Postdoctoral fellows – CanFaster program - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

Postdoctoral fellows – CanFaster program. Postdoctoral COFUND-MSCA-EU program, recruiting five fellows within Cancer and Entrepreneurship

CanFaster, which is co funded by EU, is a two-years post-doctoral program, within cancer research and entrepreneurship. The program will recruit 15 fellows during three calls. The goal is to faster forward the discoveries in cancer research, to speed up the time from discovery to change in clinical practice.  

The program is administrated by CREATE Health, located in the energetic and dynamic science park, Medicon Village. The research openings are connected to the faculties of Medicine and Engineering at Lund University. Lund University and the Life Science research in the Medicon Valley area has been nominated as one of 13 Brain belts in the world.

The goal of CanFaster is to educate tomorrow’s cancer researchers in a broad set of scientific, transferable, and business skills to become entrepreneurs. The selected candidates will be offered a two-years postdoc position at Lund university. You will have the possibility to profile your training towards your research interest within the selected research area.

The program is divided into three different work packages (WP) A; scientific training, B; Canfaster specific training, C; inter-sectoral training.  WP-A constitute the research project and is the main activity. Within WP-B, you will be able to attend courses in entrepreneurship, innovation processes and within WP-C you will have the opportunity to be educated in clinical aspects of cancer and attend seminar series at the business incubator. As a CanFaster fellow you will have the opportunity to perform secondments in the non-academic sector, such as clinic or industry. Team activities with other fellows within the CanFaster program will ensure the development of a network that lasts beyond the programme, and that helps to boost the future career.

Lund University now offers up to 15 Postdoc positions in three calls, the first call opens October 2019, second call June 2020 and third call February 2021. The first call is for five positions, one within each specified research area as described below. You can only apply to one position. For questions regarding the call contact us at: canfaster-postdoc@immun.lth.se

CanFaster- ER project, five projects in Cancer and Entrepreneurship. An EU Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie COFUND programme. For more detailed project description and special requriments please vist www.canfaster.se

Towards precision medicine - spatial omics as a tool in immuno-oncology.
Research subject: Immunotechnology
Special requirements: PhD in immunology, cancer biology or similar. Experience in bioinformatics, immunohistochemistry and/or fluorescence imaging is a merit. See www.canfaster.se for further requirements.

Predictive immune biomarkers in cancer.
Research subject: Immunotechnology
Special requirements: PhD in immunology, cell and/or molecular biology or similar, preferably in the area of oncoimmunology/immunotherapy and in vitro cellular systems of tumor biology. See www.canfaster.se for further requirements.

Translational Cancer Genomics and Bioinformatics
Research subject: Laboratory Medicine
Special requirements PhD in bioinformatics, computational biology and/or genomics or equivalent. See www.canfaster.se for further requirements.

Functional analysis of ‘silent’ mutations in familiar breast cancer
Research subject: Clinical Sciences, Experimental Oncology
Special requirements: PhD in molecular biology, biomedicine or biotechnology. See www.canfaster.se for further requirements.

Genetic variation influencing blood cell regeneration and blood cancer risk
Research subject: Laboratory Medicine
Special requirements: Ph.D. degree in a relevant field and solid experience in cell- and molecular biology and/or functional genomics. See www.canfaster.se for further requirements.

Work duties
The main duties involved in a post-doctoral posistion is to conduct research. Teaching may also be included, but up to no more than 20% of working hours. The position shall include the opportunity for three weeks of training in higher education teaching and learning.

Qualification requirements
Appointment to a post-doctoral position requires that the applicant has a PhD, or an international degree deemed equivalent to a PhD, within the subject of the position, completed no more than three years before the last date for applications. Under special circumstances, the doctoral degree can have been completed earlier

Eligibility

• Mobility: Maximum 12 months of residency in Sweden during the last three years from the closure of the call.
• English: Sufficient skills in written and spoken English: See canfaster.se for description of scores on accepted English test.
• PhD degree: Must be Experienced Researchers as per the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions definition. At the time of recruitment, applicants must be in possession of a doctoral degree or, if the applicant has does not have a doctoral degree and is not in the process of completing one, they should have at least 4 years of full-time equivalent research experience as measured from the date when a researcher obtained the degree which would allow them to pursue a PhD.
• Specific requirements: Each research subject has specific requirements on PhD subject and prior research experience.   

Full eligibility criteria for the position can be found at: www.canfaster.se

Instructions on how to apply

• Applications shall be written in English. The application should be submitted though Lund University electronic application system, https://lu.varbi.com. In addition to providing documents, you will be asked mandatory questions, including the choice of research area, when submitting the application.

The application must include:

• Scanned copy of standardized English test results (GRE, TOEFL, etc.) required for all non-native English applicants.
• Scanned copies of the PhD diploma complete and official academic transcripts in English.
• CV according to instructions.
• Publication list according to instructions.
• Letter of motivation based on template provided
• Two reference letters based on template provided. The form should be sent to canfaster-call@immun.lth.se with the subject “Referee form and name of the applicant” before the closure of the call.

All templates and further instructions can be found at www.canfaster.se

All required application material, including letters of reference, must be complete and submitted by the closure of the call to be considered. Documents written in other languages must be translated into English by an authorised translator.

Assessment criteria and evaluation process
This is a career development position primarily focused on research. The position is intended as an initial step in a career, and the assessment of the applicants will primarily be based on their research qualifications and potential as researchers. Particular emphasis will be placed on research skills within the subject.

Consideration will also be given to good collaborative skills, drive and independence, and how the applicant’s experience and skills complement and strengthen ongoing research within the department, and how they stand to contribute to its future development.

An evaluation Panel with internal and external experts are responsible for the selection process. Eligible applicants will be evaluated based on merit, motivation for the program, academic excellence, and personal qualifications such as collaboration and communication abilities. Top candidates will be selected for video interview with the evaluation panel. After the interview, provided references will be contacted and two-three top candidates for each position will be asked to write a full research proposal within the selected research area.  In brief, the full proposal will include aim, methods, need of infrastructure, clinical/industrial collaborations, and timeline. Full guidelines found at www.canfaster.se

Terms of employment The employment is limited to two years full-time employment. The employment is limited by agreement, "Agreement on time-limited employment as postdoctor", between social partners dated 2008-09-04 (Arbetsgivarverket, OFRs, Saco-S and SEKO).

Re-dress procedure Applicants who wish to submit an objection to the decision (redress/appeal) should do so in writing to the of the Programme director within three weeks from receiving the statement. The applicants will be informed in writing of the possibility of redress of negative decisions. In the redress, the points of objection in relation to the negative decision should be described and motivated. The executive unit of the CanFaster program will provide feed-back to the redress and will follow the LU guidelines for redress and Swedish law (Högskoleförordningen 1993:100, chapter 12). 

Contact information:
Program Director; Prof. Sara Ek,
Research coordinator; PhD Maria Rosén Klement
Email: Canfaster-postdoc@immun.lth.se