PhD Candidate 100%

At the Institute of Psychology at the University of Bern, a PhD candidate is sought from April 1, 2026 (or by arrangement). The advertised PhD position is part of the research project "Alcohol-specific Inhibition Training in Alcohol Use Disorder: Biomarkers, Effective Application, Moderating Effects of Brain Plasticity (A-BEAM)" funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation.
Alcohol use disorder is a common and serious mental illness for which better treatment options are urgently needed. The aim of this project is to a) develop an app-based inhibition training to reduce relapses using an adaptive Bayesian design, b) investigate whether the neurophysiological correlate of inhibition measured by electroencephalography (EEG) predicts treatment success, and c) explore whether individual brain plasticity, measured with an EEG-based marker, influences treatment success. A six-person team (led by PD Dr. Maria Stein, with 1 post-doc, 2 other PhD students, 1 research assistant) will work on the 5-year funded, multicenter project. The advertised PhD position is limited to 4 years.

• Assistance in planning and conducting the clinical study, including recruitment and data collection in specialized addiction clinics. Coordination and supervision of master students supporting data collection.
• Assistance in adapting an already developed digital health application using an existing content management system.
• Preparation and analysis of study data. The substantive focus of the advertised cumulative doctoral thesis lies in the area of EEG-based markers for inhibition (i.e., evoked potentials measured during the Go-NoGo task) and for individual plasticity (in the form of modulation of the visually evoked potential (VEP modulation)).
• Scientific publishing at an international level.
• Possibly assisting in conducting teaching activities.

• Master's degree (or near completion) in psychology (possibly neuroscience, health sciences, or similar).
• Ideally, experience in empirical work and/or neuroscientific research methods such as EEG.
• Strong interest in (neuroscientific) research methods is required and should be demonstrated or proven.
• Committed and independent working style, teamwork skills, and high social competence.
• Very good (Swiss) German and English skills.

• Varied and challenging work in a dynamic, committed team with good national and international networking.
• Participation in an exciting, clinically relevant research project with various scientific focuses.
• Insight into the clinical routine of inpatient treatment of alcohol use disorder and patient contact during recruitment and data collection.
• Opportunity to write a dissertation in a future-oriented and application-related research field at the interface of clinical psychology and neuroscience.
• Connection opportunities to faculty-internal or cross-faculty graduate schools at the University of Bern.
• Close integration into the team and appropriate supervision.
• Remuneration according to the guidelines of the Swiss National Science Foundation and the University of Bern.

We look forward to receiving your application documents (motivation letter outlining your research interests, CV, certificates, 2-3 references, and a sample of an academic work, e.g., master thesis). Please send these as a single PDF file by January 5, 2026 to maria.stein@unibe.ch.