Postdoctoral position in women’s mental health research

Postdoctoral position in women’s mental health research

Are you interested in working with xx, with the support of competent and friendly colleagues in an international environment? Are you looking for an employer that invests in sustainable employeeship and offers safe, favourable working conditions? We welcome you to apply for a postdoctoral position at Uppsala University.

The Department of Women's and Children's Health (KBH) is an international and multi-professional department that focuses on health and welfare. The global health perspective is always present, and we collaborate across professions and clinical areas, within both education and research. The department has a website which you can find here.

The position is placed within the research group "Obstetric and Reproductive Health Research", which has the overall goal of improving the health of women, mothers and children (https://www.uu.se/institution/kvinnors-och-barns-halsa/forskning/enheten-obstetrik-och-gynekologi/obstetrisk-och-reproduktiv-halsoforskning/).

Do you want to generate evidence to support women’s mental health through various reproductive phases? 

Within our research group, a number of researchers work in the field of women’s mental health, focusing on identifying vulnerability to hormonally sensitive periods. We conduct questionnaire-, register- and randomized controlled studies- based research. The group is led by Prof. Alkistis Skalkidou. Researchers help create and have access to rich data sources and well-structured hypotheses, and work at the highest international level in the field. National collaboration is also strong within Sweden.

We are now looking for you, who is interested in becoming a member of our team. This postdoctoral position involves participation in the planning and implementation of our research studies that aim to provide scientifically robust answers to several of the current knowledge gaps in the field. More specifically, we aim to use large existing cohorts to develop multimodal predictive algorithms for perinatal depression, including biomarkers, to explore women’s preferences on high-risk identification and review the literature on preventive interventions. We also focus on menopause, and plan to identify benefits and risks associated with specific menopause hormone therapy preparations, in relation to mental health.

This position, in an engaging and transdisciplinary research environment, where you will be able to contribute to internationally leading research using different methods and data sources, provides an excellent opportunity for a transition to an independent academic career.

Duties
The successful candidate will partly coordinate the various research projects described above, in collaboration with other research assistants, doctoral students and researchers; focus will be on working in collaboration with data scientists and statisticians on analysis of longitudinal cohorts and Swedish national register-based data, manuscript preparation and grant applications; the employment is for two years and can possibly be extended. The exact content of the postdoctoral work is to some extent flexible and will take the profile of the elected candidate into account.

The successful candidate will be part of a productive and dynamic research environment and work closely with the study team to:

• Follow the literature, develop new hypotheses in the field and contribute to the research group's brainstorming discussions
• Conduct data preprocessing in sizable datasets combining different sources
• Develop analysis plans to test study hypotheses and perform statistical analyses
• Prepare manuscripts for publication (the postdoctoral fellow will have the opportunity to be the first author of several articles and co-author in others)
• Assist in project coordination tasks, including managing databases
• Assist in applications for grants and preparation of ethical applications/amendments
• Other tasks, as well as administration, may be included

Uppsala University and Sweden in general offer many opportunities for building an independent line of research. These include world renowned training courses and many grant opportunities tailored for junior researchers. The supervisory team will be fully supportive and keen to maximize opportunities for the postdocs’s career development.

Requirements
PhD degree in relevant field such as medicine, biomedicine, biology, epidemiology, or a related discipline or a foreign degree equivalent to a PhD degree in the previously mentioned subjects. The degree needs to be obtained by the time of the decision of employment. Those who have obtained a PhD degree three years prior to the application deadline are primarily considered for the employment. The starting point of the three-year frame period is the application deadline. Due to special circumstances, the degree may have been obtained earlier. The three-year period can be extended due to circumstances such as sick leave, parental leave, duties in labour unions, etc.

The candidate should have a strong background within both mental health research and clinical work. Experience of clinical work within psychiatric care will be highly valued. The candidate should be able to independently develop analysis plans, adjust them after feedback, perform data analysis, manuscript preparation and submission. It is preferable that this experience comes from the Nordic countries, but similar experiences could be considered. Excellent oral and written English language skills are also required. Very good knowledge of the Microsoft Office suite and data management as well as statistical analysis experience in R is required, as is experience with data imputation and handling missing data. Supervision of junior researchers and/or students is expected. Good ability to work together in a team is a requirement, as is the ability to work independently.

We are looking to welcome a team member with strong scientific credentials and a genuinely collaborative spirit—someone who is able to prioritize effectively across multiple tasks, take initiative, and approach their work with outmost thoroughness. We value individuals who both motivated to deliver high-quality research, but also invested in the continuous growth and development of our team and its work. The ideal candidate is reliable, ambitious, and committed to advancing science at the highest level.

Additional qualifications

• Good knowledge of the Swedish language
• Prior experience of work within interdisciplinary environments
• Experience of working with qualitative methods, incl. interviews and methodology
• Number and quality of publications in scientific journals
• Experience of supervision at the advanced level

Application process:

The application must contain the following documents in English:

• A complete curriculum vitae, including date of the thesis defense, title of the thesis, previous academic positions, academic title, current position, academic distinctions, committee and volunteer work
• Copy of your diplomas
• Copy of your thesis
• A personal letter of maximum 2 pages outlining your eligibility and motivation for the position, as well as a half-page summary of your current work assignments
• A complete list of publications (including URL/DOI)
• Contact information to at least two persons who can act as references 

About the employment
The employment is a temporary position of 2 years according to central collective agreement. Full time position. Starting date as agreed. Placement: Uppsala

For further information about the position, please contact: Professor Alkistis Skalkidou (alkistis.skalkidou@kbh.uu.se)

Please submit your application by 26 May 2025, UFV-PA 2025/1534.

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