Karlstad University / Faculty of Health, Science and Technology / Department of Health Sciences

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.
 
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The subject of Public Health Science at Karlstad University is expanding, giving us an opportunity to advertise an assistant professor to further develop our successful research.

Description

Public health science belongs to the Department of Health Sciences at the Faculty of Health, Nature and Technology at Karlstad University. In public health science, research and teaching is conducted with a focus on children's life and health. This is conducted within three medical tracks; an environmental medicine track with a focus on environmental factors early in life and their importance for health and development in children, a community medicine track that focuses on vulnerable children, violence in close relationships and health-promoting environments, as well as a track in medical science that includes, among other things anatomy, physiology and pathology.

On the subject, there are several recognized and well-qualified researchers with a high scientific output, together with currently seven doctoral students. Of importance for the current position is the SELMA study, a pregnancy cohort which follows more than 2,000 mother-child pairs from early pregnancy through childbirth and later in life with a focus on environmental factors, genetics/epigenetics and children's health and development in the broadest sense (www.selmastudien.se). Our research in SELMA takes place in close collaboration with world-leading institutions in Sweden and the rest of the world, where we connect our epidemiological studies with experimental toxicology in cell and animal models for new knowledge on biological mechanisms and development of better risk assessment systems for hazardous chemicals. The research is funded by research councils nationally (Swedish Research Council, Formas) and within the EU and the US-NIH.

Duties

The position is central in two projects recently funded in the context of SELMA starting in 2023: Firstly, a large international EU project, RE-MEND, which aims to identify resilience markers against mental illness across endocrine-sensitive life stages and includes 15 international partners, and secondly, Epi-Clock, a project focusing on the role of the prenatal environment in setting epigenetic clocks in children and examining if such changes in the epi-genetic clock is associated to children´s neurodevelopment.

Karlstad University’s role in these and other projects is to analyse and interpret the data generated in the SELMA cohort in the context of the biological questions posed. The successful candidate will be central to the establishment of the analytical pipelines that make use of the relevant SELMA data, work closely together with the clinicians and other experts required to interpret the results, and establish new research projects making use of the SELMA and other cohorts.

To contribute to a good working environment and development of the business, you are present and participate in the daily work and the community.

The position is an opportunity for you to work 100% with research in an international environment with a successful project.

Qualification requirements

Applicants are required to hold a PhD or equivalent in bioinformatics, computational biology, epidemiology, or an adjacent field. You can also have a foreign degree that is considered equivalent to a Swedish doctorate. The doctoral degree must be issued before a decision on employment is made and it should have expired no later than three years before the end of the application period.

To be eligible for the postdoc position, applicants are required to have demonstrated research in environmental epidemiology, computational biology with focus on large cohort analyses, or similar research directions. Applicants must be highly experienced and skilled in statistical analysis of large clinical datasets, experience with at least one OMICs technology and its processing as well as analysis, and have experience in analysing exposures in human and other model species. Verification is expected in the form of publications of a high academic quality in international journals within the research domain as well as documented experience in teaching and educational development.

Good written and oral knowledge of English is required for employment.

Assessment criteria

Special weight will be given to documented skill and experience in the analysis of “large” and “big data” with focus on statistical modelling of data. Special weight will further be given to skills in predictive modelling, artificial intelligence, machine learning, network biology, chemoinformatics, epidemiology, development of bioinformatics tools, and associated knowledge on molecular biology tools are valuabe qualitifications.

Considerable weight will be given to the ability to cooperate, sound judgement, responsibility, dedication, and a positive attitude towards colleagues and students.

Terms

The employment is a temporary fixed term, full-time as a postdoc for 3 years. External funds for the position have been granted for 5 years. Employment will begin as soon as possible.

Application

Submit the application via the university’s web-based recruitment tool, Varbi. For advice on how to draft your application, refer to “What should be included with my application?”
Applicants are responsible for submitting a complete application in accordance with the advertisement, for providing translations of any documents written in a language other than Swedish or English, and for ensuring that the documentation allows for objective and qualitative assessments. A complete application should be submitted by the application deadline. An incomplete application may jeopardise a fair assessment of qualifications.

The application should include:

  • CV
  • cover letter describing the applicant’s qualifications and research interests in relation to the duties of the position,
  • a list of publications (in multi-authored publications, the role of the applicant must be specified)
  • copies of relevant transcripts, degree certificates, certificates to corroborate previous employment, and letters of recommendation
  • copy of doctoral thesis and other relevant publications
  • language proficiency certificates
  • two references, at least one of which is a current or former supervisor

Attach all the documents and publications you wish to be considered to the electronic application (do not just provide links). Name each uploaded document to clearly indicate its content.

Documents that cannot be submitted electronically, such as books or publications, should be sent to:

Karlstads universitet
Josefin Rönnqvist
651 88 Karlstad

State the ref.no: REK2022/302

Application deadline: 2023-02-28

We look forward to your application!

Karlstad University has chosen advertising channels for this recruitment and firmly declines any contact with advertising or recruitment agencies.

Type of employment Temporary position
Contract type Full time
First day of employment Enligt överenskommelse
Salary Månadslön
Number of positions 1
Full-time equivalent 100%
City Karlstad
County Värmlands län
Country Sweden
Reference number REK2022/302
Contact
  • Carl-Gustaf Bornehag, 0705866565
Union representative
  • Thomas Bragefors, SACO, 054-7001714
  • Denita Gustavsson, OFR, 054-7001434
Published 13.Jan.2023
Last application date 28.Feb.2023 11:59 PM CET

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