Postdoctoral position in Computer Science, OPEHRA

Description

Due to the postdoctoral appointment’s nature as a career-development position for junior researchers, we are looking for candidates who have completed their PhD no more than three years before the application deadline.

The Faculty of Health Science and Technology has an opening for a full-time post-doctoral research fellow in Computer Science with a focus on Impact and Risk Assessments, Artificial Intelligence, and Digital Health and Social Care Systems. The position is available within the Privacy & Security (PriSec) research group at the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science.

The Department of Mathematics and Computer Science consists of two research subjects: Mathematics and Computer Science. It has a research and teaching staff of more than 70 people. In Computer Science, research and education are focused on computer networking and distributed systems, computer security and privacy, and software engineering. Both research and education are conducted in close cooperation with international, national, and regional partners from both academia and industry.

We offer a vibrant workplace with students, staff, and visitors from all over the world, as well as generous annual holidays, wellness allowance, and a favourable occupational pension scheme.

Duties
The postdoctoral fellow will conduct research together with business partners in the field of AI-based systems for digital health, with a focus on impact and risk assessments, carrying out qualitative case study research, and developing AI literacy materials (e.g., covering topics of AI risks, bias, fairness and ethical aspects, and suitable methods and tools for risk analysis). In addition, the postdoctoral fellow is also expected to contribute to teaching activities in the department, teaching may therefore be included in the duties, up to a maximum of 20% of working time

The postdoctoral fellow will work on an externally funded project, OPEHRA, which is an academia and business collaboration project funded by the Knowledge Foundation of Sweden. OPEHRA deals with the research problem of operationalising human rights in the design of AI-based systems for health and social care. To do so, the project examines existing methods for assessing risks to fundamental rights, mapping controls for risk mitigation, and managing tensions across multiple dimensions (e.g., human rights, privacy, security, fairness, robustness). The project also aims to co-create AI literacy materials with the business partners that can be further employed by digital health players, as well as translate research findings for broad dissemination. The project activities involve an interdisciplinary team of computer science and gender studies researchers, together with professionals in the industry and public sector, co-producing research and knowledge to the benefit of the Swedish industry.

You are expected to collaborate with the wider community for a mutual exchange, as well as work towards ensuring that the knowledge and expertise available at the university are of benefit to society.

To contribute to a positive work environment and further the department’s activities, you are expected to be a present and active part of the day-to-day operations and workplace community.

Qualification requirements

To be eligible for the postdoctoral appointment, applicants are required to hold a PhD in Computer Science, or a closely related subject, or have equivalent qualifications from abroad. The PhD must be completed before a decision to appoint an applicant is made. The candidate must have completed the degree no more than three years before the application deadline.

Qualifications obtained earlier may be considered if there are special grounds, such as sick leave, parental leave, clinical service, service as a union representative, military service or similar, or service/assignment of relevance to the appointment.

Assessment criteria

Special weight will be given to:

• The applicant's scientific experience in relation to impact and risk assessments related to digital health systems, including the aspects related to responsible and trustworthy AI, cybersecurity or privacy.
• Experience in interdisciplinary research across computer science, gender studies, health and social care, and law, with a special emphasis on the use of artificial intelligence.
• The candidate should be experienced with qualitative research methods, including surveys and questionnaires, interviews, focus groups or statistical surveys.
• Familiarity with the relevant European legal frameworks, such as for AI (AI Act), data protection (GDPR), Human Rights law, and European Health Data Spaces.
• Publications in high-impact journals and well-known conference proceedings, oral and written communication skills in English and Swedish, the ability to independently pursue his or her work, and the ability to collaborate with others will be important as well.

Considerable weight will be given to:

• Personal qualities such as initiative, cooperation skills, and the ability to communicate with international and national project partners and to work both independently and in a team are also highly important.
• Current experience in collaborating with the wider community (in Sweden or abroad), as well as communicating research findings and results of development work to a broader audience (e.g., community, industry players).
• International work experience or experience in national and international networks, and experience with academia and industry cooperation.
• Knowledge of existing technical approaches for responsible and trustworthy AI, such as frameworks for fundamental right impact assessments (FRIAs), and threat modelling methods (e.g., Plot4AI).

Weight will be given to:

• Knowledge and experience with teaching in tertiary education.
• Knowledge of Swedish is an advantage.

Valuable qualifications:

• Recognised or distinguished teaching and assessment skills.
• Completed course in higher education pedagogy.
• The capacity to teach both in English and Swedish.

Terms
Fixed-term full-time employment of 2 years. Starting date for the position within the time span of October 1, 2025 and December 1, 2025 is preferable.

Application
Submit the application via the University’s web-based recruitment tool, Varbi. 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, Norwegian, Danish 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 including your relevant professional experience and knowledge,
• Cover letter describing your qualifications and research interests in relation to the duties of the position (maximum 2 pages long),
• List of publications (in multi-authored publications, the role of the applicant must be specified),
• Copy of PhD degree or information on when it is expected to be completed,
• Copy of doctoral thesis and other relevant publications,
• 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
Hanna Ljungdahl
651 88 Karlstad

State the reference number: REK. 2025/101

Application deadline: 03.08.2025

We look forward to your application!

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