Postdoc / PhD Student (m/f/d) Hyperpolarized MRI in Breast Cancer Imaging

Early diagnosis and therapy monitoring saves lives.          
Hyperpolarized MRI is emerging as one of the most exciting new tools in medical imaging — enabling real-time metabolic mapping in living tissue.

We are now seeking a talented and motivated Postdoctoral Fellow or PhD student to help bring this technology into clinical practice.

Start in our Team

You will join the Section Biomedical Imaging — a highly interdisciplinary group of 40–50 researchers from physics, engineering, chemistry, medicine, and data science, with a strong focus on metabolic imaging, MR methodology, translation, and AI. We have a strong publication and grant track record, and close partnerships with industry (including Siemens) and leading international academic centers.

We are looking for your professional and competent support to start as soon as possible, limited for 2 years!

What we offer:

• The salary will be based on the German E13 TV-L scale, if terms and conditions under collective bargaining law are fulfilled
• A full-time employment, currently 38.5 hours/week; a part-time employment may be possible within the framework of certain working time models
• You can find more attractive UKSH benefits here: Benefits (uksh.de)

Your role:

Your focus will be on developing and optimizing MRI methods for metabolite mapping of hyperpolarized pyruvate in the human breast.

The project is backed by two externally funded projects:

• RESPONSE (EU European Innovation Council): An international consortium developing hyperpolarized pyruvate MRI for breast cancer imaging in humans (Danish Technical University, Aarhus University, Hadassah Medical Center, Israel, and Kiel).
• NORTHPOLE (German Science Foundation, DFG): Evaluating hyperpolarized MRI in humans.

What You Will Work With

World-leading infrastructure that is rarely found under one roof:

Human imaging plattfrom

• Dedicated research 3T MRI (200 mT/m gradients, X-nuclei, Cima.X, Siemens)
• Six additional human MRI systems with research time (Siemens, Philips)
• Dedicated ¹³C breast coil, “body” ¹³C transmitter and local receive arrays
• Sequence development environment (PULSEQ, GammaStar, IDEA)
• Clinical dDNP polarizer (being ordered) and clinical Xenon polarizer
• Close research cooperation with manufacturers

Preclinical imaging  platform:

• Preclinical dDNP (SpinAligner)
• PHIP-SAH and SLIC-SABRE polarizers, para-hydrogen generators
• 7T / 30 cm small-animal MRI, 9.4T NMR/MRI system (both Bruker)
• Multiple benchtop NMR systems
• Full molecular imaging suite (MOINCC)

Your profile

• PhD or Master in physics, biomedical engineering, chemistry, or a related field
• Experience in MRI methodology (pulse sequences, RF coil design or related)
• Interest in translational and clinical research
• Team player with strong communication skills; experience in international collaboration is a plus

We are looking forward to your application including a CV, a brief statement of motivation, and contact details for two referees. Please submit your application until 24.07.2026, indicating the reference number 28889.