Postdocs in Medical Scientist Program
nextGENERATION
Since 2023, Hannover Medical School (MHH) has the EKFS-funded Medical Scientist program nextGENERATION (ReGENERAte Organ FunctION).
The program is addressed to scientists with a PhD who want to break new ground in the field of regenerative medicine and are interested in a future key role in translational medicine. The technical focus is generally on cell-based and/or gene therapy therapies. The organ or disease system is open and can therefore include, for example, infections as well as cardiovascular or chronic inflammatory diseases.
Applicants should still be within the first ten years after completing their PhD at the end of the two-year programme, so that they remain eligible to apply for an ERC Starting Grant towards the end of the funding period.
The structured nextGENERATION program offers advanced training in basic biomedical research with a clinically oriented, patient-centered focus. Participants are given the opportunity to integrate into the Hannover-Braunschweig science region and are supported in the best possible way to further develop their career as a medical scientist in academic medicine. The program aims to promote personalities towards the leadership of their own research group. The profile should therefore present or demonstrate a clear own research aspect that is sustainable for the future.
The nextGENERATION program enables:
- 2-year structured scientific (and clinical) continuing education with an individually designed career plan.
- Financial support for own project (60,000 € for personnel and material resources)
- At least 20% research time for the own research project
- Personal support by an individually composed mentor team
- Offers for professional development and acquisition of key competencies
- Assumption of further training costs (e.g. TRAIN Academy)
- Regular evaluations and feedback meetings
- Additional funding in case of successful acquisition of DFG and/or ERC grants
- External applicants receive a financial starter package to establish themselves at the MHH.
The proposed nextGENERATION program will train outstanding Medical Scientists with a PhD background to become experts in the clinical translation of innovative treatment strategies in regenerative medicine. nextGENERATION will particularly focus on advancing cell-based therapies. The program is not limited to an organ, tissue or disease and may include, for example, infectious diseases, cardiovascular-, chronic inflammatory diseases as well as congenital disorders and beyond. Cell- and gene-based therapies, ranging from the transplantation of classical hematopoietic- or mesenchymal stem cells to more advanced strategies such as CAR-T cells and in particular human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), are also in the scope of the program.
The lack of Medical Scientists in this highly specialized field is a crucial hurdle, which needs to be overcome. Given the complexity of regenerative medicine, Medical Scientists with profound knowledge on both therapeutic demands and the regulatory challenges in clinical translation of Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMPs) are of utmost and urgent need. Furthermore, detailed expertise on disease pathophysiology, preclinical safety and efficacy models (incl. monitoring and imaging) as well as design and platform application for suitable cell manufacturing (including genome editing) are key aspects which have to be considered (Fig. 1 A). In addition, training in public engagement and entrepreneurship will be beneficial to successfully overcome multidisciplinary hurdles associated with translation of novel regenerative therapeutics.
nextGENERATION medical scientists will acquire these skills in a unique and practical fashion in the here proposed program (Fig. 1 B). The program is designed to promote scientists at (early) postdoc level to become future leaders in the field of translational regenerative medicine.
Fig. 1 A: Scheme for successful translational regenerative medicine, a key aim of nextGENERATION. To combat life-threatening diseases, an interdisciplinary team within the field of regenerative medicine is central to drive medical innovations
Fig. 1 B: Scheme for nextGENERATION program
During the review process, the suitability of the applicant, the scientific excellence of the project and the planned sustainable integration of applicant and project into the respective department will be assessed. Therefore, all these aspects should be taken into account in the application.
If you meet the requirements and would like to be included in the nextGENERATION program, we look forward to receiving your application. To do so, please fill out the indicated forms completely and send them to us by e-mail to dekanat.karriere@mh-hannover.de by January 05 2027 08:00 am.
The pre-selection will take place in Mid of January 2027. If your application is evaluated positively, you will be informed after the preselection, whether you will be invited to the selection interviews. The selection interviews will take place End of January 2027. There, you will present yourself and your project in a presentation to the program commission. The evaluation of the program commission will be presented to the external reviewers and finally the funding decision will be made in March 2027 at the latest. The program starts on July 01 2027.
The following list gives you an overview of the required application documents. You can download the documents as forms or templates on this page. In addition, we provide you with a checklist (download). Please compile all documents in one pdf document and send it electronically to dekanat.karriere@mh-hannover.de.
- Application form (template)
- Curriculum Vitae
- Letter of Support: When submitting an application, the letter of support from at least one mentor is expected.
- Commitment
- (future) department head (see english translation, please submit german template with signature)
- (future) scientific mentor (template)
- (future) clinical mentor (template)
- Financial plan (Excel template)
- Copies of doctoral and baccalaureate certificates as well as other relevant certificates and diplomas
External applicants
- receive a financial starter package for establishing themselves at MHH.
- are explicitly encouraged to contact the dean's office or, if known, potential mentors at an early stage. The letter of support and the commitment of at least one mentor is mandatory for the application.
