Assistant Professor in neurodegenerative diseases with a focus on disease mechanisms

 We are looking for an up-and-coming researcher who wants to conduct pioneering research to take up a position as Assistant professor in neurodegenerative diseases with a focus on disease mechanisms.

What we offer the successful candidate

Those who want to become a research leader of tomorrow in research, through pioneering projects and research ideas, have the opportunity to start as an Assistant Professor at Lund University. You develop your qualifications over a period of 5 years and the position is tenure track with possibility for promotion to permanent employment as a senior lecturer.

You will receive five weeks of training in teaching and learning in higher education and also get the opportunity to learn Swedish through the University’s Swedish language courses for new international staff. We offer you support for the move to Sweden. If you have a family, they will find new contacts and support through Lund’s International Citizen Hub.

The Swedish Research Council, Sweden's largest scientific funder, will announce attractive funding for assistant professors with an international background at the turn of the year 2025/2026. Lund University is now making a joint announcement that also aims to find candidates that the university can nominate to the Swedish Research Council at the end of 2025.

Read more about the Swedish Research Council: https://www.vr.se/english.html  

Read more about the University joint announcement: https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/shape-future-research

Duties – what we expect from you

Neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, affect over 50 million people worldwide and pose a significant and growing societal burden. Research into the mechanisms underlying brain dysfunction and nerve cell loss in these diseases is of utmost importance for developing improved treatment and care methods in the future.

At Lund University, we conduct world-leading research on neurodegenerative diseases including all levels of investigation, from molecular changes to studies of the human brain. Our researchers collaborate across disciplines, ranging from basic experimental studies to therapeutic interventions.

In this call, we welcome applicants who can study the mechanisms underlying brain dysfunctions in neurodegenerative diseases using experimental models. The holder of the position is expected to initiate and develop a strong research program in synergy with ongoing preclinical and clinical research at the faculty, which can eventually be used to develop new ways to treat or prevent brain dysfunctions and neurodegenerative processes.

As an Assistant Professor, you will have the chance to apply a long-term focus on the challenging research questions you are passionate about. To qualify as a senior lecturer, you will also need to develop your teaching skills during your time as an Assistant Professor, learn Swedish for teaching, be a good colleague and show that you are good at interacting with the surrounding community. And, of course, you will also participate in the department’s everyday work and development.

At the Medical Faculty you will mainly work with research and supervision on postgraduate level. To enable promotion within five years, up until 20 % of the position can be designated to teaching at the faculty on all levels. The Medical faculty offers a range of educations with courses on both basic and advanced level, out of which several are held in English.

You will work closely with several different strong research environments and have access to world-class research infrastructure, in particular, the strategic research area MultiPark. Through MultiPark, you will also be offered the opportunity to receive a generous start-up grant and will have access to a wide range of technical platforms that are highly relevant for neuroscientific and translational research (https://www.multipark.lu.se/infrastructures).

Qualifications for employment as an Assistant Professor

You hold a doctoral degree or have corresponding research expertise in medical research.

We will primarily prioritise those applicants who have obtained a doctoral degree within the last 7 years from the closing date for applications for the position. If you have documents recognised in Sweden proving that there are special grounds, such as parental leave, military service or illness, after graduating that have prevented you from working as a researcher, the doctoral degree in the subject can in such cases have been awarded earlier.

Requirements – what you must have in order to carry out duties

We hope that one of your first duties will be to conduct an innovative basic research project that is funded by the Swedish Research Council. Therefore, we are seeking those who have:

• A good ability to initiate, develop and implement high-quality research.
• Several years of recent experience conducting medical research in an international environment outside of Sweden at the postdoctoral level.
• Conducted independent research in the field, resulting in publications at a high scientific level.
• Good teaching ability.
• A project description for an innovative research project on neurodegenerative diseases, involving neuroscientific methods to study disease mechanisms, which you are to submit with your application.
• Documented good leadership skills, e.g. through elected office assignments, leadership courses and assessed leadership skills.
• Good communication skills.
• Very good oral and written English language skills.
• Good motivation and the ability to learn new languages.

Additional qualifications – other credentials that we consider desirable  

We very much want you to thrive at Lund University and be able to make the best of your time at the Faculty of Medicine. For that reason we consider it preferable if you can also demonstrate that you:

• Have contributed in a positive way to your work environment.
• Have obtained research funding, in competition, from funding bodies outside Sweden.
• Currently hold an international position in the research field, and that you have not received a salary or grant from Sweden since before 31st of December 2021. .
• Have documented administrative skills including supervision, the ability to organize, develop and lead a research group and the ability to interact with the world outside academia.

Promotion – what is required to be promoted to senior lecturer

As an Assistant Professor, you can apply for promotion to permanent employment as a senior lecturer. You will undergo a special assessment to determine if you fulfil the faculty’s requirements for employment as a senior lecturer. It is important for you to know that you can only apply only once for promotion and that you must apply for promotion at least six months before your employment as an Assistant Professor ends.

When you apply for promotion, you will be assessed based on whether you have:

Completed at least 5 weeks of qualifying higher education pedagogical training and had teaching assignments according to the faculty’s requirement for an associate professor. Independently been the senior author of several peer-reviewed original articles in reputable international journals – the benchmark is three original articles of which at least two must have been published during the employment as Assistant Professor. Received external research grants in national or international competition as the main applicant, at a level that makes it possible for the applicant to continue to lead and finance your own research. Have supervised at least one doctoral student from admission to mid-term review as principal supervisor (consideration will be given to any absence of the doctoral student due to illness, parental leave or similar). Qualified as associate professor according to the guidelines of the Faculty of Medicine.

An Assistant Professor is to be appointed on application to a permanent position as senior lecturer if they have the required qualifications and is deemed to be suitable with reference to the qualifications and assessment criteria for promotion and appointment as senior lecturer at the Faculty of Medicine. See:  Senior Lecturer- General requirements profile and assessments criteria.

The appointment will be made after preparation in the Academic Appointments Board.

Form of employment

Fixed-term position, 5 years, in accordance with Chapter 4, Section 12a of the Higher Education Ordinance, with the opportunity for promotion to permanent employment as a senior lecturer.

Further information

For information about the position please contact:

Dean Maria Björkqvist, phone: +46462228084, E-mail: Maria.Bjorkqvist@med.lu.se or

Pro Dean Jonas Larsson, phone +46462220580, E-mail: Jonas.Larsson@med.lu.se or

Professor Angela Cenci Nilsson, phone: +46462221431, E-mail: angela.cenci_nilsson@med.lu.se

Information on application formalities may be obtained from Recruitment Officer Eva Nilsson,

phone: + 462221789, e-mail: eva_a.nilsson@med.lu.se

Application

Applications are to be made electronically via Lund University's applications portal by the 17th of August 2025.

Applications are to be submitted in accordance with the Faculty of Medicine's guidelines for academic appointments (see this website under the headings List of qualifications for lecturers and Create a CV).

The applicant’s name may be listed on the Faculty’s homepage unless the applicant has disagreed to this.

The application should be written in English as international evaluators may be consulted.