Karolinska Institutet, The Institute of Environmental Medicine

The Institute of Environmental Medicine (IMM) is a department at Karolinska Institutet and an interdisciplinary research institution within the broad field of environmental medicine. IMM conducts cutting edge research within the areas of environmental and occupational medicine, toxicology, physiology, epidemiology, and biostatistics with the aim to clarify how environmental and lifestyle factors affect our health and which role genes have. IMM also serves as a scientific advisor to public authorities within the area of environmental medicine and IMM scientists participate in national and international expert groups.

We are recruiting a doctoral (PhD) student. For more information regarding doctoral education at Karolinska Institutet (KI), see:
http://ki.se/en/phd/about-doctoral-education-at-ki

Research group
The PhD student position is announced at the Unit of Metals and Health at IMM. At this unit, we perform experimental and epidemiological research to elucidate the effects of toxic metals and the importance of susceptibility factors, including genetic and epigenetic factors, on health and disease.

The doctoral education project and the duties of the student
The overall aim of this PhD project is to clarify to what extent today's welders, an occupation with high exposure to metal particles, are at risk of lung cancer. The student will analyse early cancer-related changes in relation to different measures of welding exposure in existing cohorts. This will be combined with in vitro studies on primary lung cells and in situ studies of lung tumours from welders to clarify and validate the mechanisms of toxicity.

The PhD student is expected to have a very strong interest in biomedical research and have a documented experience of genetic and toxicological methods. The student will actively participate in the research by performing genetic, epigenetic and toxicological analyses on collected human samples (blood, urine, tumours) and primary lung cells. Further, the student will perform bioinformatic analysis and critically evaluate, compile and present the results, both in writing and orally. In the longer term, the PhD student will work independently to formulate new hypotheses and present and discuss the results and hypotheses in large and small groups. The graduate program will be done in a creative environment in close cooperation with other PhD students, post docs and researchers.

Entry requirements for doctoral education at KI
In order to participate in the selection for a doctoral position at Karolinska Institutet, the following requirements have to be met:

General entry requirements

A person meets the general entry requirements for doctoral/third-cycle/PhD education (according to

Higher Education Ordinance Chapt 7, section 39) if he/she:

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

Specific entry requirements
Proficiency in English equivalent to the course English B/English 6 at Swedish upper secondary school is an entry requirement for doctoral education at KI. Applicants who meet the general entry requirements (1 or 2 above) from a university in one of the Nordic countries has met the requirements in English.

Follow the link below for information on how other applicants can certify their English proficiency (such as through IELTS or TOEFL, previous upper secondary or university level studies).

For more information regarding general and specific entry requirements, please see: http://ki.se/en/phd/entry-requirements-eligibility-for-doctoral-education

Skills and personal qualities
Applications are invited from ambitious, talented and enthusiastic students with proven knowledge in (epi)genetics and toxicology. It is desirable that the applicant has experience of working with cell culturing. It is a requirement that applicants have a very good knowledge of English in terms of both spoken and written. Furthermore, the applicant would enjoy working in a team and demonstrate good interpersonal skills, but also have the ability to work independently to critically examine and compile results and to formulate new hypotheses.

Terms and conditions
The doctoral student will be employed on a doctoral studentship (Sw: doktorandanställning) during the 4 years doctoral education. 

Application process
The application and supporting documents are to be submitted through the Varbi recruitment system.

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

  • A personal letter and a curriculum vitae
  • Documents certifying the entry requirements*: Academic degree diplomas, transcripts of records, and if applicable, authorised translations
  • Copies of degree projects and any previous publications
  • Proof of English proficiency
  • Any other documentation showing the desirable skills and personal qualities described above

*All documents certifying the entry requirements must be scans of originals (scans of copies or certified copies will not be accepted). The scanned documents must be in color and both the front and the back of the documents must be scanned. Please note that there are specific documentation requirements for a number countries, please read the instructions at: http://ki.se/en/phd/entry-requirements-eligibility-for-doctoral-education

If an applicant claims equivalent konwledge (point 3 under general entry requirements above) for the eligibility assessment, a form has to be filled in and submitted. Please find more information here: https://ki.se/en/phd/assessing-equivalent-knowledge-for-general-eligibility-for-doctoral-education

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.

The selection process will include several steps. The most suitable applicants will proceed to the next step which includes personal interviews. All applicants will be informed when the recruitment is done.

Type of employment PhD placement
Contract type Full time
First day of employment According to agreement
Salary Monthly payment
Reference number 2-32/2019
Contact
  • Karin Broberg, Professor, +46 8 824 87405 / karin.broberg@ki.se
Union representative
  • Biborka Bereczky Veress, SACO, 070-173 85 75 / biborka.bveress@ki.se
  • Niklas Andersson, OFR, niklas.andersson@ki.se
  • Anne Boström, SEKO, 08-524 875 79 / anne.bostrom@ki.se
Published 02.Jan.2019
Last application date 16.Jan.2019 11:59 PM CET

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