Karlstads universitet / Institutionen för hälsovetenskaper

Sapere Aude—dare to be wise—is our motto. Our students and employees develop knowledge and expertise that enrich both people and the world around them. Our academic environment is characterised by curiosity, courage and perseverance. Gender equality, diversity and a democratic approach form the foundation of our organisation. We are located in an active and scenic region and we promote sustainable development in close collaboration with the wider society.
 
Karlstad University has a total of approximately 1,400 employees and 19,000 students spread across two inspiring campus environments in Karlstad and Arvika.
 
More information at: kau.se/en/work-with-us

Project description
The PhD student will be admitted to Public Health Sciences and work within the Swedish Environmental Longitudinal Mother and child, Asthma and allergy (SELMA) research group. SELMA is a prospective pregnancy cohort including about 2,000 mother-child pairs enrolled during early pregnancy in the period 2007-2010 in Sweden. The focus of the SELMA study is on health outcomes in children related to prenatal exposures to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) addressed by epidemiological studies for identification of risk factors. The SELMA research group is a multidisciplinary team including expertise in environmental epidemiology and statistical modelling including non-linear modelling. The study has just finished an extensive examination of more than 1,000 children at 7 years of age including growth, health examination, biosampling and psychological tests. SELMA is also a corner stone in EDC-MixRisk, a project in Horizon 2020 with focus on mixtures of EDC exposure and interactions between epidemiology and experimental toxicology in cell and animal models for better risk assessment of EDCs.

We are now recruiting one PhD student to a project focusing on diet and nutrition during pregnancy and examining how nutrition status of the pregnant women can be related to environmental exposures of EDCs and life styles, as well as how prenatal nutrition status may interact with prenatal EDC exposure with impact on children´s birth weight and growth up to the age of 7 years. The PhD project will involve advanced biostatistical modelling including complex data sets of diet and nutrition, prenatal EDC exposures as single compounds and mixtures and children’s health development including growth (length and weight) during 7 years.

Applicants should have a background with theoretical studies and practical experiences in relevant fields such as biostatistics, informatics, and epidemiology. The candidate should have a strong interest in working in a multi-disciplinary setting. The candidate should be able to work independently as well as in a team and actively contribute to the research group. Experiences of working with pregnancy cohorts and nonlinear modelling are meritorious.

The PhD project is part of an on-going research collaboration between Public Health Sciences at Karlstad University, Karlstad, Sweden; Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; and Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, NY, USA. Supervision will be provided from all these institutions.

Eligibility
Eligibility for admission to doctoral studies requires general and special qualifications as well as the ability in other respects to successfully complete the education (Higher Education Ordinance, Ch. 6)

General eligibility requires an university degree, including completed courses of at least 240 higher education credits, of which at least 60 credits have been earned at advanced level (Master degree or Swedish Magister degree), or equivalent qualifications earned in some other way in Sweden or abroad. The Faculty Board may make exemption from the general requirements if there are special reasons (Higher Education Ordinance, Ch. 6)

Special eligibility for admission to doctoral studies in Public Health Sciences requires an, advanced level degree in e.g., Public Health Sciences, Biomedical Sciences, Environmental Sciences or Toxicology with project-relevant syllabus and experience, including an independent advanced level degree project (at least 15 ECTS credits) in an area of relevance to the doctoral programme specialisation, or equivalent qualifications earned in some other way in Sweden or abroad.

Transitional provision
Students who met the general admission requirements for admission to doctoral studies before 1 July 2007 shall be considered generally eligible for admission to the doctoral level until 30 June 2015 (SFS 2006:1053).

Admission
Candidates are assessed individually and admission is based on their capacity to complete the programme successfully.

Further information on doctoral studies is available at the Karlstad University home page:
https://www.kau.se/en/research/doctoral-studies/apply-doctoral-studies/about-doctoral-studies and at the discipline’s home page:https://www.kau.se/en/public-health-science

Terms
The successful candidate is expected to start in August 2018 on location at Karlstad University. The requisite decision for the positions is pending. The doctoral student position is a four-year, full-time employment, concluded with a PhD degree. Salary is subject to local guidelines.

Application
Applications should be submitted electronically via the Karlstad University web based tool Varbi with uploaded attachments.
https://www.kau.se/en/about-university/working-karlstad-university/work-here/jobs-and-vacancies

The application should include the following items:

  • CV with verified copies of degrees, certificates, etc.
  • Copy of degree projects and other publications
  • Cover letter with a short description of the applicant and her/his research interests in relation to the announced position
  • Other documents submitted for consideration
  • Letter of reference or contact information to at least two reference persons

Non-electronic documents (state registration number REK2018/102) can be addressed to: Karlstad University, Faculty of Health, Science and Technology, 651 88 Karlstad (att. Åsa Ivansson).

Karlstad University has chosen advertising channels for this reqruitment and decline any contacts from advertising or recruitment agencies.

Type of employment Temporary position
Contract type Full time
First day of employment August 2018
Salary According to local agreement
Number of positions 1
Full-time equivalent 100%
City Karlstad
County Värmlands län
Country Sweden
Reference number REK2018/102
Contact
  • Carl-Gustaf Bornehag, professor, , carl-gustaf.bornehag@kau.se, +46 (0)54 700 25 40
Union representative
  • Denita Gustavsson, OFR, 054-700 1434
  • Thomas Bragefors, SACO, 054-700 1714
Published 07.Jun.2018
Last application date 15.Aug.2018 11:59 PM CEST

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