Aims of the program
The BIH PhD program contributes to the overall translational mission of the Berlin Institute of Health at Charité (BIH) and will enrich the portfolio of funding programs offered by the BIH Biomedical Innovation Academy (BIA). This PhD program aims at fostering interdisciplinarity and will support and promote young translational talents within the BIH ecosystem and beyond.
The BIH PhD Program is targeted at translational projects that fit one of the four BIH research priorities: responsible translational methodologies, advanced regenerative therapies, computational precision medicine and complex and rare diseases.
A particular feature of the BIH PhD program is the opportunity to link BIH groups with other research teams from different disciplinary horizons around the central aims of the BIH. Thus, tandems of mentors coming from BIH and other research institutes are encouraged.
I. Eligibility
Principal Investigators (PIs) from all research groups with BIH affiliation according to the institute organigram (https://intranet.charite.de/bih/organisation/, internal link) can submit project proposals, if one of the three required PhD supervisors is eligible to supervise students at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin according to the criteria of the institute (https://promotion.charite.de/fuer_betreuer/).
Please note that BIH wishes to introduce a “translational mentor” for each PhD candidate who will support the PhD candidate on his/her translational journey. The choice of the translational mentor will take place after the recruitment process in consultation with the PhD candidate and BIA.
II. Funding
The BIH PhD program will provide funding for a PhD student position consisting of a 65% E13 position for two years. The potential host group must have secured funding for the PhD position (prior to the recruitment) for at least one more year. If completion of the PhD requires a fourth year, the PI may request a one-year extension of funding, provided that the host group provides half of the funding during this period. The doctoral contract will be drawn up in accordance with formal regulation section 2.1 of the WissZeitVG (https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/wisszeitvg/__2.html) for the entire duration of the doctorate.
III. Project proposals
Eligible PIs (see I) are invited to submit their proposal(s) via the BIH application portal (https://portal.bihealth.de/portal/SitePages/Home.aspx). Applications must contain:
- An abstract of the project with indication of the subject (in English, max. 2,000 characters incl. spaces)
- A short project outline (max. 1 page, preferably in English, including graphics)
- Milestones and timeline of the project
- An explanation on how the project aligns with BIH’s aims and mission (max. 500 characters including spaces)
- Confirmation of funding for one year of the PhD position (preferably the first year, in justified cases, the third year may also be funded). Please note that formal confirmation from the finance department responsible for administering the funding is required. An e-mail from this department confirming that the funding is available will suffice.
- The form concerning the ethics vote and animal experiments application (see the downloadable form at the end of the text).
- Confirmation that the infrastructure and support necessary for the success of the PhD project are guaranteed (e.g. laboratory space, provision of basic laboratory equipment, shared use of existing equipment, biobank, computer-assisted documentation, proportional use of research technician, biometric consultation, etc.) signed by the head of the clinic, institute or center.
Proposals can be submitted between October 16 and November 20 (deadline for applications: 2 p.m. Central European Time, 20.11.2024).
IV. Project proposal selection by panel review and “partial lottery”
Twice as many projects will be selected as positions available for PhD positions (12 projects for 6 positions this selection round). Proposals will first undergo a formal check by BIA; those that do not meet the formal requirements will be excluded from the selection procedure.
All proposals that meet the formal requirements will be reviewed by a BIH internal panel. Panel members will be asked to answer two yes/no questions about the projects: 1. “Fundability” and 2. “Alignment". This will ensure that 1. the projects are suitable for a PhD, based on the project outline, milestones and timetable and 2. they align with the BIH’s aims and mission, based on the 100-word explanation in the proposal.
All projects receiving an unanimously positive response will be automatically selected and opened to applications from PhD candidates. If more projects are required, a lottery will be organized between projects that have received one or more negative responses. Projects receiving 3 positive responses or less will not be considered.
V. Selection of the PhD candidates (the call for PhD candidates will be published separately shortly before Christmas 2024, after the projects have been selected)
Once the projects are known, the call for PhD candidates will be published (around December 20, 2024). Once PhD candidates have expressed their interest in up to three specific projects and have submitted their applications, their profiles will be made available to the PIs (early February 2025). On the basis of these profiles, the PIs will organize pre-selection interviews (5 minutes) with the candidates they consider inviting to the panel interviews. Subsequently, PIs can select and communicate to BIA up to 4 candidates they would like to invite to the panel interviews. Panel interviews are scheduled to take place virtually over 2 days in early March 2025. During the interviews, candidates will present a research project they have been working on (preferably their Master’s project, but any other project of equivalent duration may also be adequate) and will be asked about this project and their motivation.
After the panel interviews, candidates and PIs will have four days to arrange individual short interviews. At the end of the interviews, PIs and PhD candidates will be invited to submit their ranked preferred candidate(s)/group leader(s). Preference will be given to matches where the highest preferences align. If there are too many matches with an identical preference alignment, a lottery will determine which project-candidate pairs will receive funding.
Once the selection of PhD candidates is complete, they are required to enroll in an appropriate PhD school or structured program (minimal requirements: doctoral agreement including supervision and mentoring) within one year of the funding decision.