Postdoc in the social aspects of stem cell research at Department of Public Health

We are looking for a highly motivated and dynamic postdoc for a three-year position commencing October 1st, 2022 or a date by negotiation. The postdoc focuses on patient perspectives on stem cell futures.

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

Our research
The postdoc will be placed within reNEW – the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Stem Cell Medicine. reNEW is a high-profile consortium of world-leading stem cell scientists collaborating to promote effective, safe and socially robust stem cell-based therapies. There are three participating partner nodes, namely University of Copenhagen (in Denmark), Leiden University (in the Netherlands) and Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (in Melbourne, Australia). This position is placed in Copenhagen, but will collaborate with the other nodes within reNEW, as part of the PREPARE cluster of activities that will combine ethical, economic, societal, and STS approaches to facilitate a socially robust delivery of stem cell outcomes to the community.

The position is locally situated at the Centre for Medical Science and Technology Studies (MeST) and Medical Museion, in the Department of Public Health. MeST is a research center with approximately 35 researchers working with STS and medical humanities questions, as well as developing public engagement activities. It provides a stimulating and cross-disciplinary environment for understanding the social dynamics of research and clinical practice, drawing upon a wide range of methods.

Your job
We strive for a post doc who is excited to join an interdisciplinary humanities and social science team, in close collaboration with biomedical scientists. Your role will be to develop and carry out a project to exploring patient perspectives on stem cell research, and in particular the roles of temporality – both memories of the past and speculations and hopes about the future. We expect the postdoc to exhibit independence in developing the details of the project. You would be responsible for identifying, recruiting, and working with patient groups, with a clear attention to the ethical considerations of engaging in this field. The postdoc will collaborate with others in the PREPARE node, both drawing on their expertise to shape the project, and in return share their findings to inform the development of more quantitative and broad mapping studies. Your work will also involve method development, working with participatory research and experimenting with the use of creative techniques within a museum-based setting at Medical Museion (www.museion.ku.dk ). This feeds into wider Center considerations about public engagement and the representation of research participant voices.

Profile
We are looking for a highly motivated and enthusiastic researcher with the following competencies and experience:

Essential experience and skills:

• You have a PhD in health psychology, medical humanities or medical STS.
• You are experienced in engaging with patients and others with lived experience of illness.
• You will have a research trajectory documenting interest in how memories of the past, and hopes about the future, shape perspectives on biomedical research.
• You will have conducted participatory qualitative research engaging participant memories, and have an interest in developing other participatory and creative research methods. 
• You will have documented experience with connecting literatures across disciplines and working in interdisciplinary groups, and be comfortable engaging with stem cell scientific literature.
• You will be a confident and sensitive facilitator, with great communication skills.
• You will have worked with museum outreach and interactive forms of engagement
• Excellent English skills written and spoken.

Desirable experience and skills:

• It is an advantage to be fluent in Danish to aid with patient research.
• It is desirable to have experience of engaging publics with your research and/or collaborating with creative practitioners.
• It is good to have knowledge of basic human biology and the medical field.

Place of employment
The place of employment is at the Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen. We offer creative and stimulating working conditions in dynamic and international research environment.

Terms of employment
The average weekly working hours are 37 hours per week.

The position is a fixed-term position limited to a period of 3 years. The starting date is October 1st, 2022 or after agreement.

Salary, pension and other conditions of employment are set in accordance with the Agreement between the Ministry of Finance and AC (Danish Confederation of Professional Associations) or other relevant organisation. Depending on qualifications, a supplement may be negotiated. The employer will pay an additional 17.1 % to your pension fund.

Foreign and Danish applicants may be eligible for tax reductions, if they hold a PhD degree and have not lived in Denmark the last 10 years.

The position is covered by the Job Structure for Academic Staff at Universities 2020.

Questions
For further information please contact Louise Whiteley, [email protected]; www.sund.ku.dk

Foreign applicants may find this link useful: www.ism.ku.dk (International Staff Mobility).

Application procedure
Your online application must be submitted in English by clicking ‘Apply now’ below. Furthermore, your application must include the following documents/attachments – all in PDF format:

Deadline for applications: May 20, 2022, 23.59pm CET

We reserve the right not to consider material received after the deadline, and not to consider applications that do not live up to the abovementioned requirements.

The further process
After the expiry of the deadline for applications, the authorized recruitment manager selects applicants for assessment on the advice of the hiring committee. All applicants are then immediately notified whether their application has been passed for assessment by an unbiased assessor. Once the assessment work has been completed 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 https://employment.ku.dk/faculty/recruitment-process/

The applicant 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 wish to reflect the diversity of society and encourage all qualified candidates to apply regardless of personal background.

Part of the International Alliance of Research Universities (IARU), and among Europe’s top-ranking universities, the University of Copenhagen promotes research and teaching of the highest international standard. Rich in tradition and modern in outlook, the University gives students and staff the opportunity to cultivate their talent in an ambitious and informal environment. An effective organisation – with good working conditions and a collaborative work culture – creates the ideal framework for a successful academic career.