Doctoral (PhD) student position in occupational epidemiology - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

We are recruiting a student for doctoral education.

For more information regarding doctoral (PhD) education, see: http://www.ki.se/doctoral.

Research group
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.

The doctoral student position will be in the unit Occupational medicine. The aim of our research is to identify and prevent chemical, physical, ergonomic and psychosocial health hazards in the work environment. Our main activities include research, education and dissemination of information. The research groups at the unit are multi-professional and include epidemiologists, statisticians, physicians, psychologists, sociologists, physiotherapists, civil engineers, public health specialists and others. The unit takes part in education of medical students, occupational health physicians, nurses, ergonomists and other specialists in occupational and environmental medicine. The unit is closely associated with the Centre for Occupational and Environmental Medicine at Stockholm County Council.

The doctoral education project and the duties of the student
Musculoskeletal disorders are one of the conditions that contribute most to sickness absence and early drop-out from the labour market. There is need for increased knowledge about work factors that contribute to employees with musculoskeletal disorders being able to remain in work.

The doctoral position will be in an epidemiological project dealing with long-term occupational exposure to high physical loads as risk factors for musculoskeletal disorders and labour market exclusion. Examples of such exposure are heavy lifting and other work tasks requiring high muscle forces, uncomfortable working postures, repetitive work and high cardiorespiratory load. The aim is to study the importance of long-term exposure to high physical workload, as well as changes to lower levels of load, for the prognosis of employees with musculoskeletal disorders regarding the development of disorders, work ability, and early exit from working life through long-term sickness absence, disability pension and long-term unemployment. The PhD candidate will design and conduct epidemiological studies including managing questionnaire and register data from a public health cohort, analyzing and writing academic research papers.

Entry requirements for doctoral education at KI
To be eligible for doctoral education, 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 knowledge in some other way in Sweden or abroad.

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

Specific entry requirements
Proficiency in English equivalent to the course English B/English 6 at Swedish upper secondary school. Applicants who meet the general entry requirements (1 or 2 above) from a university in one of the Nordic countries fulfill the English language requirement.

For information on how other applicants can certify their English proficiency (such as through IELTS or TOEFL, previous upper secondary or university level studies), please see:
https://ki.se/en/phd/entry-requirements-eligibility-for-doctoral-education

Skills and personal qualities
We seek an ambitious and motivated student with enthusiasm for a healthy and sustainable working life. In addition to knowledge in the subject area, great emphasis will be placed on personal skills such as communication and collaborative skills, ability to work independently, scientific maturity and creativity. The candidate must be able to express himself fluently in English, both in speech and in writing. It is desirable that the applicant has educational qualification and experience in epidemiology, biostatistics, public health and/or medicine. A good ability to write scientific texts in English is expected.

Assessment criteria
A selection will be made among qualified applicants on the basis of the ability to benefit from doctoral education. Karolinska Institutet 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 qualifications of the applicants will be evaluated on an overall basis.

Terms and conditions
All doctoral students at KI receive financial support during their doctoral education and employment on a doctoral studentship is the most common sort of support.

Application process
The application must contain the following documents in Swedish or English:

• A personal letter and a curriculum vitae
• Academic degree diplomas, transcripts of records in original language and, if applicable, authorised translations
• Copies of degree projects and any previous publications
• Proof of English proficiency as stated in the specific requirement 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:

https://ki.se/en/phd/entry-requirements-eligibility-for-doctoral-education

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