Postdoctoral studies in Cancer and Cellular Senescence (scholarship)

The Department of Biosciences and Nutrition performs research and education in several areas of medical sciences including cancer biology, aging, molecular endocrinology, functional genomics, systems biology, structural biology, protein biochemistry, immunology, and nutrition. It offers an excellent international research and working environment, including around 200 scientists, students, administrative and technical personnel. The Department resides in Neo at Campus Flemingsberg, a biomedical research building, aimed at being a creative and open environment that enables meetings, synergies, and exploration of areas of mutual interest across disciplines

Do you want to contribute to top quality medical research?

Join us in an exciting project on how cell and tissue mechanics controls cellular senescence in cancer. You will combine a broad set of methods and models, including cells, transgenic mouse cancer models and analysis of patient material to unravel novel molecular mechanisms in control of cancer development.

Research group

Staffan Strömblad’s research group focuses on the role of cell-matrix interactions in cancer. The group holds a mix of senior researchers, postdocs and students and uses in its research a broad array of methods, including advanced light microscopy and image analysis, transgenic mouse cancer models, multiplexed tissue image analysis, modern global omics techniques and a range of molecular, biochemistry and cell-based methods.

Strömblad’s research group is part of a larger “Aging and Cancer” research environment composed of seven research groups located next to each other within the modern research building Neo. This stimulating environment offers joint events and promotes daily interactions, collaborations and sharing of expertise. Strömblad is the director of the Breast cancer theme center at Karolinska Institutet, offering events and networking with leading pre-clinical and clinical breast cancer experts. Strömblad also directs the Live Cell Imaging Core Facility at KI that offers top-of-the-line training, support and equipment for advanced light microscopy and image analysis.

Your mission

You will initially join a senior postdoc in an ongoing project on the role of cellular senescence in cancer development and then use this as the base to branch out your own research direction. You will perform experiments in 2D and 3D cell models, transgenic mouse cancer models, and in tissues from patients, and perform various analyses such as multiplexed image-based analysis of tissues, scRNA-seq and spatial transcriptomics, confocal microscopy imaging and analysis, and various cell and biochemical assays. You will take a strong responsibility for developing the project, design experiments, and analyze, compile, and present your data.

Your qualifications

You are highly motivated and have extensive experience in cancer biology, mouse models, and cell and molecular biology. Experience in cellular senescence, cell-matrix interactions, image analysis, bioinformatics and/or modern omics analysis is advantageous. You are entihusiastic and responsible and capable to take the main responsibility for developing a line of research and to design and perform your own experiments. You have excellent communication skills and can provide useful feedback and support for other group members on experimental design and execution, and on the analysis, quality and interpretation of data. Fluency in written and spoken English is a requirement. You earned your PhD in December 2021 or thereafter.

What do we offer?

A creative, international and inspiring environment with wide-ranging expertise and interests. Karolinska Institutet is one of the world's leading medical universities. At Karolinska Institutet, we conduct successful medical research and hold the largest range of medical education in Sweden. At KI, you get to meet researchers working with a wide range of specialisms and methods, giving you ample opportunity to exchange knowledge and experience with the various scientific fields within medicine and health.

Entry requirements

Scholarships for postdoctoral qualification can be established for foreign researchers who place their qualifications in Sweden. The purpose of scholarships for postdoctoral qualification is to promote internationalization and contribute to research qualification after a doctorate or equivalent. A scholarship for carrying out postdoctoral research can be granted for a maximum of two years within a four year period following the receipt of a doctoral degree or equivalent.
To be eligible for a postdoctoral scholarship, the person must have obtained a doctorate or a foreign degree deemed to be equivalent to a doctorate. Applicants who have not completed a doctorate at the end of the application period may also apply, provided that all requirements for a completed degree are met before the (intended) start date of the post doctoral education.

The head of the department determines whether their previous training and scholarly qualifications correspond to a Swedish doctorate or higher.

Location: Flemingsberg Campus

Links for further information:

https://ki.se/en/bionut/cell-biology-of-cancer-staffan-stromblad-0

https://ki.se/en/research/brect-breast-cancer-theme-center

https://ki.se/en/bionut/department-of-biosciences-and-nutrition

https://ki.se/en/bionut/live-cell-imaging-core-facility-lci

Type of scholarship

The amount is tax free and it is set for twelve months at a time, paid out on a six months basis. In exceptional cases, shorter periods may be acceptable. The scholarship is intended for a two-year period, whereafter a postdoctoral employment may be provided pending on project progress and available funding.

Application process

An application must contain the following documents in English:

Motivation letter (no more than one page)
A complete curriculum vitae, including date of the thesis defence, title of the thesis, previous academic positions, academic title, current position, academic distinctions, and committee work
A complete list of publications
A summary of current work (no more than one page)
Three letters of reference

The application is to be submitted on the Varbi recruitment system.