Masaryk University PhD in Structural Biology of Wnt Signalling 2026: Funding and How to Apply

Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic, is recruiting a PhD candidate in “(Un) Structural Biology of Wnt Signaling” for the Konstantinos Tripsianes Research Group at CEITEC MU, the Central European Institute of Technology. The project studies Dishevelled (DVL), a hub protein in Wnt signalling, with methods that include NMR, X-ray crystallography and cryo-EM. You need an MSc, preferably in life sciences, and a strong interest in structural biology and biomolecular NMR. The advert promises “an attractive salary” without a figure. The deadline is 23 December 2026, and interviews run throughout the posting period.

That last detail means an early application can be interviewed, and the place filled, well before December. Below I explain the Masaryk University PhD in structural biology of Wnt signalling: the project, the requirements, the funding context for Masaryk PhD students, the benefits listed, how to apply and how to write a motivation letter for a structural biology PhD.

Masaryk University PhD in structural biology of Wnt signalling: key facts

What the PhD project is about

Wnt signalling controls cell fate in development and goes wrong in many cancers. Dishevelled (DVL) sits at the centre of the pathway, and the advert points to three features that make it hard to study:

• It binds more than seventy partner proteins.
• It is heavily phosphorylated at many sites.
• It forms liquid droplet-like puncta in the cytosol.

The group’s working idea is that DVL’s flexibility, driven by interactions between its ordered domains and disordered regions, lets it combine phosphorylation, partner binding, droplet formation and allosteric coupling to route signals. That is what “(Un) Structural” in the title refers to: the project deals as much with disordered protein regions as with folded structures.

You would pick one of three open questions:

1. Disorder and function: does disorder give the structured domains new contexts and widen what DVL can do?
2. Phosphorylation order: is there an order or hierarchy in how individual sites and clusters are phosphorylated?
3. Physical behaviour: what physical behaviours come with intrinsic disorder, and how do they relate to liquid-liquid phase separation?

Biomolecular NMR is the method most suited to disordered proteins, which is why the advert stresses it.

Requirements

The advert does not set a minimum grade or ask for a language test certificate. Hands-on lab experience is a must, so a master’s with a practical research project in protein expression, purification or structural work is the realistic starting point. Applicants with pharmacy, biochemistry, biophysics or chemistry master’s degrees can fit if they have that bench experience.

Pay and funding context

The advert says only “an attractive salary”. It gives no figure, so the numbers below are context from Masaryk University’s general rules, not the advertised offer for this post.

The guaranteed income is set at 1.2 times the Czech minimum wage, so it rises when the minimum wage rises. It applies to full-time students within the standard study period (eight semesters for a first PhD) who meet their study plan, regardless of the language of study. Faculties can pay more, and research groups often add a salary from grants. The CEITEC PhD School’s own funding page describes its own scale, but its figures look older than the university-wide minimum, so ask the group what the total monthly income will be before you accept.

For comparison, another Masaryk PhD in this same job list, in structural biology of eukaryotic translation control, advertises from CZK 30,000 net a month with yearly increases.

What CEITEC offers

The advert lists:

• Open access to CEITEC MU’s core facilities.
• Flexible working hours and support for further education.
• Six weeks of paid holiday.
• Medical insurance, a meal allowance, and kindergarten and pension contributions.
• A Multisport card, mental health care and on-campus sports.
• A kindergarten on campus.
• Welcome Office support before and after arrival.
• Grant Office support, the CEITEC PhD Committee and CEITEC events.

The Welcome Office is the part that matters most to international candidates. It helps with arrival, which in practice includes visa paperwork, residence registration and practical steps after you land. Use it.

About Masaryk University, CEITEC and Brno

Masaryk University was founded in 1919 and is the second-largest university in the Czech Republic, with about 35,000 students, roughly a fifth of them international, and nine faculties. CEITEC is one of the research centres on its newer campus in Brno, which opened in 2010. It brings together the life sciences and materials research groups that share large instrument facilities, including NMR and cryo-EM.

Brno is the Czech Republic’s second city and has a large student population. Living costs are lower than in Prague and well below most Western European capitals. Rent is the biggest expense, so compare shared flats near the campus before deciding whether the stipend works for you.

How to apply for the Masaryk University Wnt signalling PhD

1. Read the group’s work: look at the Tripsianes group’s recent DVL and NMR papers before you write anything.
2. Prepare your CV: include your degrees, lab methods you have used, research projects and any posters or papers.
3. Prepare a publication list: the advert asks for one. If you have no papers yet, list theses, posters and conference talks under a clear heading.
4. Write a motivation letter: structure below.
5. Line up referees: give contact details for at least two references, ideally your master’s supervisor and one other scientist who has seen your lab work.
6. Submit the e-application: use the “Apply” link on the THE Unijobs listing, which leads to Masaryk’s e-application system. For technical problems, email Darja Horáková at darja.horakova@ceitec.muni.cz.
7. Plan the admission step: being chosen for a group position and being admitted to a doctoral programme are usually separate steps at Czech universities. Ask the group which programme and admission round you would enter.

How to write the motivation letter

Keep it to one page. Selectors in structural biology want to see that you understand the project and have hands-on skills.

1. Opening: your degree, your master’s project in one sentence and why DVL and Wnt signalling interest you.
2. Which question: say which of the three open questions you would choose and why.
3. Skills: name the methods you have used yourself (cloning, protein expression and purification, NMR, ITC, crystallography, cell assays) and the results.
4. Learning plan: the methods you still need to learn and how you would approach them.
5. Close: your availability, and any programming experience, since it is listed as nice to have.

Sample opening line, for illustration only: “During my MSc I expressed and purified a partly disordered signalling protein and recorded its first 1H-15N HSQC spectra, and I would like to use NMR to study how disorder in Dishevelled shapes Wnt signalling.”

What happens after you apply

The group reviews applications as they arrive and invites promising candidates to interview, often online for applicants abroad. A successful candidate then goes through the formal doctoral admission process and, if from outside the EU, applies for a Czech long-term visa or residence permit for study or research. That last step can take weeks to months, so start soon after an offer.

Common mistakes

• No lab experience in the CV: the advert asks for experience with structural biology, biochemistry and molecular biology methods.
• A generic letter: mention DVL, intrinsic disorder and NMR, and choose a question.
• Waiting for December: rolling interviews favour early applicants.
• Missing referee details: at least two are required.
• Assuming the pay: the advert gives no figure, so ask for the monthly amount in writing.
• Ignoring visa time: non-EU candidates need time for the residence process.

Who should apply and who shouldn’t

You should apply if you hold or are finishing an MSc in biochemistry, molecular biology, biophysics, structural biology or a related life science, have done practical protein work, and want to learn NMR in a strong structural biology institute. International applicants are welcome, and the Welcome Office supports arrival.

You probably shouldn’t apply if you have only a bachelor’s degree, if your background is purely clinical or theoretical with no bench work, or if you want a computational-only PhD. For other funded options in this country, see our guide to scholarships in the Czech Republic without IELTS, and our wider list of scholarships in Europe.

Similar funded PhD positions to compare

If structural biology is your field, apply to both Masaryk posts. They are in the same institute, and the second one states its pay.

FAQs about the Masaryk University Wnt signalling PhD

Is the Masaryk University structural biology PhD funded?

Yes. The advert offers “an attractive salary”, though it gives no figure. Masaryk’s general rules guarantee eligible full-time PhD students at least CZK 26,880 a month in 2026/2027.

Do I need IELTS for the Masaryk University PhD in Wnt signalling?

The advert asks for good spoken and written English but does not name a test. Check during admission whether the doctoral programme asks for proof.

What documents do I need for the Masaryk Wnt signalling PhD application?

A CV, a publication list, a motivation letter and contact details for at least two references, submitted through the e-application.

When is the deadline for the Masaryk University structural biology PhD?

The deadline is 23 December 2026, but interviews run throughout the posting period, so apply early.

Sources and updates

I checked the position on 29 October 2026 against the Times Higher Education Unijobs listing for job 415888. Funding context comes from Masaryk University’s doctoral study income page and its May 2025 announcement of the guaranteed income rules. University size and history come from Masaryk’s employer page on THE. The research group’s own page could not be opened when I checked, so the project details here come from the advert. I will update this page if the deadline changes or the place is filled.

Jude Chinecherem

I am Jude Chinecherem, a final-year MBBS student at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. I know what it feels like to want an education your family cannot afford. When my parents could not pay for my schooling, I had to learn how to find scholarships and work the system out on my own, with nobody to guide me. I came out the other side, and now I share everything I learned so the next student does not have to figure it out alone. This is the advice I wish someone had given me back then.