Assistant Professor in Muscle Physiology Part-time

Assistant Professor in Muscle Physiology

Do you want to contribute to better health for all?

At the Unit of Neuropediatrics, Department of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institutet, research focuses on child development. The unit specializes in the interaction between the nervous system and skeletal muscle, including research on children with cerebral palsy and muscular dystrophies. We are now recruiting an Assistant Professor in Muscle Physiology to strengthen our research in both clinical and preclinical projects. You will work within Associate Professor Ferdinand von Walden's research group, with the goal of progressively taking overall responsibility for clinically oriented, pediatric muscle-focused research projects.

Your Mission

The position as Assistant Professor is a full-time, fixed-term appointment for six years, with the possibility to apply for promotion to Senior Lecturer. The overall aim of the position is to improve the understanding of how skeletal muscle changes across the lifespan in both individuals with cerebral palsy and typically developing individuals. The research focuses on ribosomal compositional changes and mitochondrial metabolism in muscle cells, using clinically derived muscle samples, exercise interventions, and animal models.

Eligibility Requirements

Those eligible for employment as an Assistant Professor are individuals who have been awarded a PhD or attained equivalent research competence. Preference should be given to those who were awarded a PhD or attained equivalent research competence no more than seven years, normally, prior to the expiry of the application period for the position as assistant professor.

Those who have been awarded a PhD or attained equivalent research competence earlier may however be considered if special grounds exist.

Special grounds refer to:

• parental leave,
• positions of trust in trade union organizations
• mandatory service in the total defense forces
• long-term illness

Ground, dates and extent must be clearly specified in the application and verified with relevant documentation.

Appointment to the position of Assistant Professor requires good scientific skills and good pedagogical skills.

Bases of Assessment

The position includes both research and teaching, with emphasis on research. We are seeking a researcher with documented experience in studying skeletal muscle function across the lifespan, from childhood to older age. Knowledge of functional, cellular, and molecular aspects of muscle growth, atrophy, and metabolism in healthy individuals and individuals with cerebral palsy is considered an advantage. Experience with exercise interventions (e.g., resistance training and endurance training) is desirable. Experience with muscle biopsy sampling in human studies is particularly meritorious. Applicants should have documented experience in molecular analysis methods applied to skeletal muscle, such as Western blotting, respirometry, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, and RNA sequencing, and have published in leading international peer-reviewed journals in the field.

For employment as Assistant Professor at Karolinska Institutet, the eligibility requirements and assessment criteria stated in the Instructions regarding the Appointment Procedure are applied in relation to established profile of employment.

It is particularly meritorious that you have demonstrated

• Demonstrated strong ability to obtain external research funding as principal investigator in competitive settings
• Demonstrated strong ability to complete research projects and lead them successfully through peer review
• Experience in planning, conducting, and analyzing exercise physiology studies in both children and adults
• Independence in laboratory work at the level of single muscle fibers, particularly using methods such as Western blotting, respirometry, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, and RNA sequencing
• Experience in muscle biopsy sampling using micro-biopsy techniques
• Understanding of and experience in how transgenic mouse models mechanistically complement human biological studies
• Strong ability to collaborate with clinically active researchers

It is meritorious that you have demonstrated

• Documented excellence in oral presentations at national and international scientific conferences
• Experience supervising students at doctoral, master's, and bachelor's levels
• Excellent communication skills in Swedish and English when interacting with research participants and colleagues

After an overall assessment of the expertise and merits of the applicants in relation to the subject area, Karolinska Institutet will determine which of them has the best potential to contribute to a positive development of the activities at KI.

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. Here, 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. It is the crossover collaborations, which have pushed KI to where it is today, at the forefront of global research. Several of the people you meet in healthcare are educated at KI. A close relationship with the health care providers is important for creating groundbreaking top quality education and research. Karolinska Institutet is also a state university, which entitles you to several good benefits through our collective agreement.

Location: Solna

Application

We prefer that your application is written in English, but you can also apply in Swedish. An application must contain the following documents: Resumé, qualifications and description of planned research, presented in accordance with Karolinska Institutet's qualifications portfolio.

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

Particular Assessment for Promotion to Senior Lecturer

An Assistant Professor employed in accordance with the Higher Education Ordinance Chapter 4 Section 12a shall be promoted to Senior Lecturer if he or she is eligible for an employment as Senior Lecturer in accordance with the Instructions regarding the Appointment Procedure for Teachers at Karolinska Institutet and is assessed to be suitable for such employment in accordance with the assessment criteria that KI has decided should be applied when being promoted to Senior Lecturer. The assessment criteria stated in the Instructions regarding the Appointment Procedure for Teachers at Karolinska Institutet that was valid at the time of appointment as Assistant Professor will be applied when applying for promotion to Senior Lecturer. Such promotion results in a permanent position as Senior Lecturer.