PhD position in Medical Science with an orientation towards Physiology - ,

The Department of Integrative Medical Biology is now announcing a Ph.D student position. The position is on fulltime for four years, starting 1st of September 2023, or upon agreement. 

Description of the PhD-Project

This project concerns genetic epidemiology of aging. The work will involve statistical analyses of human data, including genetics (genome-wide association data), cognitive tests, diagnostics, biomarkers, and brain imaging data.

Neuroinflammation is an important player in cognitive aging and dementia and partly links to chronic systemic inflammation. Risk genes for Alzheimer’s disease are overrepresented among genes with impact on immune system functions. The aim of the project is to investigate how genetics, sex, and peripheral inflammation interplay to influence the development of age-related neurocognitive impairments and dementia.

The successful applicant will process and perform statistical analyses of (mainly pre-existing) data from two deeply phenotyped longitudinal prospective cohort studies on aging and dementia; the Betula project at Umeå University, and the SATSA cohort from the Swedish Twin Registry at the Karolinska Institute.

The project will be carried out in collaboration between Umeå University and the Karolinska Institute, and the successful candidate will be part of rich research environments at both sites; Umeå Center for Functional Brain Imaging (UFBI), and the aging research group at the department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, KI.

Qualifications

The applicant is required to have completed a university level degree of at least 240 ECTS credits, of which at least 60 ECTS credits are at Master program level.

Specific admission requirements

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

• necessary knowledge from university higher education or corresponding education and/or special professional experience that is assessed in relation to the research area.
• good skills in both spoken and written English are a requirement for the position. Evaluation of these skills is made by having the intended PhD student present his/her research plan in English for the Department’s designated postgraduate education group.

Additional merits

In addition, it is merited if the applicant, through university studies or other equivalent education, have gained basic theoretical knowledge in genetics, neuroscience, biomedicine, epidemiology, biostatistics or similar. Previous experiences of research work related to the project, in particular including processing and analysis of data within genetic epidemiology or related areas is merited. Experience of statistics, data management, image analysis, and programming is also merited. The applicant must be able to work independently as well as collaborate with members of the research team.

Terms of employment

The appointment aims at a PhD degree and the main task of the PhD student is to pursue doctoral studies, which includes participation in research, seminars and courses. According to the Swedish Higher Education Ordinance (Chapter 12, Section 2), the decision on employment as a PhD student cannot be appealed. The employment is limited to four years full-time starting 2023-09-01 or upon agreement. The salary corresponds to the established salary level for doctoral employment. 

Application

The application shall be written in English or Swedish, documents must be in Word or pdf format. Applications must be submitted electronically using the e-recruitment system of Umeå University Varbi and be received no later than 2023-05-28. A complete application should contain the following documents:

1. A cover letter summarizing your qualifications, scientific interests and motives for applying (max two pages)
2. CV
3. Diplomas of bachelor and Master level degrees
4. Bachelor/Master theses work/other relevant publications
5. Other merits of relevance for the position
6. Contact information to two reference personsA cover letter including a description of your research interests, your reasons to apply for the position, and your contact information

Other and contact

For more information please contact Karolina Kauppi, Karolina.kauppi@umu.se

More information about the group's research can be found on our websites: https://www.umu.se/en/staff/karolina-kauppi

You who are admitted to doctoral studies at the Faculty of Medicine will be enrolled in the faculty-wide doctoral education programme. The doctoral programme comprises 25 credits and is offered in two study variants: 25 credits spread over 8 terms (a total of 4 years) or over 12 terms (a total of 6 years), starting each autumn and spring semester. More information about the programme can be found on the faculty’s web page for doctoral studies https://www.aurora.umu.se/en/organisation-and-management/organisation/faculties/faculty-of-medicine/doctoral-studies/

Welcome to apply!