PhD fellowship in Biophotonics for Drug Delivery and Predictive Modelling at Department of Pharmacy

We are offering a three-year PhD fellowship in Biophotonics for Drug Delivery and Predictive Modelling commencing on 1st of February 2026 or as soon as possible thereafter.

Project description

Recent advances in ultra-narrow optical filtering, wavelength-stabilized lasers, and high-throughput spectrometers have made Brillouin and low-frequency Raman (LFR) spectroscopy practical, lab-friendly probes of nanoscale order and mechanics, which are critical determinants of formulation stability and drug-release performance. This project will leverage those tools to map structure-property relationships in polymeric drug delivery matrices, with particular emphasis on how semi-crystalline lamellae and amorphous domains coexist, compete, and evolve under processing and during hydration.

Polymeric drug-delivery matrices spanning semi-crystalline to amorphous regimes will be mapped, leveraging their crystalline-amorphous duality. Spatial Brillouin and low-frequency Raman (5-60 cm⁻¹) measurements will be used to quantify lamellar acoustic modes, lamellar thickness/orientation, and local viscoelasticity, linking microscopic order and dynamics to stability, dissolution, and bioavailability. As the central objective, two vacuum-compression-molded (VCM) formats - subcutaneous implants and oral tablets (VCM tablets/compacts) will be systematically compared; controlled thermal histories in VCM are anticipated to write skin-core disparities in lamellar structure and mechanics. Even where tablet release occurs on shorter timescales, these structural disparities are expected to substantially influence drug-release dynamics. Drug-polymer co-assembly will be examined to determine how drug identity, loading, and miscibility alter lamellar distributions, amorphous mobility, and poroelastic water uptake, thereby modulating diffusion- versus erosion-controlled release. Independent reference measurements will include differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray diffraction (XRD), small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), gravimetric swelling, and in vitro release testing. Spectral data and metadata will be integrated using unsupervised and supervised chemometrics, one dimensional convolutional neural networks (1D CNNs), and data fusion models to produce predictive links from spectral fingerprints to performance, enabling rational design, process tuning, and nondestructive quality control.

Principal supervisor
Professor Vito Foderà, Department of Pharmacy [xxxxx]

Co-supervisor

Assistant Professor Kārlis Bērziņš, Center for Pharmaceutical Data Science Education,Department of Pharmacy [xxxxx])◀

Start
1st of February 2026

Duration
3 years as a PhD student

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 [xxxxx]

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. biophotonics, pharmaceutical formulation and materials, solid-state characterization, data analytics, and in vitro performance testing. 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
• Other professional activities
• A curious mind-set with a strong interest in pharmaceutical materials/formulation: polymeric drug delivery, implants or oral tablets
• Previous experience in optical spectroscopy or microscopy (Raman, ideally low-frequency, or Brillouin), solid-state characterization (DSC, XRD, SAXS), chemometrics/deep-learning, as well as hands-on wet-lab techniques (sample preparation, formulation, and physicochemical characterization) will be considered an advantage
• Language skills

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 and access to the state-of-the-art equipment (including through the center for advanced solid state analysis [xxxxx]research/cpharma/), via a range of international research partners ([xxxxx] as well as access to large infrastructure facilities. In addition, the successful candidate will be part of the newly established Center for Pharmaceutical Data Science Education, CPDSE [xxxxx] which fosters interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation in pharmaceutical data science.

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 (2013) 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 30,800 DKK/Roughly 4,100 EUR (April 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. Motivation 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: [xxxxx] 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 applicable)

5. Other information to consider: References and recommendations (if possible)

The deadline for applications is 1st of November [KB1] 2025, 23.59pm 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 at [xxxxx]

Questions

For further information, applicants may contact the co-supervisor Kārlis Bērziņš, e-mail: [xxxxx] or PhD coordinator Marianne W. Jørgensen, e-mail: [xxxxx] phone: +[xxxxx].

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

For more information on working and living in Denmark visit [xxxxx] staff mobility) and [xxxxx]

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

Kilde: [xxxxx]