Associate Researcher in Epidemiological Surveillance Studies (EPI@Lund) - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

The research group

The research group of Epidemiology and Population Studies (EPI@Lund), led by professor Jonas Björk, is looking for an associate researcher in Epidemiology, Public Health, Data Science or a closely related subject, to the project "Improved preparedness for future pandemic outbreaks using large-scale population data in epidemiological surveillance". The position is linked to a thematic collaborative initiative on improved pandemic preparedness that has received external funding from Sweden’s innovation agency Vinnova, Swedish Research Council (VR) and internal funding from Lund University 2021 – 2024. The initiative is a interdisciplinary collaboration for research and infrastructure development that involves Lund university, Umeå university, Halmstad university, Region Skåne, Region Halland, the biotech company Xerum AB, Malmö Stad and Helsingborg Stad. 

Read more about our research here.

The research group has an open and welcoming work environment and we put much effort in the physical as well as the organisational and social work environment. 

The employment is a permanent full time position with the desired starting date of February 1, 2022, or according to agreement. A probation period of 6 months can be applied.

Work tasks 

As an associate researcher in our group, you will conduct research on how epidemiological surveillance of infectious diseases can be improved using local, regional and national large-scale population data. The data sources will be of various types, including - but not limited to – population and health care registers, mobility and activity data, intelligent monitoring systems and app data. It will be of special interest to investigate the usefulness of novel types of data sources as an extension of the current pandemic toolbox, and to investigate whether the same type of infrastructure can be used for other health crises in society caused by e.g. accidental emissions of environmental pollutants or rapids climate changes. The epidemiological surveillance will be very broad and include assessment of spatiotemporal patterns of a pandemic, identifying special risk group based on health status, disease history and geosocial characteristics, estimation of level of immunity in the population, assessing the risk of local or more general outbreaks and identifying predictors of vaccine uptake as well as monitoring short- and long-term effectiveness and safety of vaccinations.

The daily research work will include study design and operationalization of research ideas, data extraction, management of large amounts of data, application of state-of-the art epidemiological methods and statistical analyses as well as machine learning methods for more explorative analyses, interpretation of results and scientific writing. Much emphasis will be put on interdisciplinary discussions about the interpretation and significance of the results with colleagues both inside and outside the research group, as well as with the stakeholders. You will also get the chance to present your scientific results at seminars and conferences, both nationally and internationally.

You will be involved in the further development of our thematic collaborative initiative in various ways, for example by contributing to and organizing seminars, workshops, mini-conferences and reach out activities to the stakeholders. There will be opportunities for shorter research visits at other educational institutions nationally or internationally for educational purposes. Some teaching activities can also be relevant, as well other duties within the research group.

Qualifications
Requirements for the position are:

• PhD degree in Epidemiology, Public Health or a closely related subject
• substantial expertise in epidemiology, including study design and operationalization of research ideas, analytical methods, bias assessment and results interpretation
• Documented experience as independent researcher
• Documented experience of interdisciplinary collaborations in research or development
• Good knowledge in the English language in both written and spoken communication

Great emphasis will be put at personal suitability when assessing qualifications. The associate researcher we are looking for is guided by friendliness, approachability, honesty, open-mindedness and tolerance while maintaining personal authenticity. You must also have excellent communication skills, which will be needed when holding scientific presentations, scientific discussions and scientific writing. English will be the dominating language used for scientific communication.

Merits for the position are:

• Previous research on infectious diseases and epidemiological surveillance, methods development, developing or working with large data infrastructures and data sets from various sources.
• Leadership experience 
• Knowledge of Swedish in speech and writing is advantageous since the work within in the thematic initiative involves extensive contacts with stakeholders, register owners, the ethics review authority and other national agencies
• Previous experience of working with population and health data registers in a Swedish or Scandinavian setting
• International experience from epidemiological surveillance systems, and application development for e.g. contact tracing

Other

Most of the working time will be spent on site in our premises at Lund University.
Some travelling can be expected.

Terms and conditions

The university applies individual salary setting. Feel free to state salary claims in your application