MSCA Doctoral student in Medical Science - Molecular diagnostics for infectious diseases

Om jobbet

The University of Gothenburg tackles society's challenges with diverse knowledge. 58 000 students and 6800 employees make the university a large and inspiring place to work and study. Strong research and attractive study programmes attract researchers and students from around the world. With new knowledge and new perspectives, the University contributes to a better future.

Doctoral positionin Medical Science

Project title: Molecular tools for improving infectious disease diagnostics

The Department of Infectious Diseases is located at the Institute of Biomedicine at the Faculty of Medicine at Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg.

General information about being a doctoral student at the University of Gothenburg can be found on the university's doctoral student pages https://www.gu.se/en/doctoral-studies

Duties

Doctoral education in Medical Science comprises carrying out a scientific project and completing at least 30 credits of courses at third-cycle level. The doctoral student must also write a scientific compilation thesis or monograph corresponding to at least 120 credits. For more information about third-cycle studies at Sahlgrenska Academy, see https://www.gu.se/en/sahlgrenska-akademin/doctoral-studies

Project: Antibiotic resistance remains one of the gravest threats to global health, causing over 100,000 deaths worldwide each year and exerting direct and indirect economic impacts in the billions. In Europe alone, an estimated 25,000 deaths are attributed annually to resistant bacterial infections. The spread of AMR is catalyzed by misuse and overuse of antibiotics, but also by changing societal and environmental conditions-including frequent travel, climate change, and aging demographics. Conventional culture-based diagnostics, while reliable, are slow and may not yield actionable information for critical clinical decisions, especially in acute and chronic care settings. Reducing diagnostic turnaround and increasing the resolution of pathogen identification and resistance profiling are crucial for minimizing mortality, suffering, and healthcare expenditures. Thus, disruptive methodological frameworks-anchored in molecular and structural biology, high-resolution mass spectrometry, and advanced bioinformatic approaches-are urgently needed.

The primary aim of this PhD project is to advance the clinical diagnostics of infectious diseases by developing molecular tools and biosensor technologies that detect bacterial pathogens and antimicrobial resistance directly from patient samples. This work seeks to accelerate the identification and characterization of key biomarkers through genomics, mass spectrometry-based proteomics, and bioinformatics analyses.

We are now looking for a candidate with relevant background within the subject area, for example experience with Risk-Group 2 bacterial pathogens (cultivation, isolation and safe handling), plus molecular biology skills in genomics and proteomics, including optimised genomic DNA extraction for NGS and workflows for peptide- and protein-based proteotyping. Moreover, experience in bacterial genome sequencing with short- and long-read platforms, downstream genome assembly and annotation is an asset, as is integrating mass-spectrometry-based peptide data with genome sequences to identify antimicrobial-resistance and virulence biomarkers.

The PhD student will work in the group of Roger Karlsson at the University of Gothenburg (UGOT), Institute of Biomedicine, Department of Infectious Diseases, and in close collaboration with PhD students in the BUG-ID project and with clinicians at Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Department of Clinical Microbiology. The method of choice for studying the surface of pathogens will be Lipid-based Protein Immobilization (LPI) (developed by Nanoxis Consulting AB), which has been successfully used to perform surface shaving of intact bacteria. The species-unique peptide biomarkers will be used to functionalize the graphene sensors in the BUG-ID project.

For more information see https://www.gu.se/en/research/roger-karlsson

Doctoral studies comprises four years of full-time study, and leads to a doctoral degree.

Eligibility

Doctoral education requires general eligibility and, where appropriate, specific eligibility as set out in the general syllabus for the subject.

The general eligibility requirements for doctoral studies are:

1. having completed a degree at second-cycle level, or
2. the fulfilment of course requirements totalling at least 240 credits, of which at least 60 credits must be at second-cycle level, or
3. the acquisition of equivalent knowledge in some other way, either in Sweden or abroad.

Specific entry requirements for this subject, according to the general syllabus, are:

having successfully completed the English B/6 course or is considered to have acquired equivalent knowledge through previous studies.

Assessment criteria

The selection of applicants who meet the basic and specific eligibility requirements will be based on the ability to assimilate the doctoral studies. The assessment shall attach particular importance to documented qualifications for:

- specific knowledge and skills within the subject area and related research fields
- experience of scientific theory and relevant research methodology
- scientific analysis and presentation verified through an academic paper, degree project, scientific
journals or the like.

Admission and employment

Once you have been admitted to doctoral studies, you will be employed as a doctoral student at the University of Gothenburg. The provisions for employment as a doctoral student can be found in ordinance SFS 1993:100. Initial employment as a doctoral student may apply for a maximum of one year, and may be renewed by a maximum of two years at a time. A doctoral student may be employed as a doctoral student for a maximum of eight years, but the total period of employment may not be longer than the equivalent of full-time education at doctoral level for four years.

The employment is an MSCA doctoral student employment within a Marie Sklodowska Curie program with MSCA funding. In order to be approved for MSCA financing the applicant, at the time for the application, should not have resided in Sweden more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to the reference date. Moreover, the applicant must be in the first four years (full-time equivalent research experience) of their research careers and have not been awarded a doctoral degree. Doctoral students employed through the Marie Skłodowska-Curie programme will receive a salary in accordance with the Marie Curie rules for doctoral candidates during the duration of the fellowship (36 months). This means that the gross salary (i.e., after deduction of employer contributions but including the employee's taxes) is approximately (depending on the exchange rate) 34,000 SEK/month (excluding any potential family allowance). During the remaining period of the studies, the doctoral student will be employed under a regular doctoral student contract, according to the agreed salary scale for doctoral candidates.

Location: Sahlgrenska Academy, Institute of Biomedicine, Department of Infectious Diseases. Extent: 100%. First day of employment: as agreed.

The University applies a local agreement on salaries for doctoral students.

Please note, doctoral studies at the Institute of Biomedicine requires physical presence to conduct the studies. If the admitted applicant needs a residence permit for higher education to pursue studies in Sweden, the Institute of Biomedicine has the right to revoke the admission decision if the applicant cannot present a valid residence permit no later than at the start of the studies.

Contact information

For more information about the project please contact principal supervisor,
Roger Karlsson, Associate Professor, Institute of Biomedicine
e-mail: roger.karlsson@gu.se

Unions

Union representatives at the University of Gothenburg can be found here:
https://www.gu.se/om-universitetet/jobba-hos-oss/hjalp-for-sokande

Application

You can apply to be admitted to doctoral education via the University of Gothenburg's recruitment portal. It is your responsibility to ensure that the application is complete as per this notice, and that the University receives it by the final application deadline.

You must include the following, in pdf format

• Personal letter
• CV
• Diploma and transcripts showing that you meet with the general entry requirement
• Proof of completion of English 6 course or the acquired equivalent knowledge through previous studies

If your degree is from a university outside of Sweden, make sure that you attach a diploma and full transcripts that makes assessing your degree easier.

If your degree has not been verified by a Swedish authority you need to provide contact details to the issuing university, registrar or similar, that can verify the degree at our request.

For information on what you need to submit in order to fulfill the English language requirement see https://www.universityadmissions.se/en/entry-requirements/english-language-requirements/

Applications must be received by:2026-02-19

Information for International Applicants

Choosing a career in a foreign country is a big step. Thus, to give you a general idea of what we and Gothenburg have to offer in terms of benefits and life in general for you and your family/spouse/partner please visit:

https://www.gu.se/en/about-the-university/welcome-services
https://www.movetogothenburg.com/

The University works actively to achieve a working environment with equal conditions, and values the qualities that diversity brings to its operations.

Salaries are set individually at the University.

In accordance with the National Archives of Sweden's regulations, the University must archive application documents for two years after the appointment is filled. If you request that your documents are returned, they will be returned to you once the two years have passed. Otherwise, they will be destroyed.

In connection to this recruitment, we have already decided which recruitment channels we should use. We therefore decline further contact with vendors, recruitment and staffing companies.