Do you want to contribute to top quality medical research?
This is an opportunity to work in a vibrant, international, and interdisciplinary research environment at the forefront of behavioral genetics and epidemiology. Our team combines expertise in psychology, psychiatry, twin research, and evolutionary theory, and benefits from unique access to the Swedish Twin Register and other world-class population data resources. You’ll join a collaborative and supportive group passionate about understanding the genetic and environmental underpinnings of human behavior and mental health. We offer excellent opportunities for scientific growth, creative freedom, and impactful research that contributes to better health for all.
Your mission
We are recruiting a postdoc in psychiatric epidemiology, who has experience with genetically informative study designs, population data and twin registries. Research will be mostly based on data from the Swedish Twin Registry, a comprehensive database established in the 1960s and includes information on nearly 200,000 twins born in Sweden.
The successful applicant will lead projects related to exposure to stressful/ traumatic life events in childhood and adulthood and associated health outcomes, working with genetically informative study designs. In this position, you will be responsible for formulating research questions, managing and processing data, performing statistical analyses, as well as interpreting results and prepare manuscripts for publication. In addition, you will be involved in new data collection.
The post doc position involves collaboration with PhD students and other posdoctoral researchers in the research groups at the Unit of Behavior Genetics, Department of Neuroscience and the Unit of Integrative Epidemiology, Department of Environmental Medicine as well as collaborations with international partners including Germany and Iceland among others. It is also expected that the post doc actively participates in other ongoing projects within the collaborative units.
Your profile
To be eligible for employment as a postdoctor, a doctoral degree or a foreign degree deemed to be equivalent to a doctoral degree is required. This eligibility requirement must be fulfilled at the latest at the time of the employment decision. You have to have obtained a doctorate no more than three years before the last date of application (the term can be extended under special circumstances, referred to sick-leave or parental leave. Reason, dates and extent must be clearly specified in the application and verified with relevant documentation).
We are searching for a highly motivated post doc with extensive experience of large-scale data analysis and international collaborations for one year starting in September 2025. The applicant should have a PhD in epidemiology and proficiency in applied statistical analysis including skills in R, SAS, STATA, SPSS or equivalent statistical software.
We are looking for someone with the ability to thrive in a multidisciplinary research environment and work both independently and as part of a research team. Having previously worked in psychiatric epidemiology and twin data and other genetically informative designs is a highly desired. Excellent oral and written communication skills in English and Swedish or another Nordic language is required. Previous successful research is required, with publications in high-quality international journals. The applicant should have excellent analytical skills and be able to take responsibility to lead specific research projects and new data collection.
Qualifications
To be eligible, the applicant must have:
A doctoral degree related in behavior genetics or epidemiology. Experience with methods in epidemiological research, behavior genetics, and twin modelling, including co-twin control designs and polygenic scores to address causal relationships and GxE interactions. Experience in (or at least a strong interest) trauma and mental health research. Experience working within an international collaborative environment (e.g. experience with consortia work or research collaborations between countries). Experience with registry based data as well as data harmonization across countries and cohorts. Excellent data management skills and a solid knowledge of R and STATA. Excellent writing skills and command of written and spoken English and Swedish (or another Northern language). A track record of at least three first-author publications in international peer-reviewed journals.
Competences, skills and experiences considered meritorious:
A graduate (Masters) and/or undergraduate education (Bachelors) in Psychology or Public health. An ability to collaborate with colleagues within and beyond the group. Good team player with interpersonal skills and a considerate manner. Organized, efficient, and flexible in dealing with unpredictability and changes.
What do we offer?
A creative and inspiring environment with wide-ranging expertise and interests. Karolinska Institutet is one of the world's leading medical universities. At Karolinska Institutet, we conduct successful medical research and hold the largest range of medical education in Sweden. At KI, you get to meet researchers working with a wide range of specialisms and methods, giving you ample opportunity to exchange knowledge and experience with the various scientific fields within medicine and health. It is the crossover collaborations, which have pushed KI to where it is today, at the forefront of global research. Several of the people you meet in healthcare are educated at KI. A close relationship with the health care providers is important for creating groundbreaking top quality education and research. Karolinska Institutet is also a state university, which entitles you to several benefits through our collective agreement.
Location: Solna
Choose to work at KI – Ten reasons why
Application
An employment application must contain the following documents in English or Swedish:
- PhD certificate
- A complete resumé, including date of the thesis defence, title of the thesis, previous academic positions, academic title, current position, academic distinctions, and committee work
- A complete list of publications
- A summary of current work (no more than one page)
- A list briefly addressing each of the required and meritorious qualifications (e.g. max five sentences per item – preferably less).
Welcome to apply at the latest 18th of august 2025.
The application is to be submitted through the Varbi recruitment system.
Permanent position is initiated by a six months trial period.
