Doctoral (PhD) student position in Development of nucleic acid based treatment strategies - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

We are recruiting a student for doctoral education.

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

Research group
The doctoral candidate will work in Pontus Blomberg's research team at the Department of Laboratory Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge. The group works closely with Professor Edvard Smith and Associate professor Rula Zain. The research focuses on non-viral gene transfer and oligo based gene therapy.

The doctoral education project and the duties of the student
The project is focused on developing new, more efficient and safer non-viral vectors for DNA vaccination and gene therapy. It is about studying the production and application of so-called minicircles, which are circular DNA molecules containing only eukaryotic gene sequences. The project also includes the development of nucleic acid-based treatment strategies for neurological diseases. The doctoral student is expected to actively drive the project forward which includes planning and evaluation of experiments and results.

Entry requirements for doctoral education at KI
To be eligible for doctoral education, the following requirements have 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.

For more information regarding the general entry requirements, please see:
https://ki.se/en/phd/entry-requirements-eligibility-for-doctoral-education

Specific entry requirements
Proficiency in English equivalent to the course English B/English 6 at Swedish upper secondary school. Applicants who meet the general entry requirements (1 or 2 above) from a university in one of the Nordic countries fulfill the English language requirement.

For information on how other applicants can certify their English proficiency (such as through IELTS or TOEFL, previous upper secondary or university level studies), please see:
https://ki.se/en/phd/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
The applicant should be well acquainted with cell and molecular biology methods as well as experimental knowledge of biochemical and molecular assays focusing on oligonucleotide based approaches . Other attributes that are valued are analytical ability and independence. You should also be structured

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
All doctoral students at KI receive financial support during their doctoral education and employment on a doctoral studentship is the most common sort of support.

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

• A personal letter and a curriculum vitae
• Academic degree diplomas, transcripts of records in original language and, if applicable, authorised translations
• Copies of degree projects and any previous publications
• Proof of English proficiency as stated in the specific requirement above

All documents certifying the entry requirements must be scans of originals (scans of copies or certified copies will not be accepted). The scanned documents must be in color and both the front and the back of the documents must be scanned. Please note that there are specific documentation requirements for a number countries, please read the instructions at:

https://ki.se/en/phd/entry-requirements-eligibility-for-doctoral-education

The application and supporting documents are to be submitted through the Varbi recruitment system.