PhD scholarship in a clinical research project at Copenhagen University Clinic for Psychedelic Research (NOESIS), Department of Psychology

Within the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action (MSCA), University of Copenhagen is offering one PhD position for a Doctoral Candidate (DC), commencing 1 September 2026 or as soon as possible hereafter. The position is a full‑time appointment for 36 months and is funded by Horizon Europe.

Interdisciplinary Network for Training, Education, and Growing Research into Applications of and Therapeutic Expertise around Psychedelics (INTEGRATE) is a MSCA Doctoral Network.

INTEGRATE tackles the urgent need for better mental health treatments by advancing psychedelic therapy (PT) as a promising new therapy. INTEGRATE will train a new generation of interdisciplinary experts in PT, addressing four major challenges that currently hamper the implementation of PT in healthcare: unknown mechanisms of action; lack of clinical gold standards; legal/regulatory obstacles; and ethical/societal challenges.

More information can be found on the INTEGRATE home page: INTEGRATE EU – Training Europe's next generation of psychedelic therapy researchers.

INTEGRATE will deliver a training program to 16 Doctoral Candidates that truly captures the MSCA values, hence providing them with all capabilities to become leaders of tomorrow's R&I in Europe.

Project description
The successful applicant will join a multidisciplinary EU-funded Marie Skłodowska-Curie International PhD training network. This doctoral position is based at the Department of Psychology at University of Copenhagen. The position will be supervised by Associate Professor and Psychologist Dea Siggaard Stenbæk, Head of NOESIS, Department of Psychology.

This DC project investigates the role of music and therapist behaviour in PT. The DC will contribute to analyses of a music-based preparatory intervention administered prior to psilocybin dosing, as well as the effects of a novel music program played during psilocybin sessions. These data were collected as part of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) examining PT for alcohol use disorder (n = 60).

The DC will also contribute to the analysis of therapy session recordings, focusing on therapist behaviour, meaning-making processes, and their relationship to treatment outcomes. In addition, the candidate will analyse self-reported outcomes from this trial and from other psychedelic studies conducted at NOESIS.

The DC will be expected to contribute to ongoing data collection in studies at NOESIS. The role further includes ad hoc research tasks within the NOESIS research group and active participation in collaborative research activities and academic events. Through this work, the DC will gain extensive experience with project management, interdisciplinary collaboration, recruitment of research participants, practical execution of PT, data collection and analyses as well as presentation of results and publication of study results in scientific papers. The DC is expected to work as a researcher with a high degree of independence.

The DC will join a psychedelic research environment at the University of Copenhagen while collaborating with clinical researchers at Champalimaud Foundation, Portugal, and at Johns Hopkins University, United States, through two secondments, contributing to an innovative research program at the intersection of psychotherapy research and psychedelic science.

Copenhagen University Clinic for Psychedelic Research (NOESIS):
NOESIS is a research clinic at the Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, that investigates psychological and psychiatric aspects of psychedelic therapy, primarily using the psychedelic drug psilocybin. The clinic houses clinical psychedelic studies and collaborates closely with both national and international psychedelic research groups.

The successful candidate will be affiliated with NOESIS, and it is vital that the candidate has the capacity for and interest in developing ongoing and future research projects at NOESIS – with a particular focus on psychological and interdisciplinary aspects of these treatments.

Job description
Your key tasks as a PhD fellow are to:

• Carrying through an independent research project under supervision.
• Completing the INTEGRATE training program as well as PhD courses mandatory for at the Graduate School of Social Sciences, University of Copenhagen.
• Participating in active research environments including 2-3 secondments at other institutions abroad.
• Obtaining experience with teaching or other types of dissemination related to your PhD project
• Writing a PhD thesis on the grounds of your project.

Qualifications requirements
Applicants must have qualifications corresponding to master’s level related to the subject area of the project. If you have completed your education in Denmark, you must have a master’s degree covered by the collective agreement for academics in the state sector.

If you have completed your education outside of Denmark, you must either have a master’s degree equivalent to a Danish master’s degree (two years) or as minimum a bachelor’s degree equivalent to a Danish bachelor’s degree (three years) and be assessed as having professional qualifications at master's level.

If you have completed your education outside of Denmark, we will obtain an assessment of your education from the Danish Research Agency.

Please also note that for this position, the applicant is required to be a licensed Medical Doctor or Psychologist with excellent collaborative skills. Earlier involvement in psychedelic research will be an advantage. The applicant should also be fluent in English, have excellent communication skills and be able to demonstrate their ability to understand and express themselves in both written and spoken English at a level that is sufficiently high to fully benefit from the network training (C1/C2 level).

Applicants will also be required to meet the European Commission’s MSCA Doctoral Network eligibility criteria, notably:

• Mobility Rule - Applicants can be of any nationality and must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Denmark for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before the start of their employment at UCPH. Compulsory national service, short stays such as holidays, and time spent as part of a procedure for obtaining refugee status under the Geneva Convention are not considered.
• Doctoral Candidate requirement – the applicant must not be in possession of a doctoral degree at the first day of the employment. Researchers who have successfully defended their doctoral thesis, but who have not yet been awarded the doctoral degree are not eligible.
• Applicants must be willing to undertake secondments at another institute of the network during the DC project, including at institutes in other countries.
• Applicants are expected to be motivated to work in the field of psychedelic therapy.
• Applicants are expected to work independently, well-structured and collaboratively in a multidisciplinary consortium.

Please note that you will only be considered for the position if you fulfil all the above eligibility criteria.

Preferred qualifications

• Fluency in Danish, Swedish or Norwegian. Part of the work will be communication with Danish patients in our trials.
• Previous experience with psychedelic research and mixed-method research.

Key criteria for the assessment of applicants

• Professional qualifications relevant to the PhD project
• Relevant work experience
• Publications
• The grade point average achieved
• Other professional activities
• Language skills
• The successful applicant is also required to be enterprising and to possess good   interpersonal skills.

Terms of employment
The employment is conditioned upon the applicant’s successful enrolment as a PhD student at the PhD School at the Faculty of Social Sciences. This requires submission and acceptance of an application for the specific project to the PhD School. Please note that this process will be initiated by the PhD School only after an employment offer has been made.

The PhD programme must be completed in accordance with the Danish Ministerial Order on the PhD Programme (Executive Order no. 1124 of 19 September 2025) and the faculty’s regulations for obtaining the degree

Ministry of Taxation and The Danish Confederation of Professional Associations on Academics in the State. Depending on seniority, the monthly salary starts at approximately DKK 31,240/roughly EUR 4,190 (November 2025 level) plus pension.

The EU MSCA grant consists of a living allowance of EUR 5,325 (roughly DKK 39,664), and mobility allowance of EUR 710 (roughly DKK 5,290). In addition, a family allowance of EUR 660 (roughly DKK 4,917) may apply if eligibility conditions are fulfilled. The above amounts shall cover compulsory taxes etc. as well as all the University of Copenhagen’s costs related to your employment, such as monthly salary, future salary raises, pension, paid holidays and labour market contributions.

Please note that the PhD student has a work obligation of up to 840 hours over the 3 years period without additional pay.

How to apply
Please submit your application online. To apply, please click on the “Apply now” icon at the bottom of this page. Your application must be written in English, and include the following attachments (with descriptive titles) in PDF format:

• Cover letter (max. one page)
• CV incl. education, experience, language skills and other skills relevant for the position
• Diploma and transcripts of records (BSc and MSc) in the original language, including an authorized English translation if issued in other language than English or Danish. If not completed, a certified/signed copy of a recent transcript of records or a written statement from the institution or supervisor is accepted. Please also include a short description of the grading scale.
• Publication list (if relevant)
• Other information for consideration, e.g., documentation of English language qualifications (if any). Please do not submit recommendations etc.

The deadline for applications is 11 February 2026 at 23.59 CET.

Any applications or additional material submitted after the deadline will not be considered. However, changes may be made to the submitted application right up until the deadline.

To support a fair and unbiased recruitment process, we encourage applicants to refrain from including a photo in their CV or other application documents.

Recruitment process
After the expiry of the deadline for applications, the authorised recruitment manager selects applicants for assessment on the advice of the appointment committee. All applicants are then immediately notified whether their application has been passed for assessment by an unbiased assessor.

The assessor makes a non-prioritized assessment of the academic qualifications and experience with respect to the above-mentioned area of research, techniques, skills and other requirements listed in the advertisement.

Once the assessment work has been completed, each shortlisted applicant will be offered the opportunity to comment on the committee’s assessment before the appointment is announced.

As an applicant to the University of Copenhagen, you should be prepared to undergo a security screening related to international research collaboration as part of the recruitment process. The security screening will be conducted in cases where the University deems it appropriate based on an overall assessment.

Interviews may be conducted online.

Further information and contact
You can read more about the recruitment process at Recruitment process – University of Copenhagen.

For more information on working and living in Denmark, please visit For international researchers at the University of Copenhagen – University of Copenhagen (International Staff Mobility) and Workindenmark.

For further information, applicants may contact the main supervisor Associate Professor Dea Siggaard Stenbæk at dea@psy.ku.dk.

For further information about the recruitment process, please contact HR Centre South at e-mail: hr-soendre@adm.ku.dk. Please refer to ID number 211-0082/26-2G #2.

The University of Copenhagen wishes to reflect the diversity of society and encourages all qualified candidates to apply regardless of personal background.