PhD fellowship in Barrier Immunology at the LEO Foundation Skin Immunology Research Center (SIC)

A PhD fellowship is available at the William Agace group at The LEO Foundation Skin Immunology Research Center (SIC – www.sic.ku.dk). Before entering the fellowship, the successful candidate will be having an initial employment as research assistant for 1 year scheduled to start Jan 1st 2025 or as soon as possible hereafter.

About the Center
The ‘LEO Foundation Skin Immunology Research Center’ paves the way to a better understanding and treatment of the skin diseases that plague a quarter of the world's population.

Based on a grant from the LEO Foundation of more than 50 million EUR over 10 years the center will bring together leading Danish and international researchers in immunology and skin disease to provide new knowledge to enable better diagnostics and more effective treatments for a wide range of skin diseases such as psoriasis and eczema.

The ‘LEO Foundation Skin Immunology Research Center’ will identify key questions relating to disease heterogeneity, new pathological mechanisms, and novel therapies of inflammatory skin diseases.

With the ultimate aim of helping people with skin diseases in the best possible way, the center launches a focused effort employing cutting edge technologies to advance biological insights and translate basic discoveries to ‘proof of principle’ and finally to patients.

The center is located on the 12th floor of the Maersk Tower at the University of Copenhagen. The center collaborates closely with Danish and international research environments and hospitals.

Our groups and research

We are looking for a highly motivated PhD student to join the Barrier Immunology Group headed by Professor William Agace at the Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Copenhagen University. The successful candidate will join a cross-disciplinary team of collaborating gastroenterologists, dermatologists and bioinformaticians to explore the potential cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying Crohn’s disease and Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) comorbidity.

The PhD project

HS is a chronic inflammatory disease of the skin that affects approximately 1% of the population. HS lesions occur primarily in apocrine gland bearing skin such as the ano/genital area and arm pits. It presents as a continuum of inflammatory states ranging from acne-like inflammatory nodules to recurrent abscesses, extensive sinus tracts and deep seated scaring. The etiology of HS remains unclear but involves immune dysregulation that appears to be initiated around hair follicles and an inflammatory infiltrate that includes the recruitment of both innate and adaptive immune cells. Emerging evidence have identified inflammatory bowel disease, and particularly Crohn’s disease, as a comorbidity in HS and both diseases share risk factors including smoking and obesity.

Your project aims to assess potential cellular and molecular mechanism underlying the association between Crohn’s disease and HS.

Principal supervisor William Agace, Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Email. [email protected]. Tel +46705221466

Start: Jan 1st 2025

Duration: 1 year as research assistant + 3 years as a PhD student

Qualifications and key criteria for the assessment of applicants
Candidates for the fellowship must hold an MSc degree within Biochemistry or a similar field with a focus on mucosal immunology. The successful candidate must also have experience within:

• The isolation of immune cells from human and murine intestinal samples
• Multi-parameter flow cytometry
• Single cell RNA-sequencing library preparation
• Cell culturing
• ELISA, confocal microscopy
• Mouse handling and breeding

Other important criteria are:

• Professional qualifications relevant to the PhD project
• Curious mind-set with a strong interest in mucosal immunology and in particular IBD
• Proficiency in spoken and written english

The research group is highly multidisciplinary and international. Members are expected to collaborate both within the group, within the center, nationally, and internationally; strong networking and team player skills are therefore valued.

Job description and tasks
During the first year as research assistant, the candidate will have to formulate a PhD project and apply for enrolment as PhD fellow.

During the enrolment and employment as PhD student your tasks will be:

• Carry through an independent research project under supervision

• Complete PhD courses or other equivalent education corresponding to approx. 30 ECTS points
• Participate in active research environments including a stay at another research team
• Obtain experience with teaching or other types of dissemination related to your PhD project
• Teach and disseminate your knowledge
• Write a PhD thesis on the grounds of your project

Place of employment

The place of employment is at SIC, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, located in central Copenhagen. SIC offers creative and stimulating working conditions in dynamic and international research environment. Our research facilities include modern laboratories. Seminars with high-profile international speakers and regular internal research seminars are organized at the Center. The selected candidate should expect some travel activity.

Terms of employment
You will be employed as research assistant for one year followed by 3 years as PhD fellow.

The transfer to PhD employment after the first year is conditioned upon satisfying performance and success­ful enrolment as a PhD student at the Graduate School at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen. This requires submission and acceptance of an application for the specific project formulated by the applicant the first year as research assistant.

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 Finance and The Danish Confederation of Professional Associations on Academics in the State. Depending on seniority, the monthly salary begins around 30.700 DKK plus pension.

For international researchers, it is possible to achieve a pension exemption (http://ism.ku.dk/onarrival/pension/). International candidates may also find information on working and living in Denmark on www.ism.ku.dk (UCPH’s International staff mobility).

Questions
For specific information about the PhD fellowship, please contact the principal supervisor.

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. 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

4. Publication list (if possible)

Application deadline: 6 October 2024, 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 notified whether their application has been passed for assessment by an unbiased assessor. The assessment is according to the Ministerial Order no. 242 of 13 March 2012 on the Appointment of Academic Staff at Universities.

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 http://employment.ku.dk/faculty/recruitment-process/

Interviews are expected to be held in week 45-46.

SIC and the University of Copenhagen wishes to reflect the surrounding community and invites all regardless of personal background to apply for the position.

The Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences comprises approximately 7500 students, 1500 PhD students and 3200 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.

Kilde: Jobnet.dk