Postdoctoral Researcher in Pain Chronobiology

The Faculty of Medicine invites applications for the position of 

POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHER IN PAIN CHRONOBIOLOGY

The University of Helsinki is one of the leading universities in Nordics and Europe and an international scientific community of 40,000 students and researchers. Position of postdoctoral researcher is available at the Translational Pain Research group at Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, led by Academy Research Fellow Dr. Vinko Palada. Dr. Palada´s team investigates circadian regulation of chronic pain and associated comorbidities by using the state-of-the-art methods such as high-throughput omics, molecular biology, drug library screens, characterization of the patient cohorts and the functional studies in experimental models. This is a new and exciting research field, with the goals to revolutionize our understanding of pain mechanisms and to develop new therapies for pain relief. The group closely collaborates with Helsinki University Hospital and Karolinska Institute, Sweden. 

Job description and key requirements

Researcher will have an opportunity to join the already established project or initiate their own project within the main research areas of the group (comorbidity between sleep disorders and pain, circadian regulation of pain and pain chronopharmacology). We are looking for an ambitious early career researcher with advanced analytical and problem-solving skills.

The successful applicant has at least two first authorship publications and a doctoral degree in neuroscience, biology, chronobiology, pharmacology, sleep medicine or other related discipline. The degree requirement must be met by the beginning of employment.

Previous experience with pain, sleep and circadian research is considered a strong merit for this position. Excellent communication and writing skills in English and ability to work in the international team setting are expected. The successful applicant will take part in experiments, supervision of students, drafting of the manuscripts and funding applications.

The chosen applicant is expected to reside in Finland while employed by the University of Helsinki.

Contract and work benefits

Employment is expected to start on June 1st 2024 as fixed 1-year position, with a possibility of prolongation. A six-month trial period will be applied. Salary will be commensurate with qualifications and experience based on the University guidelines.

In addition, University of Helsinki offers comprehensive services to its employees, including occupational health care and opportunities for professional development. Further information can be obtained here: https://www.helsinki.fi/en/about-us/careers/why-university-helsinki/staff-benefits .

In 2024, Finland has been ranked as the happiest country in the world for 7th time in a row according to the annual World Happiness Report and was recently rated as the best country in the world for expat families.  For more information about working at the University of Helsinki and living in Finland, please see https://www.helsinki.fi/en/university/working-at-the-university . 

Application requirements

Application should include the following documents:
1) CV (Europass CV template highly recommeded)
2) motivation letter (a description of how you would utilise your research skills in our group and what kind of research projects you would like to pursue, up to two pages)
3) list of publications and
4) three reference contacts.

Application documents should be submitted as a single PDF file to the University of Helsinki electronic recruitment system, by clicking on the ‘Apply for position’ button. Applicants who are currently employed by the University of Helsinki are requested to submit their application via the SAP Fiori portal at: https://msap. sap.helsinki.fi.

The University of Helsinki welcomes applicants from a variety of genders, linguistic and cultural backgrounds.

Deadline for application is Thursdat May 9th, 2024 and position will be filled as soon as possible.

For further information, please contact Dr. Vinko Palada ([email protected]).

For additional information about the application process, please contact HR Specialist Päivi Sinisalo: paivi.sinisalo (at) helsinki.fi.

If you need technical support with the recruitment system, please contact recruitment (at) helsinki.fi.

The Faculty of Medicine promotes scientific research of a high standard and is responsible for providing research-based undergraduate and postgraduate education in medicine, dentistry, psychology and logopedics, as well as for the English-language Master’s Programme in Translational Medicine and provides also psychotherapist education. In addition to its teaching and research activities, the Faculty serves as a significant expert organisation in the healthcare sector and contributes to the discourse on ethics in the field. In terms of research, the Faculty aims for a place among the best medical faculties in the world, while consolidating and strengthening its status as a top-level institution of medical education.
Together with HUS Helsinki University Hospital and the Helsinki Institute of Life Science (HiLIFE), the Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, constitutes the Academic Medical Center. This medical center has been very successful in international comparisons, ranking among the top 10 medical campuses in Europe and among the top 50 globally.