Doctoral student in Medical Science - reproductive genetics and bioinformatics

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Doctoral position in Medical Science

Project title:  The role of aneuploidies and fetal and maternal genetics in pregnancy loss

The Department of Molecular and Clinical Medicine is located at the Institute of Medicine 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

The PhD 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

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

As part of your employment as a doctoral student, you may have departmental duties corresponding to up to 20 % of full-time employment, distributed throughout your study period, and result in a corresponding extension of the studies. Departmental duties usually consist of teaching at first- and second-cycle levels, but may also include research and administration.

Project description

Pregnancy loss is the most common pregnancy complication, affecting approximately 1 in 7 clinically recognized pregnancies. Around half of pregnancy losses involve fetal chromosomal abnormalities, particularly aneuploidies, while the causes of the other half are usualy unknown. This PhD project aims to improve our understanding of the genetic mechanisms underlying pregnancy loss by developing computational approaches that may contribute to improved molecular diagnostics. The doctoral student will investigate the contribution of rare and common fetal genetic variants to pregnancy loss and how their effects differ between pregnancies with and without aneuploidies. The project will also develop scalable computational methods for detecting whole-chromosome and segmental aneuploidies using genotype-array and whole-genome sequencing data. The project uses large-scale genetic datasets from pregnancy losses and population-based cohorts and will be conducted in a collaborative, international research environment at the Wallenberg Laboratory, Sahlgrenska Academy.

Meritorious experience includes

– working in R/Python and UNIX environments – statistical modelling in genetics or epidemiology; – analysis of copy-number variants or aneuploidies; – population genetics, GWAS or gene–environment interaction studies; – large-scale data analysis or bioinformatics; – pregnancy biology or statistics; and – reproducible research using tools such as Git, Snakemake and conda.

Scientific writing experience, particularly demonstrated through authorship of scientific manuscripts, is also highly valued. The project requires close collaboration within and across research groups while providing substantial opportunities to develop and pursue independent research ideas.

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:

• having completed a degree at second-cycle level, or

• the fulfilment of course requirements totalling at least 240 credits, of which at least 60 credits must be at second-cycle level, or

• 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 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.

Location: Sahlgrenska Academy, Institute of Medicine, Department of Molecular and Clinical 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 Medicine require physical presence to conduct the studies. If the admitted applicant needs a residence permit for higher education to pursue studies in Sweden, the institute 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 the project supervisor, Pol Solé-Navais, Institute of Medicine, e-mail:  pol.sole.navais@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 .

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:  2026-10-23

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.