Max Planck Institute Postdoctoral Fellow (Quantitative) in Center for Affective and Autonomic Neuroscience 2026

The to-be-established Center for Affective and Autonomic Neuroscience (CAAN) at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin invites applications for a Postdoctoral Fellow (EG 13 TVöD; 39 hours/week) to test the causes and consequences of large autonomic changes across adulthood using rich, previously collected longitudinal datasets, as well as helping to plan and analyze new datasets. The position is a four-year fixed-term contract. The start date could be anytime from September 1, 2026, through the first half of 2027.

This is a role at the intersection of physiology, computational analysis, and aging neuroscience. Autonomic function shifts dramatically across the adult lifespan, yet these midlife changes are largely missing from current models of aging. High-frequency heart rate variability—a primary index of parasympathetic (vagal) activity—is roughly 80% lower at age 60 than at age 20, while resting sympathetic nerve activity approximately doubles over the same period (for more information, see Mather, 2024, "The emotion paradox in the aging body and brain"). The mechanisms driving these changes, and their downstream consequences for the brain and body, remain poorly understood.

Job Description

• Design and conduct longitudinal analyses linking autonomic measures (cardiac vagal control, sympathetic activity) to health, brain, and molecular biomarkers.
• Build and maintain reproducible pipelines to clean, harmonize, and integrate multi-modal data across waves and cohorts.
• Process and analyze cardiac signals, including spectral decomposition of heart rate variability.
• Integrate autonomic measures with neuroimaging and/or molecular data to probe the mechanism.
• Lead manuscripts, present at conferences, and contribute to grant writing.
• Collaborate within a multidisciplinary team and mentor junior trainees.

• Table of Content
• About Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science
• Postdoctoral Fellow (m/f/d) (Quantitative) | Center for Affective and Autonomic Neuroscience Fellowship
• Aim and Benefits of Postdoctoral Fellow (m/f/d) (Quantitative) | Center for Affective and Autonomic Neuroscience Fellowship
• Requirements for Postdoctoral Fellow (m/f/d) (Quantitative) | Center for Affective and Autonomic Neuroscience Fellowship Qualification
• Application Deadline
• How to Apply

Postdoctoral Fellow (m/f/d) (Quantitative) | Center for Affective and Autonomic Neuroscience Fellowship

Aim and Benefits of Postdoctoral Fellow (m/f/d) (Quantitative) | Center for Affective and Autonomic Neuroscience Fellowship

In this role, you would benefit from:

• Access to rich multimodal datasets, including longitudinal LC and brainstem MRI, CSF and plasma biomarkers, proteomics, autonomic physiology, and clinical trial outcomes.
• Close collaboration with researchers with complementary expertise within CAAN.
• Support from a data collection staff team.
• Support and mentoring for publications, grant applications and career development.

The Institute provides a stimulating, international work environment with an engaged, collegial team in Berlin, Dahlem. In addition, the following benefits are available:

• Access to the training programs offered by the Planck Academy of the MPG
• Flexible working hours
• Possibility to work remotely (up to 40%, depending on work processes)
• Annual bonus payment in accordance with the TVöD (German public sector pay scale); 30 days of vacation, plus December 24 and 31 off
• Daycare partnerships with dedicated places; a parent-child room at the institute
• Excellent public transport connections (U3 Breitenbachplatz, barrier-free)
• Jobticket
• Institute canteen and biodiverse institute garden
• Various offers related to “health in the workplace” (e.g., fitness room, massage services, yoga classes)
• Extensive support services, e.g., International Office, Disability Office, Gender Equality Office, and mental health support
• Diversity-sensitive working environment (e.g., meetups, networking, accessible and gender-neutral toilets)

Requirements for Postdoctoral Fellow (m/f/d) (Quantitative) | Center for Affective and Autonomic Neuroscience Fellowship Qualification

• PhD (or equivalent) in psychology, neuroscience, physiology, biomedical engineering, epidemiology, statistics, or a related field.
• Strong applied statistics, including methods for longitudinal / repeated-measures data (e.g., mixed-effects and growth-curve models, time-to-event, or related approaches).
• Ability to independently learn new quantitative methods.
• Proficient programming and data-wrangling skills (e.g., R, Python) for building analysis pipelines on complex, multi-wave datasets.
• A track record of first-author scholarly work and strong scientific writing.

Preferred Qualifications

• Familiarity with spectral analysis and signal processing of heart rate / ECG data (e.g., frequency-domain HRV).
• Experience with MRI data (structural, functional, and/or related preprocessing pipelines).
• Experience with proteomic data or other high-dimensional molecular datasets.
• Experience harmonizing data across cohorts; familiarity with version control and reproducible-research practices.

Application Deadline

How to Apply

• Please use the recruitment platform for your application.
• Applications are also accepted via email ([email protected]) or by post (MPI for Human Development, Sandra Schmidt, Lentzeallee 94, 14195 Berlin).
• The application should include the following documents in a single PDF file: a cover letter describing your research interests, your CV, relevant certificates, and, if available, a representative preprint or publication.
• Please submit your application without a photo.
• If you have any questions about the position advertised, please contact Mara Mather, [email protected].

For more information, kindly visit Max Planck Institute webpage.