Postdoctoral Researcher

Do you want to contribute to top quality medical research?

Signal Transduction Laboratory, Rolf Luft Center for Diabetes and Endocrinology, Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, Karolinska Institutet.

The laboratory is interested in signal-transduction in pancreatic islet cells under physiological and diabetic conditions. In recent years, the laboratory has developed the innovative and versatile technology based on islet transplantation into the anterior chamber of the eye and successfully pioneered its application in in vivo characterization of signal-transduction in islet cells and other cells. This technology has also been applied for in vivo promotion and characterization of pluripotent stem cell-derived islets. As an additional bonus, members in this laboratory have the possibility to interact with laboratories in the USA, South Korea, Singapore, Mexico and China by sharing resources and expertise.

Your mission

The postdoctor will perform advanced in vivo, ex vivo and in vitro assessments of native human islets and human pluripotent stem cell-derived islets at single cell and subcellular levels by applying comprehensive techniques like islet transplantation, advanced microscopy and in particular noninvasive in vivo microscopy, single cell RT-PCR, quantitative immunocytochemistry, patch clamp electrophysiology and other advanced approaches.

Your profile

The applicant should be enthusiastic and highly motivated, He or she should be well-trained and competent in research on pancreatic islets, pluripotent stem cell-derived islets, pancreatic beta cells and rodent models of diabetes. Anyone is eligible to be appointed as postdoctor if he or she has received a PhD, with broad knowledge on the structure and function of pancreatic islets, the functional and structural maturation of pluripotent stem cell-derived islets and diabetes as well as expert skills in transplantation surgery, confocal and multiphone microscopy, immunocytochemistry, gene expression analysis and electrophysiology.

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

Eligibility requirements

To be eligible for employment as postdoctor, the applicant must have demonstrated research and teaching competence at higher education level as well as management, development, and collaboration skills.

The selected applicant will focus on evaluation of dedifferentiation of beta cells within native human islets and the structural, functional and electrophysiological maturation of pluripotent human stem cell-derived islets transplanted into the anterior chamber of the eye of immunodeficient mice thereby contributing to the group’s internationally leading position. He or she should have documented collaboration and leadership skills, as well as proven experience within specified research fields. The selected applicant must have experience with transplantation of native islets and pluripotent stem cell-derived islets, advanced microscopy and in particular noninvasive in vivo microscopy, single cell RT-PCR, quantitative immunocytochemistry, patch clamp electrophysiology and commonly-used molecular and cellular techniques.

The selected applicant will be expected to teach and demonstrate experience in supervising doctoral students and should hold relevant teaching qualifications where appropriate. Due to the international calibre of our research group, candidates with proven experience in multicultural research environments, demonstrated by doctoral training abroad and participation at international conferences, will be considered strong contenders. Consequently, excellent communication skills in English is a requirement, with strong preference given to candidates that also possess fluency in Swedish. After an overall evaluation of the candidates' expertise and merits, Karolinska Institutet will assess which candidate has the best potential to contribute to the positive development of the activities at KI.

Bases of assessment

The assessment will weight qualifications as follows: Technical expertise, research expertise, educational skills, development and cooperation expertise.

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

Application

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

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)

Welcome to apply at the latest December 15, 2023

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

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