MSCA Doctoral student in Medical Science - Next generation molecular diagnostics

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: Development of nucleic acids-based technologies for clinical diagnostics

The Department of Laboratory Medicine 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: Cancer is one of the most common diseases that affect individuals at all ages and treatment usually includes a combination of therapies, such as surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Despite improvements in treatments, they are often long-lasting and associated with severe side effects. Hence, it is important to adjust the therapy to each patient at individual level. Today, it is challenging to monitor the treatment efficacy in detail and at an early stage detect tumor relapse and other complications, such as infections. These issues are possible to address by analyzing cell-free DNA and RNA in blood collected from patients. These analyses will provide information about disease status, how therapies affect tumor cells and if treatments should be changed or maybe stopped.

The overall aim of this project is to develop innovative molecular technologies that enable detailed analysis of different types of DNA and RNA molecules in blood samples and to contribute to a new research field with the ambition to improve cancer care. We have a specific focus to analyze antisense oligonucleotides, which is a promising strategy in diseases, such as cancer and beyond. The methods will be applied in basic research projects and in clinical studies with the goal to implement them in health care. A long-term aim is to individualize treatments based on these analyses as well as reducing over- and undertreatment.

A PhD position is now being announced within the research group headed by Anders Ståhlberg at the Sahlgrenska Center for Cancer Research. The project will focus on the development of innovative technologies in molecular diagnostics and determine the clinical benefits of blood analysis in cancer management. You will work with molecular methods including PCR, sequencing and graphene-based detection methods, bioinformatics as well as experimental and clinical data. The project takes place in close collaboration with academy, industry and healthcare with national and international partners.

For more information about our research, see: https://www.gu.se/en/research/anders-stahlberg

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 Laboratory Medicine. 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,
Anders Ståhlberg, Professor, Institute of Biomedicine
e-mail: anders.stahlberg@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:2026-01-29

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.