PhD research scholarship –critical periods of air pollution’s impact on brain and mental health
PhD position in an MRI neuroimaging project in the team of prof. Marcin Szwed (Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University, Cracow https://szwedlab.psychologia.uj.edu.pl/)
My team is looking for a person to work on on the impact of air pollution on the brain, using data from several youth neuroimaging cohorts including our NeuroSmog cohort (see for example, Lewandowska et al. HBM, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.70306). We already know that air pollution adversely affects the developing mind. However, it remains unresolved at what periods of development (prenatal? early life?) is the brain o most vulnerable to air pollution. The candidate will investigate this question using advanced statistical methods (Dynamic Non-Linear Lag), pooling data from NeuroSmog and several other available youth cohorts, investigating the impact of air pollution on brain structure, as well as several key mental health measures such as attention or externalizing/internalizing problems.
The position is at Institute of Psychology at Jagiellonian University in Cracow and should lead to a preparation and defense of a PhD thesis under my supervision. It will be carried out in collaboration with key international partners, including IS Global Barcelona. It is funded for four years (NCN grant no. 2024/55/B/HS6/01202). The basic stipend is around 3200 PLN/month net (scholarship) for the first two years, followed by around 4500 PLN/month net for the second two years. In addition, candidates are expected to apply for additional funding to the COGNES and Psychology. If successful, it would approximately double their scholarship amount.
Recruitment criteria:
- Statistical skills grounded in relevant programming skills (preferably R).
- A capacity to critically evaluate scientific literature
- Knowledge of English language. Knowledge of spoken Polish would be an advantage, however is not required.
- Mobility: candidate will be expected to move to Kraków and obligated to travel a few weeks per year abroad (travels on the expense of the laboratory).
- Candidate must either hold a Masters’ or equivalent degree or be a last year Masters’ student in a fields such as: psychology, sociology, neurobiology, biology, physics, computer science, biophysics, bioinformatics, mathematics, engineering and other related.
- Appreciated but not required: experience in advanced statistical methods (e.g. Bayes), or advanced mathematical and programming skills (bioinformatics, mathematics, physics, engineering, etc.).
Interested candidates are encouraged to send a CV and contact details (phone number/email) of a person that could provide an opinion about a candidate (thesis supervisor, lecturer of a favorite class) to m.szwed@uj.edu.pl. Application deadline is 30.06.2026