PhD student position in Medical Science

Umeå University, 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.

The Department of community medicine and rehabilitation comprises six units; Occupational therapy, Physiotherapy, Geriatrics, Sports medicine, Rehabilitation medicine and Forensic medicine, all involved in teaching, research and collaboration with society and health care.

As a PhD student at this position you will be part of the EU-consortium Health CASCADE, which is a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network. This consortium includes seven Universities and fourteen partner organisations from eight European countries; Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, The Netherlands, Scotland, Spain, and Sweden. It aims to enhance co-creation skills and expertise by training of a new generation of professionals capable of working across disciplines, at the intersection of health promotion, public health, social sciences and digital technologies. Find out more at www.healthcascade.eu

The PhD project

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one of the most common chronic and disabling diseases with substantial morbidity and mortality. With a steady increase in number of patients, and equal prevalence in men and women, the disease is now the third leading cause of death worldwide. Non-pharmacological interventions like pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) is highly recommended in treatment guidelines since they improve health and decrease health care use in people with COPD. Despite heavy evidence, only a small proportion of the COPD population is offered PR and as a consequence, novel strategies, including different eHealth tools are emerging. However, the process of co-creation in the development of an acceptable and sustainable eHealth tool has not been studied in people with COPD treated in hospitals. An eHealth tool, My COPD, was recently developed by using digital PAAR methodology. The participants consisted of people with stable COPD of different disease severity, their relatives and health care professionals.

In the present project “Co-creation of an eHealth application for people with, COPD, in a hospital context” we will further develop My COPD to also fit people with COPD who has been hospitalized due to an exacerbation for their COPD. The project will be performed in collaboration between Umeå University and University Hospital of Northern Sweden, Region Västerbotten, Umeå, Sweden.

Qualifications

Higher education (masters equivalent) comprising of 240 credits with a degree in subject relevant for the project, of which 60 credits at postgraduate level. Certified health care professional or similar, for example physiotherapist, occupational therapist, nurse or related fields. It is desirable that the applicant has experience of clinical work with pulmonary diseases, and/or clinical eHealth tools. Due to the co-creation methodologies applied in the project it is considered a merit to be able to communicate in Scandinavian languages. The applicant must be available to commence employment during fall 2021.

Specific admission requirements

In order to be admitted to doctoral studies, it is required that the applicant has:

Necessary knowledge from a university higher education or corresponding education.
Experience which is considered to be related to the research area.
Necessary English language skills, both in writing and in speaking. Evaluation of these skills is made by having the intended PhD student present his/her research plan in English for the supervisor and the Department’s doctoral education group.
The candidate must be within first four years (full-time equivalent research experience) of their research career and not yet have been awarded a doctoral degree.
At the time of recruitment the candidate must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Sweden for more than 12 months in the three years immediately prior to the recruitment date. Compulsory national service and/or short stays such as holidays are not taken into account.

The application should be written in English and contain:

A Curriculum Vitae (attested)
A short description of yourself, why you are interested in the position and how you may contributeto the research. Include potential previous research achievements and/or qualifications of special interest for the present position (max 2 pages) and listing any publications (max 3 pages)
Copies of degree certificates
A list of 3 reference persons including their positions and contact details

Start date of employment 210901 or by agreement.

Salary is in accordance with the established salary scale for a doctoral position Apply by using the button at the bottom, log in and start your submission.

More information about PhD studies: http://www.medfak.umu.se/english/education/doctoral-studies/? languageId=1

We look forward to receiving your application!