Postdoctor in Epidemiological modelling - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

Description of the workplace

The research network PREPARE, located at the Department of Laboratory Medicine within the Faculty of Medicine, conducts research on improved preparedness for future pandemics and other health crises. Our research group is interdisciplinary and spans several faculties at Lund University and has expertise in, among other areas, epidemiology, infection medicine, biomedicine, computational science, public health, and public law. Within these areas, we have close collaborations with other universities in Sweden, including Umeå, Stockholm and Halmstad. With our partner universities, we have monthly virtual meetings and we also arrange a biannual workshop fostering interdisciplinary collaboration. We are also part of a national network around epidemiological modeling and collaborate with other researchers both in the Nordics and internationally. Our research relates to several of the United Nation Sustainable Development Goals, including Good health and well-being, where the fight against infectious diseases is particularly mentioned, Sustainable cities and communities, Reduced inequalities, and Peace, justice and strong institutions. You can read more about our research in the research portal for Lund University.

The research in our group is funded by the Swedish Research Council (VR) and Sweden’s Innovation Agency (Vinnova) as well as with internal grants from Lund University. Funding for this position is generously provided by LMK-stiftelsen (Lars Mikael Karlsson foundation), which supports innovative and cross-border scientific research with the potential to make a real difference.

The PREPARE research network comprises approximately 15 employees (including 3 professors, 5 associate professors, 1 senior lecturer, 4 postdocs and 2 doctoral students) at Lund University. As a workplace and being an internationally diverse group, we protect a good working environment with respect and care in our relationships with each other. The research network is led by Jonas Björk, professor of epidemiology at the department of laboratory medicine, and Malin Inghammar, associate professor of infection medicine at the department of clinical sciences in Lund. During the period 2021 - 2023, we have together produced more than 20 articles that have been published in scientific journals. We now aim to further strengthen our group with a postdoctoral fellow in epidemiological modelling.

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. We have flexible working hours that creates good conditions for work/life balance. Read more on the University’s website about being a Lund University employee, Work at Lund University

Work duties and areas of responsibility
Your primary research task will be to develop and refine epidemiological models and surveillance methods in order to detect clusters of unusual health advice contacts, defined by, for example, age, sex, country of origin, medical history, socio-economic situation or geographic location, which may signal the emergence of new health crises locally or more broadly in society. In the project, you will combine advanced epidemiological methods and models with more exploratory methods in applied AI and machine learning. We have the unique opportunity to link data at the individual level from the health advisory service 1177 with comprehensive data from different sources through a collaboration with the SWECOV research program at Stockholm University.

You will be working independently but under supervision and also in close collaboration with other researchers, locally, nationally and internationally. Your role will also be to link the technical method development with the practical applications in the project. Another important issue in our overall research program is be to highlight both benefits and risks with detailed monitoring of the population's health and risk of severe disease in connection with health crises in society. In this part, you will be able to participate in research led by legal researchers within our network.

You will also be expected to write and publish articles in scientific journals, contribute to conferences and assist in other research tasks within our research network. There is also the opportunity to participate in teaching in your area of expertise.

Qualification requirements 

To qualify for the position, the applicant must have a PhD or an international degree deemed equivalent to a PhD, within a subject relevant for the position (preferably computational biology, biomathematics or epidemiology), completed no more than three years before the date of employment decision. Under special circumstances, the doctoral degree can have been completed earlier.

Qualifications

The requirements for the position are:

• Doctoral degree in medical science or natural science with specialization in computational biology, biomathematics, epidemiology or another related field
• Research experience in biological, medical or epidemiological modelling
• Ability to conduct independent research at advanced level
• Very good knowledge of spoken and written English
• Good analytical skills
• High motivation and good ability to collaborate

Additional qualifications for the position are:

• Experience in working with population data linked with register data
• Experience in analyzing large amounts of data from different sources
• Very good programming skills
• Knowledge in epidemiology, infection medicine or public health
• Experience in applied AI and machine-learning methods
• Good knowledge of spoken and written Swedish
• Previous experience of research from similar projects

Research expertise is the foremost criterion for employment. The evaluation of applicants will take account of their research profile, experience and knowledge.

Further information
The employment is time-limited to 2 years full-time, with the possibility of an extension for 1 more year. The employment is time-limited according to the agreement, "Agreement on limited-time employment as postdoctoral researcher-2022-02-01". Start date is January 1st, 2024, or according to agreement.

How to apply
You apply for the position via the University’s recruitment system. The application is to include a personal letter describing how you meet the qualification requirements and why you are interested in the position. The application is also to include a CV with a list of publications, a general description of previous research work, copy of your doctoral degree and any other documents to which you wish to draw attention (copies of degree certificates, grade transcripts, details of referees, letters of recommendation, etc.)