Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences
University of Copenhagen
We are offering a PhD fellowship in Muscle Cell Biology commencing May 1st, 2024 or as soon as possible hereafter.
Our group and research: Our group focuses on the understanding of the regulation of cardiac/skeletal muscle cell function. To achieve this, we use animal models and human tissue together with a portfolio of techniques ranging from single molecule biophysics to whole muscle physiology and from X-ray diffraction to high- resolution microscopy allowing deep mechanistic studies of disease mechanisms and therapies. https: // bmi.ku.dk/english/research/exercise-and-muscle/ochala- group/
Project description:
Patients who are critically ill are treated in specialised intensive care units. Because of developments in critical care medicine, most of these patients now survive and are ultimately discharged from hospital. Despite this, patients' physical function is often markedly impaired for long periods after hospital discharge, affecting their ability to work and deeply impacting healthcare resources. This prolonged loss of physical function has been largely attributed to ‘critical illness myopathy'. The present project aims to define the exact underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms of critical illness myopathy. For that, we will perform deep phenotyping of human muscle samples using multiple cell-based assays, X-ray diffraction and proteomics.
Principal supervisor is Associate Professor Julien Ochala , Department of Biomedical Sciences, email: [email protected]
Job description Your key tasks as a PhD student at SUND are:
Carrying through an independent research project under supervision
Completing PhD courses or other equivalent education corresponding to approximately 30 ECTS points
Key criteria for the assessment of applicants Applicants must have qualifications corresponding to a master's degree in cell biology or/and biochemistry or/and related to the subject area of the project. Please note that your master's degree must be equivalent to a Danish master's degree (two years).
Other important criteria are:
Place of employment
The place of employment is at the Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen. We offer creative and stimulating working conditions in dynamic and international research environment. Our research facilities include modern laboratories and stimulating working 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 start date is May 1st, 2024 or as soon as possible hereafter.
The employment is conditioned upon the applicant's 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 during an initial three-month employment as a 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 Taxation and The Danish Confederation of Professional Associations on Academics in the State. Depending on seniority, the monthly salary starts at approximately 28,900 DKK/Roughly 3,800 EUR (October 2023 level) plus pension.
Questions For specific information about the PhD fellowship, please contact the principal supervisor, Associate Professor Julien Ochala , Department of Biomedical Sciences, email: [email protected].
General information about PhD studies 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: 13th December 2023, 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.
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 find information about the recruitment process at: https: // employment.ku.dk/faculty/recruitment-process/
The applicants will be assessed according to the Ministerial Order no. 242 of 13 March 2012 on the Appointment of Academic Staff at Universities.
Interviews are expected to be held in February 2024 (week and date to be determined later).
The University of Copenhagen wish to reflect the diversity of society and encourage all qualified candidates to apply regardless of personal background.