Research assistant

Do you want to contribute to top quality medical research?

Research group EPiCSS is looking for a research assistant for up to 12 months. We are an interdisciplinary research group focusing on the epidemiology of child and adolescent mental health. The group works with large-scale register data, clinical collaborations, and international partnerships to study psychiatric outcomes across the life course. This role forms an important part of our work on early-life risk factors for severe mental illness.

Your mission

As a research assistant, you will contribute to advancing our understanding of how early-life factors shape the risk of schizophrenia. Your primary mission will be to carry out high-quality statistical analyses within large Swedish population registers to evaluate potential causal associations between obstetric complications and later psychosis risk. Working closely with the project’s epidemiology and biostatistics team, you will manage and analyze complex datasets, implement cohort and genetically-informed designs (including sibling and cousin comparisons), and prepare clear written summaries, figures, and reports that help move this research field forward.

Your profile

We are looking for a research assistant with strong quantitative skills, a keen interest in epidemiology, and the ability to work carefully and independently with large and complex datasets. You are analytical, organized, and able to communicate statistical results clearly. You enjoy solving methodological problems, collaborating with researchers from different disciplines, and contributing to high-quality, reproducible science.

Required qualifications

• Master’s degree in epidemiology, biostatistics, or public health
• Strong statistical programming skills, preferably in Stata and/or R
• Demonstrated experience in data management and statistical analysis
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English
• Ability to work independently, manage time effectively, and maintain careful documentation and reproducibility in analytical workflows

Meritorious qualifications

• Experience organizing or analyzing large and complex datasets, particularly Swedish register data (highly desirable)
• Experience in psychiatric epidemiology or related mental-health research fields
• Ability to read and understand Swedish, enabling work with Swedish-language documentation and variable definitions
• Experience with Cox regression or other time-to-event analyses
• Familiarity with causal inference approaches or genetically-informed designs (e.g., sibling comparison models)
• Experience producing publication-quality tables, figures, and data visualizations 

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. Our vision is to pursue the development of knowledge about life and to promote a better health for all. At Karolinska Institutet, we conduct successful medical research and hold the largest range of medical education in Sweden. Karolinska Institutet is also a state university, which entitles you to several good benefits through our collective agreement. And you get to practice freely in our modern wellness facilities, where trained staff are on site.

Location: Solna

Read more about EPiCSS research group
Choose to work at KI – Ten reasons why

Application

Welcome to apply at the latest 2026-01-02. 

The application is to be submitted through the Varbi recruitment system.

A complete application will include:

• A cover letter summarizing your suitability for the position
• A CV (including personal references from prior work or educational settings)
• A set of annotated sample statistical code in Stata or R (printed to PDF for upload) showing at least:
  - one instance of data management and cleaning
  - one instance of regression analyses (preferably Cox regression or other time to event analyses)
  - one data display (e.g., graph) with annotation briefly describing the goals and outcome of the code;
• A writing sample (either academic thesis or preferably a scientific article/manuscript as first author with a detailed statement regarding your role in the project). 

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