PhD fellowship in Analytical Chemistry

We are offering a three-year PhD fellowship commencing 15 April 2026 or as soon as possible thereafter.

Project description
Mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) is a powerful technique for visualizing the spatial distribution of chemical compounds in biological tissues. This project focuses on applying and further developing MSI approaches to study peptide-based therapeutics, an increasingly important class of drugs.

The work will involve optimizing imaging methods and applying them in relevant biological models to better understand how peptide drugs interact with and traverse biological barriers during oral delivery. The project includes both methodological development within MSI and experimental drug delivery studies, including in-vitro incubations and in-vivo models, followed by detailed tissue analysis.

The overall aim is to develop and apply methodologies that can generate insights supporting the development of improved strategies for enabling effective oral delivery of peptide therapeutics.

Principal supervisor
Associate Professor Christian Janfelt, Department of Pharmacy

Start
15 April 2026

Duration
3 years as a PhD student

Our group and research
The Drug Toxicology, Metabolism and Analysis group at Dept. of Pharmacy, UCPH, performs research in the distribution, metabolism and toxicology of drugs in preclinical and clinical studies. To support this, we have a significant infrastructure for chemical analysis by mass spectrometry with a particular focus on LC-MS, mass spectrometry imaging by DESI-MSI and MALDI-MSI, and ICP-MS. Our group consists of four PIs, 15-20 master and Ph.D. students and three lab technicians. We collaborate with several research groups at the two pharmaceutical departments at UPCH, including groups working with drug delivery and microfluidics, as well as large number of research groups at hospitals and other research institutions.

Our department
The mission of Department of Pharmacy is to advance the pharmaceutical sciences by performing drug-related research and research-based teaching in topics including pharmaceutical technology and formulation, drug delivery, advanced drug analysis, and clinical and social pharmacy.

Information about the Department can be found at pharmacy.ku.dk

Job description
Your key tasks as a PhD student at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences are:

• Carrying through an independent research project under supervision
• Completing PhD courses or other equivalent education corresponding to approximately 30 ECTS points
• Participating in active research environments including a stay at another research team, preferably abroad
• Obtaining experience with teaching or other types of dissemination related to your PhD project
• Teaching of undergraduate students in pharmaceutical sciences
• Writing a PhD thesis on the grounds of your project

Key criteria for the assessment of applicants
Applicants must have qualifications corresponding to a master’s degree related to the subject area of the project, e.g. pharmaceutical sciences, chemistry, (bio)physics, or biology. Please note that your master’s degree must be equivalent to a Danish master’s degree (two years).

Other important criteria are:

• Professional qualifications relevant to the PhD project
• Relevant work experience
• Previous publications
• The grade point average achieved
• Fluency in English and communication skills
• Other professional activities

Place of employment
The place of employment is at the Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen. We offer creative and stimulating working conditions in a dynamic and international research environment. Our research facilities include modern laboratories equipped with state-of-the-art instrumentation for chemical analysis by mass spectrometry imaging, LC-MS and other analytical technologies.

Terms of employment
The average weekly working hours are 37 hours per week.

The position is a fixed-term position limited to a period of 3 years.

The employment is conditioned upon the applicant’s successful enrolment as a PhD student at the Graduate School at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen. This requires submission and acceptance of an application for the specific project to the Graduate School of Health and Medical Sciences.

The PhD study must be completed in accordance with The Ministerial Order on the PhD programme (2025) and the Faculty’s rules on achieving the degree.

The PhD student is expected to be affiliated to the graduate programme in pharmaceutical sciences, Drug Research Academy.

Salary, pension, and terms of employment are in accordance with the agreement between the Ministry of Finance and The Danish Confederation of Professional Associations on Academics in the State. Depending on seniority, the monthly salary starts at approximately 31,200 DKK/4,150 EUR (November 2025 level) plus pension.

Application procedure
Your application, in English, must be submitted electronically by clicking “Apply now” below and must include the following documents in PDF format:

1. Motivated letter of application (max. one page)
2. CV incl. education, experience, language skills and other skills relevant for the position
3. Certified copy of original Master of Science diploma and transcript of records 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. As a prerequisite for a PhD fellowship employment, your master’s degree must be equivalent to a Danish master’s degree. We encourage you to read more in the assessment database: Assessment database — English. Please note that we might ask you to obtain an assessment of your education performed by the Ministry of Higher Education and Science. Applicants with a Master´s degree from abroad should also enclose a short description of the grading scale used
4. Publication list (if possible)
5. Other information to consider: References and recommendations (if possible)

The deadline for applications is 11 January 2026, 23.59 CET.
We reserve the right not to consider material received after the deadline, and not to consider applications that do not live up to the abovementioned requirements.

The further process
After the expiry of the deadline for applications, the authorised recruitment manager selects applicants for assessment on the advice of the hiring 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 applicant has the opportunity to comment on the part of the assessment that relates to the applicant.

The applicant will be assessed according to the Ministerial Order no. 242 of 13 March 2012 on the Appointment of Academic Staff at Universities.

You can read about the recruitment process here.

Questions
For further information, applicants may contact the principal supervisor Christian Janfelt, christian.janfelt@sund.ku.dk, +45 3533 6557 or PhD coordinator Marianne W. Jørgensen, marianne.joergensen@sund.ku.dk, +45 3533 6449.

General information about PhD studies at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences is available at the Graduate School’s website.

For more information on working and living in Denmark visit ism.ku.dk (International Staff Mobility) and workindenmark.dk.

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