PhD student with a focus on technical development of e-Health - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

U-CARE at Uppsala University is seeking a talented and motivated PhD student with a focus on technical development of e-Health

The position is within the research group Healthcare Sciences and e-Health, hosting U-CARE an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research program (http://www.u-care.uu.se). The U-CARE group e.g. specializes in, the development, piloting, and evaluation of Mental Health interventions for people with somatic disease, and their significant others, e.g. e-Health interventions. Representatives of the target groups are involved in our research. U-CARE has several international collaborations and our broad competence within research methodology was acknowledged in the latest evaluation of research conducted at Uppsala University. We have developed the internet-based platform The U-CARE-portal (Portal) that supports internet-administered interventions (e.g. psychological support and treatment) and research procedures such as informed consent, randomization, and data collection. Several feasibility-, pilot-, and controlled studies with principal investigators within U-CARE or in other research groups are conducted on the Portal.

As digital technology can increase access to good and secure care and treatment we have started the work to improve the Portal´s functionality and usability. The person we are looking for will together with system developers and researchers be part of U-CARE’s technical development team.

Read more about our benefits and what it is like to work at Uppsala University

Duties
The project will have a unique starting point in the intersection between:

• Health informatics or e-Health research, focusing on the design and evaluation of online treatments, and
• Clinical research informatics (CRI), focusing on information systems to support clinical research activities. Clinical research informatics can be defined as application of informatics principles and techniques to support the spectrum of activities and business processes that instantiate clinical research.

CRI have so far mainly been used in industry and large-scale clinical trials, but less so in an academic context. The Portal, which will be the focus of this PhD project, provides tools for clinical researchers to design e-Health interventions, as well as the CRI tools to study and evaluate said interventions. This is a unique platform, and the PhD project will contribute to the understanding of activities, ideals, and challenges in the design and use of CRI systems to support systematic clinical e-Health research.

As a PhD student, you will participate in the design, testing, and evaluation of CRI for systematic e- Health research in collaboration with system developers, researchers, healthcare staff, and representatives for participants in research studies. You will contribute to the information systems and health informatics research communities by conveying descriptive and prescriptive knowledge about designing CRI systems for e-Health research. For this position, research within e-Health with a focus on sustaining the usefulness of CRI systems for e-Health research in the academic research context is of particular interest.

The PhD program spans four years of full-time work. Additional service at the Department of Women’s and Children’s Health regarding administrative and/or educational work may apply (max 20%) which then prolongs the duration of the position with the corresponding time.

Requirements

• Masterslevel degree in a relevant discipline e.g., IT, Information systems, Computer sciences, Health informatics
• Familiarity with the e-Health, Health informatics, and/or Information systems field
• Deep knowledge and practice experience of user-centered design, system development (web/app), system architectures, and related standards
• Strong background in coding in Dot Net, JavaScript, and/or Python
• Knowledge of modern research methods, data collection and analyses (including design science research and qualitative research methods)
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English, as well as oral presentation skills
• Very good ability to work independently and professionally in a collaborative environment and to communicate with colleagues from different academic disciplines
• Very good ability to show initiative, deliver work in a timely manner while meeting deadlines, and be careful with the details

The position requires that the candidate is accepted within the postgraduate doctoral program. Information regarding requirements for acceptance is found at:

http://www2.medfarm.uu.se/utbildning/forskarniva/ and https://www.uu.se/utbildning/utbildningar/ forskarutbildning/.

Additional qualifications

• Any prior experience of collaboration with clinical researchers, human subject studies, collection and management of health-related data
• Experience of working with innovative technologies and knowledge about current trends in e- Health/digital health and health data management
• Visionary and future-oriented way of thinking, drive and passion for implementing e-Health
• Experience of scientific publication

Application                                                                                                                                     Your application should be written in English and contain your Curriculum Vitae, master thesis, publications, a letter of motivation (maximum two pages) with a short description of yourself, your knowledge and research interests, and contact information for a minimum of two reference persons.

Rules governing PhD students are set out in the Higher Education Ordinance chapter 5, §§ 1-7 and in Uppsala University's rules and guidelines.

About the employment
The employment is a temporary position according to the Higher Education Ordinance chapter 5 § 7. Scope of employment 100 %. Starting date 15 November 2022 or as agreed. Placement: Uppsala.

For further information about the position, please contact: Program director for U-CARE, professor Louise von Essen, louise-von.essen@kbh.uu.se, or supervisors Senior lecturer, Associate professor, PhD Maria Hägglund, maria.hagglund@kbh.uu.se, and Researcher, PhD, Mudassir Mustafa, mudassir.mustafa@kbh.uu.se.

Please submit your application by 30 september 2022, UFV-PA 2022/3090.

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