We are offering a fully funded 3-year PhD fellowship for a talented and highly motivated individual interested in cellular stress responses which is scheduled to start 1 January 2024 or after agreement.

The employment will take place in the Bekker-Jensen laboratory in the DNRF Center of Excellence, Center for Gene Expression (CGEN) within the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine (ICMM) at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen.

About the Bekker-Jensen Group and the institute
The overarching aim of our group is to understand the molecular details of cellular stress responses and how they contribute to human diseases. We are especially interested in understanding the mechanisms by which the MAP kinases p38 and JNK become activated in response to cellular stress insults such as ribosomal impairment, oxidative stress and high osmolarity, and how such signaling drives or protect against pathological cellular changes. Importantly, the same signaling pathways are crucial for inflammatory responses, adding to the relevance of our work for a range of human diseases.

We offer a vibrant, ambitious, and highly international research environment as well as access to state-of-the-art facilities for next generation sequencing, flow cytometry, mass spectrometry and advanced microscopy platforms. In the Bekker-Jensen Group we strive to do excellent science in an open, collaborative, and collegial work environment that provides ample mentorship and training opportunities to further each members’ individual career goals.

For more information about the group: https://icmm.ku.dk/english/research-groups/bekker-jensen-group/.

The research will take place as part of Center for Gene Expression (CGEN), which will be located in the Maersk Tower and comprise four excellent research teams (Svejstrup Group, Bekker-Jensen Group, Gregersen Group and Haahr Group) working in close collaboration on related research topics in cell stress and gene expression.

Read more about the Center for Gene Expression (CGEN): https://cgen.ku.dk/.

Principal supervisor is Professor and Group leader Simon Bekker-Jensen, Center for Gene Expression (CGEN), Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine (ICMM), e-mail: [email protected].

Start: 1 January 2024 or after agreement.

Duration: 3 years as a PhD student.

Job description
Your key tasks as a PhD student at SUND are to:

• Carry through an independent research project under supervision.
• Write scientific articles and the PhD thesis based on your research.
• Complete PhD courses or other equivalent education corresponding to approx. 30 ECTS points.
• Participate in active and ambitious research environments including a stay at another research team (preferably abroad).
• Obtain experience with teaching or other types of dissemination related to your PhD project.

Key criteria for the assessment of applicants
Applicants must have qualifications corresponding to a Master’s degree in Molecular Biomedicine, Biochemistry, Biology, Genetics or similar (equivalent to a Danish candidate 3+2 years).

Certified copy of original Master of Science diploma and transcript of records in the original language, including an authorized English translation if issued in other language than English or Danish. If not completed, a certified/signed copy of a recent transcript of records or a written statement from the institution or supervisor is accepted.

As a prerequisite for a PhD fellowship employment, your master’s degree must be equivalent to a Danish master’s degree. We encourage you to read more in the assessment database: https://ufm.dk/en/education/recognition-and-transparency/find-assessments/assessment-database.

Please note that we might ask you to obtain an assessment of your education performed by the Ministry of Higher Education and Science.

Other important criteria are:

• The grade point average achieved.
• Relevant laboratory experience in molecular cell biology or biochemistry
  • Previous experience with tissue cell culturing, CRISPR editing, imaging or mouse work is an advantage (all necessary training will be provided to help you succeed).
  
  
• Curious and collaborative mindset with a strong interest in cell biology.
• Excellent English skills, written and spoken.

Place of employment
The place of employment is the new DNRF Center of Excellence CGEN (Center for Gene Expression) within the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine (ICMM) at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen.

As an institute, ICMM offers a creative and ambitious scientific environment, with many different nationalities presently represented and English as the working language. We strive to produce research results with high international impact, focusing on the functional cell, its genetic components, and molecular cellular mechanisms in a medical context.

The ICMM currently comprises five research programs, three high profile Research Centers (including CGEN) as well as a number of internationally renowned research groups. The scientists at ICMM are involved in high quality research based undergraduate and graduate teaching programs at the University of Copenhagen.

More information can be found at https://icmm.ku.dk/english/.

Terms of employment
The employment as a PhD fellow is full time (37 working hours per week in average) and for 3 years.

It is conditioned upon the applicant’s successful enrollment as a PhD student at the Graduate School at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, as well as a positive assessment of the 1-year research assistant position. Enrollment at the Graduate School requires submission and acceptance of an application for the specific project formulated by the applicant (for more information, please see https://healthsciences.ku.dk/phd/guidelines/).

The PhD study must be completed in accordance with The Ministerial Order on the PhD programme (2013) and the Faculty’s rules on achieving the degree. Salary, pension, and terms of employment are in accordance with the agreement between the Ministry of Taxation and The Danish Confederation of Professional Associations on Academics in the State. Depending on seniority, the monthly salary begins at DKK 28,993 /approx. EUR 3,865 (October 2023-level) plus pension.

Questions
For specific information about the PhD fellowship, please contact the principal supervisor Simon Bekker-Jensen by e-mail: [email protected].

General information about PhD study at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences is available at the Graduate School’s website: https://healthsciences.ku.dk/phd/guidelines/.

Application procedure
Your application must be submitted electronically by clicking ‘Apply now’ below. The application must include the following documents in PDF format:

1. Motivated letter of application (max. one page).
2. CV incl. education, experience, language skills and other skills relevant for the position.
3. Master of Science diploma and transcript of records. If not completed, a certified/signed copy of a recent transcript of records or a written statement from the institution or supervisor will do.
4. Publication list (if possible).

Application deadline: Thursday 21 September 2023, 23:59 PM 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 formal 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.

The assessor makes a non-prioritized assessment of the academic qualifications and experience with respect to the above-mentioned area of research, techniques, skills, and other requirements listed in the advertisement.

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 Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences comprises approximately 7,815 students, 2,113 researchers and 3,793 employees. The faculty advances the field of health sciences through its core activities: research, teaching, knowledge sharing and communication. With basic research fields ranging from molecular studies to studies of society, the faculty contributes to a healthy future through its graduates, research findings and inventions benefitting patients and the community.
The University of Copenhagen wishes to reflect the surrounding community and invites all regardless of personal background to apply for the position.

Kilde: Jobnet.dk