Principal Researcher in Neuroscience

Do you want to contribute to top quality medical research?

We are looking for an experienced scientist for a position as Principal Researcher and group leader at the department of neuroscience. The research will have a particular focus on understanding the integration of sensory feedback in mice during whole-body motor coordination and will involve the use of electrophysiology, optogenetics, various imaging techniques and behavioral analysis. The Department of Neuroscience at KI offers a multidisciplinary and diverse research environment with a strong community and several leading labs in motor control neuroscience.

Description of the subject area

The sensory and motor circuits in the spinal cord for whole-body coordination in mammals.

Your mission

The position as Principal Researcher in neuroscience has a focus on understanding the circuits in the spinal cord that control the coordination of the trunk and other body regions during motor behaviour. This involves independent and leading responsibility for research projects focusing on the spinal circuitry controlling motor behavior.

You must be able to handle and develop projects involving several techniques used in the research including electrophysiological studies (whole-spinal cord recordings and patch-clamp recordings), neuromechanical techniques (mechanoclamp and other mechanical stimulation methods), imaging (including confocal/2-photon, x-ray and CT imaging) and behavioral analysis. You will conduct teaching in the field of neurobiology and supervision of students, doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows within the research group.

You will be responsible for research in motor control neuroscience, which requires substantial knowledge on this topic. The research questions include biomechanics, mechanotransduction, central pattern generator circuits and proprioceptive feedback. You will be responsible for managing a lab of postdoctoral researchers, PhD students and Master’s students.

Eligibility requirements

For employment as Principal Researcher at Karolinska Institutet, the eligibility requirements stated in the Guidelines for non-teaching positions at Karolinska Institutet are applied in relation to the established profile of employment.

To be eligible for employment as a Principal Researcher, in addition to holding a Degree of Doctor, PhD, or having a foreign degree deemed equivalent to a Swedish doctoral degree, the applicant must have demonstrated research skills. The applicant must also be a research leader and have established their own line of research. The applicant should furthermore have shown documented, high-quality scientific production, particularly in the last six years and have the potential to resolutely drive their research forward as well as be recognised nationally and internationally. The applicant should also have obtained robust, long-term and preferably external funding and have the potential to obtain further external funding.  The applicant should have shown teaching and supervision experience and demonstrated good leadership qualities.

Assessment criteria

It is particularly meritorious that the applicant has shown

• Experience in studying the biomechanics of mammalian locomotion and whole-body coordination during motor behaviour.
• Experience in management of neuroscience research across multiple techniques including advanced imaging (confocal, 2-photon, x-ray and CT imaging), electrophysiological recordings, immunohistochemistry and behavioral analysis (e.g. Catwalk, Deeplabcut).
• Extensive experience in electrophysiological recordings of spinal cord and brainstem tissue, including ex vivo mouse whole spinal cord recordings and slice patch-clamp electrophysiology.  
• Experience with supervision and mentorship of PhD students and postdoctoral researchers in experimental design and data analysis in the field of motor control neuroscience.
• Track record of high impact research in the field of motor control neuroscience, specifically in understanding the sensory and motor circuits in the spinal cord controlling locomotion. 

It is meritorious that the applicant has shown

• Experience with financial management, project and experimental planning and strategic leadership.  
• Experience with electrophysiological recordings of spinal cord central pattern generator circuitry in multiple model organisms in neuroscience (e.g. mice, zebrafish, Xenopus). 

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. Here, 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

Your career continues here

Application

We prefer that Your application is written in English, but You can also apply in Swedish. An application must contain the following documents: PhD certificate, resumé, qualifications and description of planned research, presented in accordance with Karolinska Institutet's qualifications portfolio.

Welcome to apply at the latest 2025-12-09.

The applications will be reviewed by external reviewers.

The application must be submitted through the Varbi recruitment system.

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