PhD student in epidemiology - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

Description of the workplace

The research group Register-based epidemiology at the Department of translational medicine, the faculty of medicine, conducts research on obesity and related metabolic- and lifestyle factors in association with risk of disease and mortality. The research group is headed by Associate professor Tanja Stocks and currently includes another four co-workers including postdocs and a PhD student. The group has a strong focus on epidemiological studies based on large data sources, and on epidemiological methodology, with collaborations nationally and internationally.

The research group has just started up a new project, the Obesity and Disease Development Sweden (ODDS) study, a national large-scale project. You can read more about the group and the project here. The employment is based in Malmö.

Within the research group, we safeguard a good work environment where respect and consideration are shown to other employees, and where we together strive for a workplace that promotes development and is stimulating for all employees. We work constantly to create conditions for job satisfaction, development and participation for all employees. We care about both physical safety and the organizational and social work environment.

What we offer
Lund University is a public authority, which means that you will have special benefits, generous annual leave, and an advantageous occupational pension.

Read more on the University’s website about being a Lund University employee, Work at Lund University.

Project description

We are now looking for a PhD student for the project “Association between body weight and composition with mortality”.

The purpose of the doctoral project is to investigate body size, waist circumference, and its changes in adulthood in association with all-cause mortality and specific underlying causes. The project will be performed within the ODDS project, which includes millions of men and women in Sweden with anthropometric measures taken once or more in adulthood. These individuals have been linked to several national registers for information on e.g., disease and death.

Work duties and responsibilities

The main task of the PhD student is to undertake the doctoral studies including completing doctoral courses and work on the above-described studies. These will be deeply orientated in statistical and epidemiological methods. The work mainly includes planning and performing statistical analyses and writing scientific articles within the planned doctoral studies, but other undertakings within the research group and involvement in other research studies may also take place.  

Qualifications

The following are required for the position:

• Master’s degree in public health, statistics or other epidemiological or medically relevant field, or in other ways fulfilled criteria for doctoral education in one of these fields
• High skills in communication, presentation, and writing
• High proficiency in English, spoken and written
• Driven to solve problems independently
• high analytic skills and high collaboration skills

The following are considered to be a merit:

• Courses in statistics and epidemiology
• Experience from work on epidemiological studies (e.g. in the form of a master’s thesis)
• Knowledge of statistical software packages, especially Stata
• Experience from work on databases of e.g. population studies

Eligibility

Students with basic eligibility for third-cycle studies are those who: have completed a second-cycle degree, have completed courses of at least 240 credits, of which at least 60 credits are from second-cycle courses, or have acquired largely equivalent knowledge in some other way, in Sweden or abroad.

Basis of assessment

The employment of doctoral students is regulated in the Swedish Code of Statues 1998: 80. Only those who are or have been admitted to PhD-studies may be appointed to doctoral studentships. When an appointment to a doctoral studentship is made, the ability of the student to benefit from PhD-studies shall primarily be taken into account. In addition to devoting themselves to their studies, those appointed to doctoral studentships may be required to work with educational tasks, research and administration, in accordance with specific regulations in the ordinance.

Instructions for the application
Applications must include a personal motivation letter, a CV, a diploma of your Master’s degree, or certificate of how you otherwise fulfill the basic eligibility for education at postgraduate level, and other documents you wish to be considered (e.g. letters of recommendation).

Type of employment
Fixed-term employment, four years, in accordance with the Higher Education Ordinance, Chapter 5 Section 7. This is a full-time position with preliminary starting date 1 March 2023 or as otherwise agreed.