Doctoral (Ph.D.) student position with doctoral grant in the area of human cell-mediated immunology and vaccine research - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

A doctoral student is admitted to third-cycle/doctoral education. A doctoral education consists of supervised research, combined with courses and other educational activities. An individual study plan is established for each doctoral student. For a doctoral degree, the equivalent of four years of full-time doctoral education is required.

Karolinska Institutet, Dept of Medicine, Center for Infectious Medicine (CIM)
The Department of Medicine at Huddinge comprises of seven units, three research centers and around 70 independent research groups. The Center for Infectious Medicine (CIM) is a leading research unit within the Department of Medicine at Huddinge with a focus on translational studies of the human immune system and infection-immunity in humans.

Research group
The Ph.D. studies will be conducted in Prof. Hans-Gustaf Ljunggren’s research group.
The research performed in the laboratory of Prof. Hans-Gustaf Ljunggren (HGL lab) focuses on studies of the human immune response towards viruses and cancer. One specific area of research in the group deals with flaviviruses and in particular flavivirus vaccines, and the immune responses that vaccines evokes.

The doctoral student project and the duties of the doctoral student
For this Ph.D. project, we are seeking a highly motivated and skilled student to join the group. The student is expected to assess T cell, NK cell and other innate immune cell responses in individuals having undergone Yellow fever virus, and/or Tick-borne encephalitis virus, and/or Japanese encephalitis virus vaccination. Responses to be studied include virus specific CD8 and CD4 T cell responses, including cross-reactive T cell responses among different flavivirus infections. Several subprojects including epitope discovery, and phenotypic analysis of chemokine- and differentiation-associated markers can also be studied. The project represent one important part of a larger academic clinical trial. The project has important global health implication in that the outcome of results may affect global vaccination strategies. The project also has bearing on the United Nation’s global sustainability goals (GSG) 2030.

Eligibility requirements for doctoral education
In order to participate in the selection for a doctoral position, you must meet the following general (A) and specific (B) eligibility requirements at latest by the application deadline.

It is your responsibility to certify eligibility by following the instructions on the web page Entry requirements (eligibility) for doctoral education.

A) General eligibility requirement

You meet the general eligibility requirement for doctoral/third-cycle/PhD education if you:

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

Follow the instructions on the web page Entry requirements (eligibility) for doctoral education.

*If you claim equivalent knowledge, follow the instructions on the web page Assessing equivalent knowledge for general eligibility for doctoral education.

B) Specific eligibility requirement

You meet the specific eligibility requirement for doctoral/third-cycle/PhD education if you:

• Show proficiency in English equivalent to the course English B/English 6 at Swedish upper secondary school.

Follow the instructions on the web page English language requirements for doctoral education.

Verification of your documents Karolinska Institutet checks the authenticity of your documents. Karolinska Institutet reserves the right to revoke admission if supporting documents are discovered to be fraudulent. Submission of false documents is a violation of Swedish law and is considered grounds for legal action.

Skills and personal qualities
We are seeking a highly talented, careful, and interested doctoral candidate. The successful candidate should be self-motivated and able to keep herself/himself informed on the most recent developments of the relevant research field, and also, should have excellent communication and organizational skills, and the ability to work productively and dynamically in a team. The applicant must be able to integrate well into the group and like to work closely in a team. Previous experience from working in a biomedical research lab including experience/expertise in working with human cells including human T cells and other immune cells is a strong merit. Knowledge on in vitro cell work, tissue culture, flow cytometry, assessment and read out of T cells responses is highly desired. Additionally, for this type of project, knowledge in the Swedish language is a merit since that the clinical-trial related work may involve reading documents in Swedish and communication with Swedish authorities. Likewise, education in ICH-GCP is a merit.

Terms and conditions
The doctoral student will be employed on a doctoral studentship maximum 4 years full-time.

Application process
Submit your application and supporting documents through the Varbi recruitment system. Use the button in the top right corner and follow the instructions.

Your application should contain the following documents:

• A personal letter of max one page expressing background and motivation for the present position and a curriculum vitae of max two pages (Swedish or English)
• Any other documentation showing the desirable skills and personal qualities described above of max 3 pages in total, if available (Swedish or English)
• Documents certifying your general eligibility (see A above), please enclose only necessary documents
• Documents certifying your specific eligibility (see B above), please enclose only necessary documents

Documents should be limited to merits from university levels. In no instance, the application should exceed 14 pages.

Selection
A selection will be made among eligible applicants on the basis of the ability to benefit from doctoral education. The qualifications of the applicants will be evaluated on an overall basis.

KI 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.

 All applicants will be informed when the recruitment is completed.