OPEN JOB

DOCTORAL STUDENT

The new fixed-term PhD studentship in the Biocenter Oulu Doctoral Programme (BCO-DP) offers an exciting opportunity to join the Northern Finland Birth Cohort research group in the Center for Life Course Epidemiology at the Faculty of Medicine/Institute of Health Sciences and Biocenter Oulu, University of Oulu, Finland. The funding period will be until 31.12.2015.

The Biocenter Oulu Doctoral Programme (BCO-DP), which is operating under the University of Oulu Graduate School, is one of the largest programmes in its field in Finland. BCO-DP has regularly been rated as excellent when reviewed by the Academy of Finland and the Ministry of Education and Culture.

The Northern Finland Birth Cohorts 1966 and 1985-86 (NFBCs) are based in the Institute of Health Sciences. The Institute’s main areas of expertise include life course, environmental, respiratory, metabolic/cardiovascular and reproductive epidemiology and child development. The NFBCs are world famous prospective birth cohort studies with genetic, environmental and clinical disease related data spanning over 45 years (http://kelo.oulu.fi/NFBC). The researchers have already established a productive international collaboration with funding e.g. from Academy of Finland, NIH, EU, MRC UK and Wellcome Trust UK. These cohorts allow exploration of the evolution of short/long-term morbidity, particularly for intermediate disease markers such as high blood pressure, unfavourable lipid levels, and insulin resistance, throughout the life-course, as a means of identifying high risk groups and biological markers amenable to early intervention and prevention. We have started a new collection sweep for the NFBC 1966 at age 46 years in 2012. The candidate’s work will be in the field of genetic and molecular determinants of metabolic disorders. You will join the graduate school of University of Oulu. We will also offer international training via our established collaborations with Imperial College London, UK, University of Oxford and international consortia such as Early Growth Genetics [EGG] and Early Genetics and Lifecourse Consortium [EAGLE].

Requirements:

- The applicant should hold an M.Sc., Med.Lic. or an equivalent degree in a relevant field medicine, biology, genetics, statistics or related research areas applicable for the research themes. We expect an excellent level of basic skill needed for a PhD studies and sufficient language skills.

- We appreciate candidates with good knowledge of methodology in epidemiology, genetic epidemiology, or molecular medicine.

- We appreciate candidates with energy, enthusiasm and vision, the ability to self-motivate and to motivate others, and potential to become a highly qualified researcher.

The salary for the position will be based on levels 1-4 of the demands level (1747 – 2403 e/month) chart for teaching and research personnel in the salary system of Finnish universities, supplemented by personal work performance up to 46.3% of the job demands level.

Applications including (1) a description of yourself and your research interests (1 page), (2) a curriculum vitae (max 3 pages), (3) possible list of publications (original papers and abstracts separately) should be sent to University of Oulu by 23th April 2012, before 3 pm local time in Finland at the latest as a single pdf file to kirjaamo(at)oulu.fi.

More detailed information is available from Professor Marjo-Riitta Järvelin, Scientific Director of NFBC studies, (m.jarvelin(at)imperial.ac.uk or +358-40-5606043 or +44-7725414367).

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Ritva Saastamoinen, PhD

Docent of Human Genetics Biocenter Oulu Doctoral Programme Coordinator

Biocenter Oulu PL 5000 (Aapistie 5a) FIN-90014 University of Oulu

Tel: (+358) 08 537 6102 GSM (+358) 041 544 2010 E-mail ritva.saastamoinen(at)oulu.fi Web pages: http://www.biocenter.oulu.fihttp://www.biocenter.oulu.fi/ Fax: (+358) 08 537 6115

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