Postdoctoral Position (m/f/d) on Developmental Sociogenomics | Max Planck Research Group Biosocial

Job Offer valid until June 2, 2025

The Max Planck Research Group Biosocial at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin seeks applicants for 1 Postdoctoral Position (m/f/d) on Developmental Sociogenomics (E 13 TVöD 100%)

The Position

The Max Planck Research Group “Biosocial – Biology, Social Disparities, and Development” takes an interdisciplinary approach to studying the effects of social inequality on human development at multiple biological and psychological levels led by principal investigator Dr. Laurel Raffington. Biosocial research provides an important avenue of inquiry for understanding how the social environment intersects with biological processes to shape differential outcomes of education and health across the lifespan.

The successful candidate will work with genomic and behavioral genetic methods to examine the effects of childhood environments on physical and cognitive health across the lifespan. They will leverage data from several cohorts, including analysis of genome-wide DNA-methylation in a randomized-controlled cash gift study.

Our Offer

This postdoctoral position is available from October 1, 2025 onwards (until April 30, 2029), but later start dates are possible. The Max Planck Institute for Human Development (www.mpib-berlin. mpg.de) offers an excellent research infrastructure, including support staff and equipment. It provides an international and interdisciplinary research environment, with English as the working language. The research group fosters a collaborative and inclusive work environment that is sensitive to caregiving restrictions and provides flexible work hours (e.g., home office days).

Your Profile

Applicants should have a strong interest to work with novel genomic methods (e.g., genome-wide DNA-methylation) in association with environmental contexts and developmental psychology. Applicants should hold a PhD (or be close to completion) in psychology, economics, epidemiology or similar. Experience in the following areas is an advantage, but we do not expect you to meet them all:

• Developmental science theories
• Epigenetics, particularly genome-wide DNA-methylation
• Longitudinal data analysis
• Experience working with multiple cohort studies
• Human genetics and genomics
• R programming

Your Application

The Max Planck Society strives for gender and diversity equality. We welcome applications from all backgrounds. The Max Planck Society is committed to increasing the number of individuals with disabilities in its workforce and therefore encourages applications from such individuals.

Applicants should submit 1) a cover letter describing research interests and their alignment to our group’s goals, research experience (including data analytic skills), 2) curriculum vitae without a photo, including 2 referees we may contact, 3) school and University transcripts, and 4) a writing sample (e.g., first-author publication, abstract of PhD thesis or ideas for future research). We kindly ask you to submit your application via the application portal of the Max Planck Postdoc Program or as a single-file pdf to raffington@mpib-berlin.mpg.de.