Helmholtz Space Life Sciences
Research School

The DLR Institute of Aerospace Medicine in Cologne, Germany, offers in cooperation with several partners an excellent and interdisciplinary training for up to 25 doctoral students from different fields.

Members and partners of SpaceLife in Germany are the universities of Aachen, Berlin, Bonn, Cologne, Erlangen-Nürnberg, Frankfurt, Hohenheim, Kiel, Köln, Magdeburg, Marburg, Regensburg, München, the German Sports University Cologne and the University of Applied Sciences Bonn-Rhein-Sieg in Rheinbach. Partners abroad are the University Zurich, the Beihang University and King’s College London.

Together with these cooperating institutions we intend to qualify a new generation of internationally competitive young scientists in the field of space life sciences research. They will be prepared for taking over leading positions in research, management and policy, industry, or consulting and education.

Aims:
SpaceLife aims to improve the qualification of the participating doctoral students and provide an optimal research environment towards their doctoral degree. Students will learn to develop integrated concepts to solve health issues in human spaceflight and in related disease patterns on Earth, and to further explore the requirements for life in extreme environments, enabling a better understanding of the ecosystem Earth and the search for life on other planets in unmanned and manned missions.

Funding:
SpaceLife is funded in equal parts by the "President’s Initiative and Networking Fund" (“Impuls- und Vernetzungsfonds des Präsidenten”) of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centers and by the DLR (Executive Board Member for Space Research and Technology and Institute of Aerospace Medicine).

PhD degree:
SpaceLife gives the opportunity to carry out a full-time doctoral thesis at the end of which the doctoral students will receive a “German PhD” (Dr. rer. nat., Dr. hum. biol., Dr. oec. troph., Dr. med. vet., Dr. rer. medic., Dr. Sports Sciences).

Start of Program:
For the first generation of doctoral students, the program started in May 2009. The introductory Summer School “Living with a star: Basics in Space Life Sciences” took place in the “Physikzentrum” Bad Honnef, Germany, on August 24-28, 2009. The second generation will start in October – December 2012.

Application: The 2012 announcement of scholarships is now open. Start of new theses is foreseen for end of 2012. The application forms are available in the download area. Please read the section “Admission/Application" for more information.