16 PhD positions to advance psychedelic therapy research in mental health

INTEGRATE is an international, multidisciplinary Marie Sklodowska-Curie Doctoral Network funded by the European Commission under Horizon Europe (Grant agreement ID: 101226862), coordinated by the University Center for Psychiatry (UCP) at the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG). The network aims to train a new generation of interdisciplinary experts to implement psychedelic therapy (PT) in healthcare, addressing challenges such as mechanisms of action, clinical standards, regulatory obstacles, and ethical considerations. The consortium includes 11 academic beneficiaries and 23 associated partners across Europe and worldwide, offering cutting edge research, training schools, and secondments in industry, civil society organizations, regulatory agencies, and more.
The network will provide scientific and translational skills training to 16 Doctoral Candidates (DCs) with three-year fixed-term positions, divided over the 11 beneficiaries in 9 countries in Europe. Each DC will work on an individual PhD project, combining cutting-edge science with training in personal development, ethics, regulation, and societal impact. The program offers excellent supervision, interdisciplinary collaboration, and secondments across academic, clinical, and industry partners to prepare DCs as future leaders in this emerging field.

More information about the network can be found on the consortium website: www.integrate-dn.eu.

Available DC positions
WP2: Foundational Research – Mechanisms of Action & Understanding Psychedelic Experiences
DC1: The antidepressant efficacy of psilocybin from a pathophysiological perspective (University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG), The Netherlands)
DC2: Understanding the neurobiology of psychedelic therapy from synapse to behavior (Uppsala University (UU), Sweden)
DC3: Identification of EEG and fMRI biomarkers with potential predictive value for psychedelics’ antidepressant effects (National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), Czechia)
DC4: Mapping the subjective phenomenology of therapeutic and challenging experiences in psychedelic therapy (University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG), The Netherlands, The Netherlands)
DC5: Psychedelics, attachment-related changes, and mental health outcomes (Stockholm University (SU), Sweden)
DC6: Sex/gender differences in psychedelic psychopharmacology (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA), Greece)

WP3: Clinical Research – Optimizing Safety and Efficacy
DC7: The role of music and psychotherapeutic support in psychedelic therapy (UCPH), Denmark)
DC8: Set and setting in clinical psychedelic research (Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale (INSERM), France)
DC9: Psychotherapy process and psychological intervention techniques in psychedelic therapy: safety and efficacy (Champalimaud Foundation (CF), Portugal)
DC10: Methodological challenges in clinical psychedelic research (Leiden University (LEI), The Netherlands)
DC11: Health economics of psychedelic therapy (Uppsala University (UU), Sweden)
DC12: Analyzing the obstacles and opportunities of different regulatory pathways to patient access for psychedelic therapies (University of Copenhagen (UCPH), Denmark)
DC15*: Evaluating the impact of controlled self-experience with psychedelics in therapist training. A clinical trial (University of Basel (UB), Switzerland)
DC16*: Clinical development of psychedelic-assisted therapy: transdiagnostic mechanisms and contextual factors (University of Zurich (UZH), Switzerland)

WP4: Ethical, Legal, Societal Implications
DC13: Identifying ethical, legal and societal challenges and opportunities for applying psychedelic therapy (University of Groningen (UG), NL)
DC14: Harmonizing Ethical Regulation of Psychedelic Therapy with Broader Medical Practices (Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Charité), DE)

*Swiss-funded positions

Detailed information on the individual DC projects can be found on the consortium website: www.integrate-dn.eu.

- Master’s degree in a relevant field (e.g., neuroscience, psychology, psychiatry, pharmacology, ethics, law) or a Medical Degree, allowing enrolment in a PhD program at the hiring beneficiary
- Strong motivation to work in psychedelic therapy research
- Excellent communication skills and ability to work in a team
- Proficiency in English (C1/C2 level)
- Compliance with EU MSCA DN rules:
- Applicants must not have been awarded a PhD degree
- Applicants must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of the DC position for more than 12 months in the 3 years prior to recruitment (excluding short stays such as holidays, compulsory national service or time spent as part of a procedure for obtaining refugee status).
- Additional requirements may apply to comply with specific institution's rules of the hiring beneficiaries. Where applicable, this will be specified in the description of the DC positions on the consortium website: www.integrate-dn.eu.

- Competitive MSCA salary including living, mobility, and family allowances (if applicable), conform the country and institute of the beneficiary
- Employment contract with social security coverage
- Enrolment in local PhD programmes
- Outstanding interdisciplinary training, transferable skills, and secondments
- Access to international conferences and collaborative research projects
- Funding for 36 months (with potential extension through alternative funding, to be decided by the hiring institutes)
- Preferred start date: 01 September 2026 (may slightly differ per institute)

Application instructions
The vacancy for all 16 DC positions is open from 26 January 2026 to 11 February 23:59 CET 2026.
For detailed information about the DC positions, we strongly encourage you to consult the consortium website: www.integrate-dn.eu.
Applications for DC positions DC1-DC6, DC8-DC11 and DC13-DC16 are to be submitted by responding to this vacancy. Please include a motivation letter, CV, and two recommendation letters.
For applications for DC positions DC7 and DC12 (both located at the University of Copenhagen), please submit your application via:
DC12 - https://employment.ku.dk/phd/?show=155773
DC7 - https://employment.ku.dk/phd/?show=155828

You may indicate up to three DC positions of interest. In case of interest in multiple DC positions, a single application suffices, unless this includes one (or both) DC positions at the University of Copenhagen. In that case, please submit your application via both channels. For questions about the DC positions, please contact the INTEGRATE project management team via: integrate@umcg.nl.

You will join an international consortium of leading universities, research institutes, and non academic partners. The positions include secondments to industry, regulatory bodies, and patient organizations, providing a unique interdisciplinary and intersectoral training experience.

Prof Robert Schoevers
integrate@umcg.nl

Heleen van den Heuvel
integrate@umcg.nl