Postdoc in infectious disease modelling using real-world data - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

Description of the workplace

We are looking for a postdoctoral fellow with a research interest in applied modelling of infectious disease dynamics using large-scale population register data and novel mobility data sources. The successful candidate will join the research network PREPARE, located at the Department of Laboratory Medicine within the Faculty of Medicine. We conduct research on improved preparedness for future pandemics and other health crises. Our network is interdisciplinary and spans several faculties at Lund University. We have close collaborations with other universities in Sweden, including Umeå, Stockholm and Halmstad. We are also part of a national network around epidemiological modeling and collaborate with other researchers both in the Nordics and internationally.

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 also have a flexitime agreement that creates good conditions for work/life balance. Read more on the University’s website about being a Lund University employee.

Work duties and areas of responsibility

The overarching aim of the project will be to develop analytical approaches to more rapidly and accurately identify, monitor, and manage health risks in society, such as a pandemic disease. Through a collaboration with the SWECOV research program at Stockholm University, www.swecov.se, we can apply for access to an internationally unique data infrastructure comprising of individual-level syndromic surveillance data from the Swedish health advisory hotline linked with other register data covering the entire Swedish population. In addition, novel data sources on domestic and international mobility patterns can be exploited.

The successful candidate will have the following main tasks:

• Evaluate the utility of individual-level health hotline data linked with comprehensive register data infrastructure to forecast disease transmission trends and associated health care demands under different policy scenarios using mathematical modelling approaches.
• Modelling the likely introduction and future transmission of a pandemic disease using real-world domestic and cross-border mobility data based on mobile phone usage and credit card transactions using traditional epidemiological modelling techniques as well as by exploring data-driven methods.
• Engage in the dissemination and discussion of the research findings within our network (at Lund University, SWECOV, national epidemiological modelling network), public agencies (e.g., Swedish Public Health Agency) and within the wider scientific community (publications, conferences).

Qualification requirements

To qualify for the position, the applicant must have a PhD or an international degree deemed equivalent to a PhD, within the medical or natural sciences (preferably in epidemiology, computational biology or biomathematics), 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 within a quantitatively-oriented specialization, such as epidemiology, computational biology, statistics, applied mathematics, or another related field.
• Research experience in infectious disease epidemiology, including different kinds of infectious disease transmission models, such as deterministic and stochastic compartmental models.
• Ability to conduct independent research at advanced level.
• Very good knowledge of spoken and written English.
• High motivation and good ability to collaborate in a multi-disciplinary research environment.

Additional qualifications for the position are:

• Research experience with other advanced epidemiological or data-driven methods using medical data.
• Advanced scientific computing skills including programming and data management.
• Experience in working with population-based registers from different sources.
• Demonstrated competence to communicate research findings to a broad audience.
• Experience in applied AI and machine-learning methods.

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. The employment is time-limited according to the agreement, "Agreement on limited-time employment as postdoctoral researcher-2022-02-01". Start date is 1st November 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, a 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.)