Karolinska Institutet, Institutionen för medicin, Solna, Clinical Epidemiology Unit

The Department of Medicine, Solna, is one of the largest departments at Karolinska Institutet. The department consists of several divisions that are separated into different research groups. The core activities of the department are research, doctoral education and undergraduate education for medical and biomedical students. The research has three main profiles: allergy, cardiovascular medicine and inflammatory diseases.

A doctoral position is an available doctoral education project to which a PhD student is to be recruited. After the selection process the process for admission to doctoral education will commence. An admission decision will not be taken until an individual study plan has been approved by the departmental admission board.

For more information regarding doctoral (PhD) education, see: http://www.ki.se/doctoral

Research group
The student will be part of CPE group led by associate professor Helle Kieler, at the Clinical Epidemiology Unit, Department of Medicine, Solna. For more information about the research group, please see http://ki.se/en/meds/centre-for-pharmacoepidemiology/.

The doctoral education project is led by associate professor Shahram Bahmanyar and the successful candidate will be supervised by him (http://ki.se/en/people/shabah).

The doctoral education project and the duties of the student
We have an opening for an individual wishing to join multidisciplinary projects in analytical epidemiology and pharmaco-epidemiology, mainly consequences and etiology of Multiple Sclerosis. The successful candidate will be joining a large research team of clinicians, epidemiologists, statisticians and other PhD students to investigate the possible side effects of drugs used for Multiple Sclerosis and study comorbidities of Multiple Sclerosis. The overall project involves the use of the National Health Registers.

Applicants should have a master degree in a relevant discipline, preferably biostatistics, epidemiology, or other quantitative field, with sufficient experience in epidemiology and data analysis. We are especially interested in candidates with prior experience in statistical analysis using STATA or SAS in large databases, such as the Nordic national health registers. The successful applicant should be self-motivated, needs to be fluent in English, have excellent communication skills and the ability to interact effectively and work productively in a team. Merit is previous research experience in the field of Multiple Sclerosis. Great advantage is proven ability to conduct and publish successful research projects in peer-reviewed journals.

Entry requirements for doctoral education at KI
To be eligible for doctoral education following requirements has to be met:

General entry requirements
A person meets the general entry requirements for doctoral/third-cycle/PhD education (according to Higher Education Ordinance Chapt 7, section 39) if he/she:

  1. has been awarded advanced/second-cycle/master qualification (i.e. master degree) or
  2. has satisfied the requirements for courses comprising at least 240 credits of which at least 60 credits were awarded in the second-cycle/master level, or
  3. has acquired substantially equivalent knowledge in some other way in Sweden or abroad.

Specific entry requirements
Proficiency in English equivalent to the course English B/English 6 at Swedish upper secondary school:
Proficiency in the English language can be documented by an internationally recognized test such as TOEFL or IELTS, see web-link below for more information.
Applicants who meet the general entry requirements (1 or 2 above) from a university in one of the Nordic countries fulfill the requirements in English.

For more information regarding general and specific entry requirements: http://ki.se/en/education/entry-requirements-eligibility-for-doctoral-education

State here any other formal entry requirements, beside the above, that an applicant must have to be considered for this project.

Skills and personal qualities

  • Sc. degree, preferably in biostatistics, epidemiology, or other quantitative field.
  • Experience with data analysis of large databases
  • Experience using SAS and STATA software
  • Experience performing research in the field of pharmacoepidemiology is a merit
  • Experience performing research in the field of Multiple Sclerosis is a merit

The work requires also good collaboration ability and that you are open to learn new methods and have the capacity to solve problems. Personal suitability and scientific competence are highly valued. Excellent knowledge of spoken and written scientific English is essential. In the assessment of the candidates, we place particular emphasis on interpersonal skills.

Assessment criteria
A selection will be made among qualified applicants on the basis of the ability to benefit from doctoral education. Karolinska Institutet uses the following bases of assessment:
- Documented subject knowledge of relevance to the area of research
- Analytical skill
- Other documented knowledge or experience that may be relevant to doctoral studies in the subject

The qualifications of the applicants will be evaluated on an overall basis.

Terms and conditions
The most common way of financial support for doctoral students at KI is doctoral grant the first year and a doctoral studentship (doctoral employment) for year 2, 3 and 4. During the time between recruitment and admission a short-term employment can be offered for up to 6 months.

Application process
An application must contain the following documents in Swedish or English:

  • A personal letter and curriculum vitae, and a short description of research visions & experience (max 2 pages)
  • Contact information of 3 references
  • A copy of degree certificates and associated certificates
  • A copy of degree projects and any previous publications

The application is to be submitted through the MyNetwork recruitment system.

Type of employment PhD placement
Contract type Full time
Reference number 2-870/2016
Contact
  • Shahram Bahmanyar, senior researcher, +46 8 517 793 23
  • Helle Kieler, Head of Centre for Pharmacoepidemiol, + 46 8 517 706 29
Union representative
  • Lars Ährlund-Richter, SACO, +46 8 517 734 50, lars.ahrlund@ki.se
  • Nasrin Bavand-Chobot, OFR, Nasrin.Bavand@ki.se
Published 24.Feb.2016
Last application date 16.Mar.2016 11:59 PM CET

Return to job vacancies