Tenure Track Assistant Professor in Infectious Animal Disease Modelling for Sustainable One Health Actions

Tenure Track Assistant Professor in Infectious Animal Disease Modelling for Sustainable One Health Actions

Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences University of Copenhagen

The University seeks to appoint a tenure track assistant professor to commence 1 May 2027 or as soon as possible thereafter.

Information on the department can be found at: https://www.sund.ku.dk/ .

Subject area: Infectious disease epidemiology, modelling, animal health, One Health, and sustainable health systems

The Tenure-Track Assistant Professor will lead research on the dynamics of infectious disease spread in health systems, with particular emphasis on how changes in environmental conditions, animal populations, production systems, and management practices influence disease emergence, transmission, and control. The position will combine infectious disease epidemiology, mathematical and statistical modelling, data science, and economic analysis to generate evidence supporting disease preparedness, prevention, and control.

The successful candidate will

• Lead independent research on the dynamics of infectious disease spread in health systems, including the influence of environmental and production system changes.

• Develop and apply simulation, epidemiological, and statistical models to assess disease and spillover risks, evaluate mitigation and control strategies, and quantify their economic implications.

• Demonstrate strong programming skills in R and other relevant programming languages, including experience in managing, processing, and analysing large and complex datasets.

• Have experience in developing and applying epidemiological disease-spread models, including model calibration, validation, parameter estimation, and calculation of epidemiological indicators such as the basic reproduction number (R₀) across different animal species and production systems.

• Design and implement epidemiological modelling frameworks.

• Validate and calibrate models using large-scale national datasets, ensuring scientific robustness, methodological validity, and relevance for policy and decision-making.

• Translate research findings into evidence supporting risk-based disease prevention, preparedness, and control.

• Establish and maintain collaborations with key stakeholders, including the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration, industry partners such as SEGES and Landbrug & Fødevarer (L&F), and international organisations such as the FAO.

• Lead and secure independent research funding through competitive national and international funding calls. The position requires demonstrated experience in securing external funding, as well as the ambition to develop research ideas into externally funded projects and provide scientific leadership for such projects within the TIPTON Research Group.

• Contribute to the development and delivery of One Health and sustainability teaching, with a particular focus on infectious diseases, disease preparedness, and the interactions between animal, human, and environmental health.

• Contribute to teaching in data science, including data management, dataset preparation and handling, statistical analysis, programming, and the analysis of large-scale and complex datasets.

• Supervise students and contribute to research capacity building within infectious disease epidemiology, disease modelling, data science, and One Health.

• Contribute to the delivery of government services undertaken by the Department, including research-based advice, preparedness activities, risk assessments, and other activities relevant to infectious disease modelling and control.

The position is expected to combine methodological excellence in infectious disease modelling and data science with applied epidemiological research, generating evidence that is directly relevant to disease preparedness, private and public bodies, sustainable production systems, animal health and resilient health systems.

The tenure track assistant professor’s responsibilities will primarily consist of:

• research, including publication/academic dissemination

• research-based teaching

• sharing knowledge with society

• participation in formal pedagogical training programme for assistant professors

The tenure track assistant professor’s performance will be evaluated through annual evaluations. Furthermore, the tenure track assistant professor will be evaluated in a mid-track appraisal.

After no more than six years of employment and on condition of a positive final appraisal, the tenure track assistant professor will be employed as associate professor. Find more information about tenure track at the University of Copenhagen .

Required qualifications

To be qualified for an assistant professor position, you will be assessed according to these five overall criteria for recognising merit at the University of Copenhagen: Research, teaching, innovation & societal impact, organisational contribution and leadership. Find information about each criterion .

Furthermore, each applicant must be able to document

• a PhD degree or similar qualifications within the subject area

• research experience within the field of the position

The tenure track assistant professor must have an academic standing showing internationally competitive research, and/or have internationally recognized high potential to make a future impact.

The assistant professor is also required to possess good interpersonal and communicative skills.

Salary and employment conditions: The average weekly working hours are 37 hours per week.

The position is permanent.

Employment is as Tenure Track Assistant Professor under the applicable collective agreement between the Ministry of Finance and AC (Danish Confederation of Professional Associations) or other relevant professional organisations.

There will be an opportunity to negotiate supplements based on qualifications. You can read more about salary levels in the state sector at www.loenoverblik.dk (in Danish).

The position is covered by the Job Structure for Academic Staff at Universities 2025.

Questions

For further information, please contact Research Group Leader: Professor Beate Conrady, bcon@sund.ku.dk

Foreign applicants may find the university’s International Staff Mobility useful.

Application

The application must be submitted in English, and must include the following documents:

• Application (Including motivation for applying for this position (Maximum 2 pages))

• Curriculum vitae (Including information about external funding)

• Diplomas (Master’s, PhD and other relevant diplomas)

• A complete list of publications

• Research plan (2-4 pages)

• Teaching plan

• Uploads of maximum 5 publications to be considered in the assessment

• Teaching portfolio , if applicable ( Guidelines )

Please note: It is mandatory to upload a teaching plan in the online application form. Should you not be able to produce a teaching plan, please upload a blank document in this box instead.

Application

Application procedure

After the expiry of the deadline for applications, the authorized recruitment manager selects applicants for assessment on the advice of the Appointments Committee.  All applicants are then immediately notified whether their application has been passed for assessment. The Dean then appoints an expert assessment committee in order to make an assessment of the selected applicants for the specific post. Selected applicants are notified of the composition of the committee and each applicant has the opportunity to comment on the part of the assessment that relates to the applicant him/herself. You can read about the recruitment process at the university's Job Portal .

Please note that the applicant will be contacted if the assessment committee requires further documentation.

The application will be assessed according to the Ministerial Order no. 242 of 13 March 2012 on the Appointment of Academic Staff at Universities.

The University of Copenhagen encourages all interested in this post to apply.

Please submit the application with the required attachments. Only online applications will be accepted. The closing date for applications is 23.59 p.m. CET, 18 November 2026.

Interviews for this position are likely to be held on 7 April 2027 .