Doctoral student position for Hereditary Breast Cancer Susceptibility Research, 4-year position 2018-2021 in Biocenter Oulu and Faculty of Medicine, University of Oulu
27.10.2017Doctoral student position for Hereditary Breast Cancer Susceptibility Research, 4-year position 2018-2021 in Biocenter Oulu and Faculty of Medicine, University of Oulu
The University of Oulu (http://www.oulu.fi/english/) is one of the largest universities in Finland, with approximately 16 000 students and 3 000 employees. The University of Oulu Graduate School (UniOGS) (http://www.oulu.fi/uniogs/) provides the framework and conditions for high-quality, research-driven doctoral education at the University of Oulu, and field-specific doctoral training is provided by its multidisciplinary doctoral programmes. Biocenter Oulu (BCO) (http://www.oulu.fi/biocenter/) offers a high-level international multidisciplinary environment supplied with cutting-edge infrastructures. Under this framework, the Health and Biosciences Doctoral Programme (HBS-DP) (http://www.oulu.fi/uniogs/dp/hbsdp) offers doctoral training in cell and molecular biology, molecular medicine, genetics, structural biology, bioinformatics, biocomputing, medicine, health sciences, and interdisciplinary topics.
Applications are invited for a full-time doctoral student position for a maximum of four years, starting at the earliest on 01.01.2018 in a Biocenter Oulu research project headed by Professor RobertWinqvist in the Laboratory of Cancer Genetics and Tumor Biology, Cancer and Translational Medicine Research Unit, Faculty of Medicine.
Breast cancer is the most common malignancy among women and about 5-10% of the cases are caused by hereditary predisposing mutations in susceptibility genes such as BRCA1, BRCA2 or PALB2, the proper functions of which are crucial for maintenance of genome stability. The overall aim of our research is to identify genomic factors important for hereditary predisposition to human breast cancer, followed by functional assessment of observed genetic lesions and disease modeling. The expected outcome of the project includes better understanding of the factors and molecular and biological mechanisms involved in hereditary breast cancer predisposition. This information can be utilized for more accurate disease risk assessment and improved diagnostics of individuals at risk as well as for designing novel tools for cancer therapy. Main skills desired from the successful candidate for this doctoral student position include hands-on experience of CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing, cell and tissue culturing, image and molecular functional analysis, RNA sequencing and profiling as well as other next-generation sequencing applications and output data analysis. The position is supervised by Prof.Winqvist and senior scientists Hellevi Peltoketo and Katri Pylkäs in the research team.
For further details of our research, please see:
Requirements
To successfully occupy the position of a doctoral student, the candidate must possess a Master’s degree or an equivalent degree (e.g. licentiate) preferably in genetics, cell biology or biochemistry. Degree must have been completed with good grades by 15.11.2017. Ability to pursue independent research and excellent writing and fluency in English is expected. The doctoral student position is intended for an Early Stage Researcher (ESR) who, according to the ”European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers”, is defined as a researcher in the first four years (full-time equivalent) of his/her research activity, including the period of research training. Applicants will be either starting their doctoral training, or will have completed no more than two full years of training (adjusted for possible previous part-time status) at the time the position is filled. The selected candidate will carry out his/her doctoral studies in the Health and Biosciences DoctoralProgramme of the University of Oulu Graduate School (UniOGS) and must meet the minimal requirements to receive doctoral study rights as defined inhttp://www.oulu.fi/uniogs/requirements_for_admission.
Salary
The salary of the selected doctoral student will be set on levels 2 – 4 of the national salary scale for the teaching and research staff of Finnish universities. In addition, a supplementary remuneration will be given for personal achievement and performance (max. 46.3%). The total salary for these levels (before tax) currently ranges from about 1985 to 3621 Euros/month for full-time employment.
Application
Applications must be submitted using the electronic application form by 15.11.2017, 24:00 (Finnish local time), with the following attachments as three separate pdf files:
1. Complete CV containing contact information of at least two referees (Max. size limit of the attachment: 5 Mbytes)
2. Motivation letter (maximum 1 page) describing prior knowledge and research interests and career plans (1-2 pages; max. size limit of the attachment: 2 Mbytes).
3. Certificates/Diplomas: Scanned electronic copies of diplomas and transcripts of the records of relevant previous degrees. If the original documents are not in English, Finnish or Swedish, each document must be accompanied by an official certified translation into English or Finnish. (Max. size limit of the attachment: 2 Mbytes)
Other relevant information
The eligible applicants fitting best in the research profile expected for the position may be invited to an on-site or remote interview. All applicants will be notified when the selection process is completed.
Contact
– Prof. Robert Winqvist, e-mail: robert.winqvist (at) oulu.fi
– Concerning the general requirements and application procedures: Coordinator Ritva Saastamoinen, e-mail: ritva.saastamoinen (at) oulu.fi
For the other BCO positions, please see http://www.oulu.fi/biocenter/open-doctoral-training-positions