Field of Research & Scope

Electronic health records (EHR) are data collected during interactions of patients with the healthcare system: every visit to the family doctor, admission to the hospital, or drug prescription is recorded and stored using medical ontologies. EHR data contain rich, longitudinal data, which can be used for research in understanding disease mechanisms and co-occurrence. Multimorbidity, defined as the co-occurrence of two or more chronic diseases in one person, is a critical research priority because it is common and growing, worsens outcomes and quality of life, drives healthcare use and costs, undermines single-disease guidelines, and demands integrated, anticipatory models of prevention and care. 
 
Building on a growing body of international work, where large EHR studies have mapped multimorbidity networks and disease trajectories in countries like the UK, Austria, Denmark, and beyond, this PhD position will focus on synthesizing and comparing findings to identify common comorbidity patterns and shared pathways across health systems. The project aims to turn fragmented evidence into a coherent, anticipatory view of patient journeys, highlighting early “weak signals”, stress-testing vulnerabilities, and informing proactive planning under uncertainty. Additionally, the project will explore potential methods for utilizing EHR beyond disease diagnosis (e.g., procedures or laboratory measurements) for creating enriched multimorbidity networks.

We offer

• Interdisciplinarity: The successful candidate will join a multidisciplinary lab with excellent international collaborations in the field of health data science and biomedical informatics.
• International mobility & exchange: Selected candidates will benefit from interactions with the PI’s collaborators and colleagues in the UK, who are happy to host PhD students for short stays.
• Professional & personal development: The project offers students excellent personal and professional development opportunities, both within IT:U and beyond. 

Responsibilities & Tasks

• Conduct interdisciplinary research using cutting edge computational methods and contemporary data sources.
• Write academic publications.
• Attend and present at national and international scientific conferences (e.g., American Medical Informatics Association Annual Symposium).
• Collaborate with other national and international research groups on an interdisciplinary basis.
• Perform auxiliary activities in academic teaching for up to 2 weekly credit hours.
• Collaborate on writing research funding applications.
• Comply with the institution’s academic standards, ethical guidelines, and data protection regulations.

Skills & Qualifications needed

• Motivated, with a strong interest in the intersection of medicine and health data science.
• A master’s degree or equivalent in computer science, medical informatics, health data science, bioinformatics, or a similar field.
• Experience working with large-scale biomedical data including electronic health records and building reproducible analytical pipelines following best practices.
• Experience with common biomedical ontologies (e.g. SNOMED, ICD-10).
• The ability to work and think independently and as part of a multidisciplinary team.
• Fluent in English (CEFR C1 or equivalent) and Python.

What you can expect

• Innovative and stimulating working conditions in an interdisciplinary, international research environment.
• Office kitchen with complimentary basic supplies.
• Austrian “KlimaTicket Ö” (unlimited travel on all public transportation within Austria).
• We offer a gross salary in line with the market from EUR 3.714,80 on a full-time basis (40h).

Program Structure

IT:U offers a 4-year, structured PhD program.
 
In the first year, emphasis is placed on focused group work, research lab modules, and Project Integrated Courses (PICS). The first year concludes with a PhD Proposal Presentation. Over the next three years, students will develop and write their PhD theses. This is accompanied by interdisciplinary research seminars and work as a project assistant. The PhD program concludes after the 4th year with the submission and defense of the PhD thesis. 
 
Click here to view the curriculum. 

How to apply

Please fill in the online application form and upload your files at: https://apply.it-u.at/

• Curriculum Vitae
• Bachelor’s and master’s diploma (or equivalent)
• Bachelor’s and master’s transcript of records
• Motivational letter (max. 1 page)
• Up to 3 contacts of professors/collaborators for recommendations

For details, questions and expressions of interest, candidates are welcome to contact the principal investigator Spiros Denaxas, spiros.denaxas@it-u.at, before submitting their application. Please attach a CV to your email. 

We look forward to receiving your online application.

DEADLINE:   January 31st, 2026