PhD

Organisation/Company Alfred Renyi Institute of Mathematics Department - Research Field Mathematics » Geometry Researcher Profile First Stage Researcher (R1) Positions PhD Positions Final date to receive applications 31 Mar 2026 - 23:59 (Europe/Brussels) Country Hungary Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Full-time Offer Starting Date 1 Sep 2026 Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Horizon Europe Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?

No

We advertise 12 PhD scholarships with competitive salaries in low-dimensional topology, contact and symplectic geometry, and singularity theory
, with starting date 1st September 2026.

The positions are part of the newly-established doctoral network “Top-SCoLDS”, funded by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No .

The successful candidates will be enrolled in a PhD program in one of the main nodes of the doctoral network (
Budapest
, Glasgow
, Nantes
, Regensburg
, and Vienna
), and are expected to spend time at other nodes.

The idea at the core of the network is to create a cohort of PhD students with shared research interests
, who will have plenty of opportunities to travel and meet the other fellow students and supervisors.

Final date to receive applications :
The applications will be reviewed on rolling basis.
Applicants should apply by 30th January 2026 for fullest consideration, but later applications will be considered as well.

List of positions:

• 4 positions at the University of Glasgow (United Kingdom)
  Main supervisors:
  Ana Lecuona, Brendan Owens, Mark Powell, Andy Wand
• 3 positions at Nantes University (France)
  Main supervisors:
  Vincent Colin, Fabio Gironella, Marco Golla
• 1 position at the University of Regensburg (Germany)
  Main supervisor:
  Stefan Friedl
• 1 position at the University of Vienna (Austria)
  Main supervisor:
  Vera Vértesi

Each doctoral candidate will have one main supervisor from the above list. Secondary associate supervisors will be selected from a list of 13 researchers that include the 12 aforementioned researchers and Jonathan Bowden, from Leibniz University Hannover (Germany), an associated partner of the doctoral network.

The other associated partners of the network are ELTE (Budapest, Hungary),
Princeton University (USA), and the University of Pisa (Italy). The doctoral candidates are expected to spend some time at other institutions and associated partners of the doctoral network.

The successful candidates will receive a core training in various aspects of topology (low-dimensional topology, contact and symplectic topology, singularity theory) and they will be exposed to modern trends, with a summer school on AI and topology.

• Strong background in geometry, topology, and/or mathematical physics is expected.
• Candidates must hold a Master’s degree (or equivalent) in mathematics by the time the contract will be signed.
• Applicants must not yet hold a doctoral degree.

Mobility rules:

• the candidate must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies) in the host country for more than twelve months in the three years immediately prior to the recruitment date;
• candidates must spend a certain amount of months in institutions associated to the doctoral network other than the hosting institution (details depending on the specific PhD project).

Languages ENGLISH Level Good

Eligibility criteria

• Candidates must hold a Master’s degree (or equivalent) in mathematics by the time the contract will be signed.
• Applicants must not yet hold a doctoral degree.
• Mobility rules:
  • the candidate must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies) in the host country for more than twelve months in the three years immediately prior to the recruitment date;
  • candidates must spend a certain amount of months in institutions associated to the doctoral network other than the hosting institution (details depending on the specific PhD project).

Applications must apply through the centralized TopSCoLDS application portal. Candidates are asked to fill the online form available at (Use the "Apply for this Job" box below). Among other things, the following documents must be submitted:

• Motivation letter (maximum 1 page)
• Academic transcripts
• Two reference letters, to be sent directly by the references. (It is the responsibility of the candidate to ensure that the letters are received in time.)