Assistant Professor in Cancer Research focusing on tumor heterogeneity and phenotypic plasticity

Do you want to contribute to top quality medical research? 

The research is conducted in an interdisciplinary environment with strong collaborations across clinical departments, as well as national and international research groups.

We are seeking a motivated and creative Assistant Professor in Computational Tumor Biology, with a focus on exploring the molecular drivers of intratumor heterogeneity and phenotypic plasticity in cancer.

Intratumor heterogeneity and high plasticity are major contributors to therapy resistance in malignant cancers. Despite their clinical relevance, the mechanisms underlying plastic cell state transitions during tumor progression remain poorly understood. Currently, there are no effective treatments that specifically target cancer heterogeneity.

The successful applicant will focus on the systematic characterization of the dynamic features of intratumor heterogeneity and phenotypic plasticity, aiming to identify therapeutic vulnerabilities and inform treatment strategies. This will involve the development and application of bioinformatic tools, with an emphasis on spatial transcriptomics and single-cell transcriptomics of human malignant tumors.

The project will also include comparative analyses of differentiation trajectories, aiming to make predictive inferences and perform preliminary experimental validations of proposed tumor differentiation strategies.

Your mission 

The employment as Assistant Professor is time limited for 5 years  with the right to apply for promotion to Senior Lecturer. 

We offer a highly interdisciplinary environment , integrating computational biology with cancer and developmental biology. We develop new analytic and experimental approaches based on single nuclei transcriptomics and spatial transcriptomics to explore intra-tumor heterogeneity and plasticity. Furthermore, we generate novel tumor mouse model systems and include human tumors to perform comparative differentiation trajectory analysis, to make predictions and, finally, to perform preliminary validations of envisioned tumor differentiation strategies.

Eligibility requirements 

Those eligible for employment as an Assistant Professor are individuals who have been awarded a PhD or attained equivalent research competence. Preference should be given to those who were awarded a PhD or attained equivalent research competence no more than seven years prior to the expiry of the application period for the position as assistant professor. 

Those who have been awarded a PhD or attained equivalent research competence earlier may however be considered if special grounds exist.  

Special grounds refer to: 

• parental leave, 
• positions of trust in trade union organizations 
• mandatory service in the total defense forces 
• long-term illness 

Ground, dates and extent must be clearly specified in the application and verified with relevant documentation. 

Appointment to the position of Assistant Professor requires good scientific skills and good pedagogical skills. 

It is a requirement that you have completed three weeks of courses on teaching in higher education as indicated in the recommendations of the Association of Swedish Higher Education Institution. If you lack such education at the time of employment, you must undergo such education during the first two years of employment. 

Bases of assessment 

For employment as Assistant Professor at Karolinska Institutet, the eligibility requirements and assessment criteria stated in the Instructions regarding the Appointment Procedure are applied in relation to established profile of employment. 

It is particularly meritorious that you have demonstrated 

• A strong scientific track record as supported by published papers in the subject area, in well recognized peer-reviewed journals is important.
• Extensive experience working with high-throughput data analysis of single-cell sequencing (particularly single-nuc-Seq) and SNP analysis

It is meritorious that you have demonstrated 

•  Confident in R (preferred), bash, Python, statistics, data science, tumour biology, clinical medicine, single-cell sequencing

• Apply for your own grants

After an overall assessment of the expertise and merits of the applicants in relation to the subject area, Karolinska Institutet will determine which of them has the best potential to contribute to a positive development of the activities at KI. 

What do we offer? 

A creative, international 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 good benefits through our collective agreement.  

Location: Solna

Choose to work at KI – Ten reasons why

Application

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

Welcome to apply at the latest 30^th April. 

The application is to be submitted through the Varbi recruitment system

The positon is for 5 years. 

Particular assessment for promotion to Senior Lecturer

An Assistant Professor employed in accordance with the Higher Education Ordinance Chapter 4 Section 12a shall be promoted to Senior Lecturer if he or she is eligible for an employment as Senior Lecturer in accordance with the Instructions regarding the Appointment Procedure for Teachers at Karolinska Institutet and is assessed to be suitable for such employment in accordance with the assessment criteria that KI has decided should be applied when being promoted to Senior Lecturer. The assessment criteria stated in the Instructions regarding the Appointment Procedure for Teachers at Karolinska Institutet that was valid at the time of appointment as Assistant Professor will be applied when applying for promotion to Senior Lecturer.  Current assessment criteria is found here. Such promotion results in a permanent position as Senior Lecturer. 

Want to make a difference? Join us and contribute to better health for all!