schools and also joint projects.
- RTG 2989: Targeting Cellular Interfaces in Reperfused Acute Myocardial Infarction (TCI repAMI)
- RTG 2762: Heterogeneity, plasticity & dynamics in cancer cell, tumor and normal tissue responses to cancer radiotherapy
- Integrated Graduate School on Molecular and Chemical Cell Biology, CRC 1430: Molecular Mechanisms on Cell State Transitions
- RTG 2535: Knowledge- and data-driven personalization of medicine at the point of care
The Medical Faculty and the University Hospital Essen also run the Graduate School of Biomedical Science (BIOME):
Moreover, we have a share in the International Max Planck Research School for Living Matter (IMPRS-LM):
Find out more about ZMB joint projects under ZMB research:
ZMB consortia
DFG funded research training groups

Research Training Group, since 2023:RTG 2989: Targeting Cellular Interfaces in Reperfused Acute Myocardial Infarction (TCI repAMI)
Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Tienush Rassaf, University Hospital Essen
Website: http://www.uni-due.de/grk2989
| Project | ZMB Member | |
|---|---|---|
| P3: T cell-mediated inflammatory response from (extra-) cardiac sources | More | Prof. Dr. Wiebke Hansen |
| P4: Gut dysbiosis modifies vascular integrity and function | More | Prof. Dr. Tienush Rassaf
Prof. Dr. Astrid Westendorf |
| P6: Trained immunity in cardiac cells | More | Prof. Dr. Jens Siveke
Prof. Dr. Ulrike Hendgen-Cotta |
| P7: Targeting cardiomyocyte fate landscape | More | Prof. Dr. Tienush Rassaf
Prof. Dr. Ulrike Hendgen-Cotta |
| P8: Targeting arrhythmias from atrial remodeling | More | Prof. Dr. Jens Siveke |
| P11: Mitochondrial remodeling and clearing shaping cellular-decision making | More | Prof. Dr. Tienush Rassaf
Prof. Dr. Ulrike Hendgen-Cotta |
Research Training Group, since 2022:RTG 2762: Heterogeneity, plasticity & dynamics in cancer cell, tumor and normal tissue responses to cancer radiotherapy
Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Verena Jendrossek, University Hospital Essen
Website: http://www.uni-due.de/med/forschung/grk2762/
| Project | ZMB Member | |
|---|---|---|
| L1: Role of molecular heterogeneity for radiation resistance and metastatic ability in NSCLC | More | Prof. Dr. Barbara M. Grüner |
| L2: Subtype-specific vulnerabilities of KRAS-driven NSCLC cells with intrinsic or adaptive radiation resistance | More | PD Dr. Johann Matschke |
| L3: Impact of somatic Lamin mutations on radiation response in lung cancer | More | Prof. Dr. Alexander Schramm |
| P1: Effect of KRAS gene dosage and molecular subtype on radiosensitivity in PDAC | More | Prof. Dr. Jens Siveke, PD Dr. Johann Matschke |
| P2: Radiotherapy-induced tumor and stromal cell state regulation in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma | More | Prof. Dr. Jens Siveke |
| P3: Exploring radioimmunotherapy (RIT) as an immunomodulatory therapy in quasi-mesenchymal (QM) versus classic PDAC | More | Prof. Dr. Katharina Lückerath |
| T1: Biomarkers of pneumonitis and lung fibrosis upon thoracic RT/RCTx with or without concomitant anti-PD-L1 antibody therapy | More | Prof. Dr. Verena Jendrossek |
| T2: Role of the host microbiota for radiation-induced lung toxicity | More | Prof. Dr. Verena Jendrossek, Prof. Dr. Astrid Westendorf |
| T3: Modulation of stroma-immune interaction to prevent RT-induced cardiac injury | More | Prof. Dr. Tienush Rassaf |
| M1: Development of modular computational modeling pipelines for reproducible radiation oncology research | More | Prof. Dr. Daniel Hoffmann |
| M2: Mathematical modeling of radiotherapy-induced immune responses | More | Dr. Farnoush Farahpour |
Research Training Group, since 2021:CRC 1430: Molecular Mechanisms of Cell State Transitions
Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Hemmo Meyer, Center of Medical Biotechnology (ZMB)
Website: https://www.uni-due.de/crc1430/
| Project | ZMB Member | |
|---|---|---|
| Integrated Research Training Group (iRTG) | More | Prof. Dr. Perihan Nalbant, Prof. Dr. Stefan Westermann |
Research Training Group, since 2021:RTG 2535: Knowledge- and data-driven personalization of medicine at the point of care
Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Britta Böckmann, University Hospital Essen
Website: https://wispermed.org/
| Project | ZMB Member | |
|---|---|---|
| RP15: Summaries and lay translations of clinical documents with transformers | More | Prof. Dr. Peter Horn |
Excellent Advice:Mentoring by Nobel Laureates and internationally renowned senior scientists
For selected PhD students we offer an outstanding mentoring opportunity by the two Nobel Laureates Robert Huber and Kurt Wüthrich, as well as by Tim Clausen,a structural biologist and senior scientist at the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP) in Vienna, and by Thomas Sommer, a biochemist and molecular biologist, and scientific board of the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) in Berlin.
Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Robert Huber
Emeritus Group
Structure ResearchMax Planck Institute of Biochemistry (MPIB)
Martinsried
Prof. Dr. h.c. mult. Kurt Wüthrich
Emeritus Group
Wüthrich Group ETH ZürichInstitute for Biochemistry
ETH Zurich, Switzerland
Prof. Dr. Tim Clausen
Clausen Lab
Molecular mechanisms of protein quality controlIMP - Research Institute of Molecular Pathology
Vienna, Austria
Prof. Dr. Thomas Sommer
Sommer Lab
Intracellular ProteolysisMax-Delbrück-Centrum für Molekulare Medizin (MDC)
Berlin
Interview with Kurt Wüthrich
In October 2017, Prof. Kurt Wüthrich talked about his early education in Switzerland and his scientific career, whether scientific success can be planned, and if a Nobel Prize can be a burden. Watch the teaser:
Click here for more information and to watch the full interview.