Postdoctoral Researcher in Autism and Psychiatric Epidemiology

Do you want to contribute to better health for all?

The Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics conducts research in epidemiology and biostatistics across a broad range of areas within biomedical science. The department is among the largest of its type in Europe and has especially strong research profiles in psychiatric, cancer, reproductive, pediatric, pharmaco, genetic, and geriatric epidemiology, eating disorders, precision medicine, and biostatistics.

A postdoctoral researcher position is available to work on a newly funded project concerning mental health outcomes in autistic people. The position offers an opportunity to apply epidemiological methods to large-scale registry data, and to be involved in innovative new research within autism epidemiology. The researcher will be a part of the psychiatric epidemiology group at MEB, a large group with specialization in a variety of different fields, such as genetics, neurodevelopmental conditions, and pharmacoepidemiology.

Your mission

As a postdoctoral researcher, you will study mental health outcomes in autistic people. Specifically, you will lead the work on a large study aiming to systematically identify risk factors for psychiatric ill health in autistic people, using exposeome-wide methods. You will be involved in all aspects of the research process, including study design, data management, implementation of cohort studies, and writing up results for publication. You will be encouraged to formulate independent research ideas and apply for funding. There may be teaching opportunities, dependent on interest.

Your profile

To be eligible for employment as a postdoctoral researcher, a PhD or a foreign degree deemed to be equivalent to a Swedish PhD is required. This eligibility requirement must be fulfilled at the latest at the time of the employment decision. Completion of your doctoral degree within the last three years is considered an advantage. If there are special reasons, your degree may have been completed earlier.

The following are essential criteria:

• PhD in a relevant discipline. This includes, but is not limited to, epidemiology, biostatistics, psychiatry, psychology, or a relevant medical science.
• Strong skills in data management and the ability to work with large datasets.
• Strong statistical analysis skills.
• Strong programming skills in a relevant statistical software package, such as R, SAS, or Stata.
• We place strong emphasis on personal qualities. The ideal candidate is self-motivated and curious, with the ability to take the initiative and work effectively both independently and as part of a diverse team.
• Experience writing manuscripts for publication in peer reviewed journals, and good written and spoken English skills.
• A clear motivation for wanting to work with autism, neurodevelopmental conditions, or psychiatry.

The following are meriting criteria:

• Previous experience in autism research, or a relevant research field (e.g. neurodevelopmental conditions or psychiatry/psychiatric epidemiology).
• Previous experience with genetically informative study designs.
• Publications as first author in peer reviewed journals.
• Experience writing funding applications. This could include applications to small foundations, for example.

What do we offer?

A creative and inspiring environment with wide-ranging expertise and interests. Karolinska Institutet is one of the world's leading medical universities. At Karolinska Institutet, we conduct successful medical research and hold the largest range of medical education in Sweden. At KI, you get to meet researchers working with a wide range of specialisms and methods, giving you ample opportunity to exchange knowledge and experience with the various scientific fields within medicine and health. It is the crossover collaborations, which have pushed KI to where it is today, at the forefront of global research. Several of the people you meet in healthcare are educated at KI. A close relationship with the health care providers is important for creating groundbreaking top quality education and research. Karolinska Institutet is also a state university, which entitles you to several benefits through our collective agreement.

Location: Solna

Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics | Karolinska Institutet
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Application

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

• PhD certificate
• A complete resumé, including date of the thesis defence, title of the thesis, previous academic positions, academic title, current position, academic distinctions, and committee work
• A complete list of publications
• A summary of current work (no more than one page)

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

This is a fixed-term employment contract for two years.

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