PhD Student, Lundbeck Brain Battle 2027

Lundbeck Brain Battle 2027 – Compete for a Fully Funded Industrial PhD project

Are you looking for the opportunity to pursue an industrial PhD in neuroscience and develop your communication skills along the way? Join the Lundbeck Brain Battle and compete for a fully funded industrial PhD project based at Lundbeck.

Y our new role

Lundbeck is a science-based organization, and our Research and Development activities are central to our commitment to advancing brain health and supporting people impacted by brain disorders. Therefore, Lundbeck is looking for highly motivated MSc candidates to join the Lundbeck Brain Battle. In Brain Battle, you will compete alongside other MSc students to win an industrial PhD project based at Lundbeck in association with a Danish University on studies aiming at discovering new treatments for diseases in the central nervous system. The position spans 3 years and is fully funded by Lundbeck.

This year Brain Battle brings together three ambitious PhD projects at the forefront of neuroscience and drug discovery. The first project will integrate human neuro-omics data with experimental studies to uncover the biology and therapeutic potential of orphan GPCRs in neurological and psychiatric disorders. The second will develop humanized Huntington’s disease models using patient-derived iPSC neurons, both in vitro and transplanted into the rat brain, to connect drug exposure and target engagement with human-specific disease mechanisms and support the development of RNA therapeutics. The third will leverage state-of-the-art Neuropixels recordings to uncover how abnormal neuronal activity within cerebellar circuits contributes to tremor and ataxia, aiming to identify disease-relevant biomarkers and novel therapeutic opportunities for movement disorders. As a PhD student at Lundbeck, you will be working closely together with other scientists, students and technicians at the company and the university. The exact tasks will be dependent on the final project, but you will be expected to:

• Independently drive your own research project
• Present your research results at internal and external meetings
• Disseminate your results in the form of scientific papers and the final PhD thesis

What you bring as a PhD student

To participate in Brain Battle you must have the following qualifications:

• MSc student or recent graduate with a degree of thesis in the broad field of Neuroscience
• Meet the requirements for enrolment as a PhD student at a Danish university and can start your PhD no later than December 2027
• Be passionate about neuroscience, drug development and scientific communication
• Able to attend an interview during February or March 2027, presentation training on April 8th and 22nd 2027 and participate in the Brain Battle finale on April 29th, 2027, in person at the Lundbeck headquarters in Valby, Denmark
• Be able to work independently to drive your research project and seek guidance when needed
• Organizational skills to plan and report on experiments
• Collaborative and team-playing skills and actively seeking dialogue with your colleagues
• A positive mind-set
• Fluent in written and spoken English

Our promise to you

Lundbeck offers an inspiring workplace and innovative culture, where our curiosity, accountability and adaptability enable us to transform lives. We want to go faster and further on addressing the big unmet needs of people living with brain disorders. We offer rewarding careers with a mix of exciting tasks and development opportunities that are balanced with initiatives focused on your well-being.

We need every brain in the game, and at Lundbeck, we are committed to building a workforce that is as diverse as the people we serve. Read more about our commitment at www.lundbeck.com/global/about-us/our-commitment/diversity-and-inclusion .

Apply now

How candidates are selected:

• Step 1. A one-page letter of motivation, describing your motivation for pursuing a PhD at Lundbeck, your scientific interests, skills and relevant experience in addition to your CV, grade transcript, and letters of recommendation.
• Step 2. Following review of the written applications, selected candidates will be invited to an interview to discuss their scientific interests, experience and motivation in more depth.
• Step 3. Based on the written application and interview, three candidates will be selected as Brain Battle finalists. All three finalists will receive professional scientific communication training before progressing to the finale. At the finale, each finalist has seven minutes to bring their MSc research to life for a broad audience of 250 high-school students participating in the annual Drughunters competition. The challenge is to communicate the ideas, hypothesis and potential impact of your research in a way that is clear, creative and engaging, without relying on a PowerPoint presentation. Props and other creative presentation techniques are encouraged. The goal is not simply to demonstrate scientific expertise, but to show that you can make complex science understandable and exciting to people outside your immediate field. The Brain Battle winner will be selected based on an overall assessment of the written application, interview and Brain Battle finale presentation.
• The winner will be announced at the end of the finale day and will select one of the PhD projects together with the team.

If you have questions or want to hear more, please visit www.lundbeck.com/brain-battle or contact brainbattle@lundbeck.com. Applications must be received by January 15th, 2027.

Learn more about us at www.lundbeck.com , LinkedIn or Instagram (@h_lundbeck).

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