Umeå University, The Faculty of Medicine

Umeå University is one of Sweden’s largest higher education institutions with over 37,000 students and about 4,700 employees. The University offers a diversity of high-quality education and world-leading research in several fields. Notably, the groundbreaking discovery of the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing tool, which was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, was made here. At Umeå University, everything is close. Our cohesive campuses make it easy to meet, work together and exchange knowledge, which promotes a dynamic and open culture.

The ongoing societal transformation and large green investments in northern Sweden create enormous opportunities and complex challenges. For Umeå University, conducting research about – and in the middle of – a society in transition is key. We also take pride in delivering education to enable regions to expand quickly and sustainably. In fact, the future is made here.

Are you interested in learning more? Read about Umeå university as a workplace

The Faculty of Medicine, which consists of 13 departments, is responsible for biomedical research and courses in the field of nursing and health care and has an extensive research and graduate education in more than 80 subjects.

We are looking for a researcher in bioinformatics with an orientation towards medical research who wants to participate in developing the faculty’s bioinformatics initiative, the goal of which is to create a bioinformatics infrastructure at the Faculty of Medicine. Deadline for applications 03/12/2020.

Tasks
This position is part of a central initiative within the Faculty of Medicine in the field bioinformatics within medical research. The position involves heading, and developing, your own research within bionformatics, and also participating in a faculty-wide assignment including tasks such as coordination and making available infrastructure within bioinformatics for medical research, as well as education/teaching in the field of bioinformatics, at the Faculty of Medicine.

Tasks include research and development efforts, as well as teaching and supervising on third-cycle programmes within the field of bioinformatics. Tasks also include teaching and supervision at first and second-cycle programmes and freestanding courses in bioinformatics. The teaching will often be in English, but may also sometimes be conducted in Swedish. Administrative duties and assignments within the Faculty of Medicine are also included. Staff and operational management is also included as the senior lecturer/associate professor is also expected to lead his/her own research group.

Operational management for the coordination and the making available of bioinformatics within the faculty is included. This includes identifying forms of organisation and promoting development that contributes towards the establishment, development and management of a bioinformatics infrastructure at the faculty. The tasks also include initiating workshops and similar activities in the field, identifying the need for methodology development within bioinformatics, as well as coordinating applications to expand the bioinformatics infrastructure. The senior lecturer/associate professor is expected to operate in a cross-faculty and national capacity.

The bioinformatic specialisation is free, but should synergise with existing faculty research. For example, it is preferable if the analysis can lead to increased understanding of the systems being studied, or break ground towards new but related fields of study.

The position is permanent and full-time. You will be based in Umeå. In terms of organisation, the position will belong to a department at the Faculty of Medicine. Department placement is determined by the employer as part of the employment process, with the applicant’s wishes serving as guidance based on the most suitable placement for their own research. With regards to the faculty-wide assignments included in the position, the senior lecturer/associate professor will work in close dialogue with, and on behalf of, the faculty’s research preparation organisation.

Qualification requirements
A person who has demonstrated pedagogical skills and holds a doctorate or has equivalent academic competence shall be qualified for appointment as Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor.

To qualify for employment, the applicant must have a documented ability to teach in English. Applicants who do not speak Swedish are expected to acquire the knowledge required to speak Swedish at an adequate level within three years in order to, for example, participate in administrative education planning within the faculty, as well as provide basic teaching in Swedish.

The applicant is expected to demonstrate a certain degree of scientific independence, have some experience in supervising doctoral students and postdoctoral students, as well as present a current research programme of their own design.

The applicant is also expected to have completed courses in teaching and learning in higher education corresponding to 7.5 higher education credits, or having acquired equivalent competence through other means. If the applicant has yet to achieve this at the time of the application, a pedagogical development plan shall be drafted in order for the applicant to acquire the necessary skills within two years of the employment.

The applicant must have documented experience of research in bioinformatics in the field of medical science.

The applicant must have documented teaching skills in the subject of bioinformatics.

Assessment criteria
The assessment criteria for appointment as a senior lecturer/associate professor will be the degree of the expertise which is required to be qualified for the position, i.e. pedagogical skills/teaching proficiency. In addition, scientific proficiency, administrative proficiency and skills in leading personnel and operations are taken into account.

A general basis for assessment for teaching staff at Umeå University is both good cooperative skills and the expertise and suitability in general required to complete the work duties satisfactorily.

As much attention shall be given to the assessment of teaching proficiency as to the other qualifying conditions.

The weighting of assessment criteria
When filling the position, the weighting of merits will be conducted as follows: Scientific proficiency prioritised (3), followed by teaching proficiency (1). In addition, the degree of administrative proficiency and skills in leading personnel and operations are taken into account.

Description of the assessment criteria
The criteria are described in more detail in Description of assessment criteria of applicants for the position of Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Medicine, Umeå University (Ref. FS 1.1-247-19).

When assessing academic proficiency for this position, particular emphasis will be placed on the applicant’s independent research efforts, innovation, interests, quality and originality in ongoing research within the field of bioinformatics. In this regard, the following is considered particularly meritorious: the documentation of published original works in high-ranking international journals, in which is clear that the applicant played a prominent role, acquired external research grants as the main applicant in the face of national and international competition, and the applicant’s ability to lead their own research group. Postdoctoral periods at other higher education institutions than where the applicant received their doctorate, and reference assignment from international scientific journals are also meritorious.

The applicant shall present ongoing research and should have a scientific production with a scope equal to at least one doctoral thesis, produced after they received their doctorate. The applicant’s scientific activities after the thesis defence must show scientific independence, e.g. through senior authorship and publications without a previous principal supervisor.

When assessing teaching skills for this position, consideration will be paid to documented experience of planning, implementing and evaluating teaching at first, second and third cycle levels, particularly in the subject of bioinformatics. Supervision and examination experience will also be taken into consideration.

The applicant is expected to demonstrate certain teaching in a scope equivalent to completed teaching of at least 50 hours.

Administrative skills can be demonstrated through experience of planning first cycle courses and programmes; the ability to help others develop; leadership and other administration tasks.

The applicant’s bioinformatic specialisation is free, but as has been indicated in the list of duties/tasks, the analysis that the applicant intends to conduct should result in increased understanding of the systems studied at the faculty, or break ground in new but related fields of study. As such, it is particularly meritorious if the applicant has expertise and a research specialisation with a clear focus on medical science, and that said specialisation is deemed to have synergy with the existing research at a faculty of medicine. As such, applicants with a specialisation as the one described above have an advantage over applicants with research specialisations that are of a purely theoretical nature, which could be classified as mathematics or statistics, for example.

Application
Last application date is 03/12/2020. Instructions for the application and a list of the documents to be attached to the application can be found here: https://www.aurora.umu.se/en/units/faculty-of-medicine/human-resources/academic-positions-and-docentship/

You apply via our e-recruitment system which you can reach via the application button below. When the application is received, you will receive a confirmation email.

We welcome your application!

Type of employment Permanent position
Contract type Full time
First day of employment According to agreements
Salary Monthly salary
Number of positions 1
Full-time equivalent 100 %
City Umeå
County Västerbottens län
Country Sweden
Reference number AN 2.2.1-1406-20
Contact
  • Associate Dean for Research Anna Arnqvist, anna.arnqvist@umu.se +4690-786 65 39
  • HR-specialist Hanna Nilsson, hanna.nilsson@umu.se +4690-786 77 68
Union representative
  • SACO, +4690-786 53 65
  • SEKO, +4690-786 52 96
  • ST, +4690-786 54 31
Published 03.Nov.2020
Last application date 03.Dec.2020 11:59 PM CET

Return to job vacancies