“Excellence by Choice” Postdoctoral Programme in Life Science

“Excellence by Choice” Postdoctoral Programme in Life Science

Umeå University is one of Sweden’s largest institutions of higher education with over 35,000 students and 4,200 faculty and staff. We are characterised by world-leading research in several scientific fields and a multitude of educations ranked highly in international comparison. Recent breakthroughs at Umeå University include deciphering the molecular mechanisms of the bacterial CRISPR-Cas9 system and its repurposing into a tool for genome editing, a method developed at Umeå university that was awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Umeå University is currently running the “Excellence by Choice” Postdoctoral Programme in Life Science research to train outstanding young researchers and stimulate cutting-edge research (read interviews with current postdocs: Gabriel Torrens , Joram Kiriga Waititu ). As a collaboration between the two national Centres of Excellence – Umeå Centre for Microbial Research (UCMR ) and Umeå Plant Science Centre (UPSC ) – the programme aims to encourage new synergies in Life Science with a focus on molecular and translational research and to strengthen world-class research activities in Umeå. Patron for the programme is Nobel laureate Emmanuelle Charpentier, who discovered the CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technology during her time as a scientist and group leader in Umeå.

In this second call, several fellowships are open for outstanding postdoctoral candidates interested to do research in the highly interactive and multidisciplinary research environments of UCMR and UPSC. In the scope of the “Excellence by Choice” Postdoctoral Programme, we aim to recruit up to six postdoctoral scientists in this round.

The programme is open to all nationalities. The “EC” Postdoctoral Fellows will:

• Develop a collaborative project under supervision of at least two PIs
• Obtain 2-year full-time fellowship exempt from tax (672,000 SEK), as well as grants for project running costs (320,000 SEK) and the fellow’s career development (25,000 SEK)
• Access to UCMR/UPSC-affiliated core facilities and technical platforms such as Chemical Biology Consortium Sweden (CBCS), Protein Expertise Platform, metabolomics, proteomics, X-ray, NMR (850-400 MHz), The Computational Life Science Cluster (CLiC) – a node in NBIS (National Bioinformatics Infrastructure Sweden), Umeå Core Facility for Electron Microscopy (UCEM), and Biochemical Imaging Centre Umeå (BICU) that form a node in the National Microscopy Infrastructure (NMI)
• Participate in activities to strengthen networks and collaborations in academics and industry
• Involve in a strong postdoc community with the Umea Postdoc Society (UPS) which fosters networking amongst postdocs, organizes social and career development events

Qualification

To qualify as a postdoctoral fellowship holder, the postdoctoral fellow is required to have completed a doctoral degree or a foreign degree deemed equivalent to a doctoral degree in the relevant field. These qualification requirements must be fulfilled within six months after the closing date of the application.

Preference should be given to applicants who received their degree no more than three years before the end of the application period. Applicants who received their doctoral degree earlier may be considered in special circumstances. Special circumstances include absence due to illness, parental leave, clinical practice, elected positions in trade unions, or similar circumstances.

Candidates are encouraged to consider one of the project ideas listed below. The candidates’ merits and motivation for choice of project idea will be assessed by the PIs of each project respectively. A short list of applicants will then be requested to submit a short research proposal based on the chosen project idea, followed by an invitation to an interview by a panel of UCMR/UPSC researchers.

Application

The application should be submitted online including:

Step 1:

The application must be submitted electronically through the online application system. For details of the projects and application please go to the Umeå University web page with details of project ideas and link to the application system: Details and link to the online application: https://www.umu.se/en/ucmr/ec-postdoc-programme/excellence-by-choice-postdoctoral-programme-in-life-science/ .

Online application deadline: 19 March 2023.

Step 2:

A short list of candidates will be invited to submit a short proposal based on the project idea and participate in the final interview.

Date of final interview: 26 April 2023.

Questions

For further information, please contact Ingrid Söderbergh, research coordinator, [email protected]

List of projects:

At Umeå University, everything is nearby. The cohesive campus environment makes it easy to meet, collaborate and exchange knowledge, which promotes a dynamic and open culture where we rejoice in each other’s successes. If you are interested in knowing about Umeå University as a workplace, read more at: https://www.umu.se/en/work-with-us/ .

Umeå University also offers a strong postdoc community with the Umeå Postdoc Society (UPS) which fosters networking amongst postdocs, organises social and career development events and works towards improving the postdoc experience at Umeå University campus. Check out their website and do not hesitate to get in contact with them early on: https://umeapostdocsociety.se/ !

We welcome your application!

Umeå University wants to offer an environment where open dialogue between people with different backgrounds and perspectives lay the foundation for learning, creativity and development. In each recruitment we aim to increase diversity and the opportunity to affirmative action. We kindly decline offers of recruitment and advertising help.