Research Assistant and PhD fellow in the Genetic architecture of skeletal muscle Full-time

PhD Fellowship Opportunity

The University of Copenhagen is seeking a highly motivated and talented PhD fellow to commence November 15, 2026, or after agreement in the Loos Group at the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research (CBMR), University of Copenhagen.

The PhD fellowship is part of the CBMR International PhD & Postdoc Program.

The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research (CBMR) is an academic research Center that pioneers groundbreaking research towards better cardiometabolic health. Through collaborative, interdisciplinary research spanning single-cell genomics to whole-body systems, CBMR aims to transform the basic understanding of cardiometabolic health and accelerate its translation into prevention and treatment strategies. CBMR's uniquely multi- and interdisciplinary approach combines research in genetics, physiology, computational biology, and pharmacology, creating a highly collaborative and international research environment.

CBMR was established in 2010 at the Faculty of Health & Medical Sciences and has been located in the Maersk Tower at Panum since 2017. CBMR currently hosts around 260 employees from diverse scientific and cultural backgrounds.

You can learn more in the Executive Summary of CBMR's Strategy 2024–2028.

Our Research

This PhD project will be embedded in the Loos Group, which focuses on uncovering the genetic and biological drivers of obesity, body composition, and cardiometabolic disease using large‑scale human genetics and deeply phenotyped cohorts.

The group values teamwork, interdisciplinary collaboration, openness, and inclusion, and works closely with national and international partners across academia and industry. You will be part of a highly supportive research environment with strong methodological mentorship and access to an extensive international network.

Project Description

Body composition plays a central role in cardiometabolic health, yet individuals with similar overall body size can differ markedly in fat and skeletal muscle characteristics and disease risk. While large‑scale genetic studies have improved our understanding of general adiposity, the biological determinants of skeletal muscle traits at population scale remain incompletely understood.

Recent large population resources, such as the UK Biobank, combine genome‑wide genetic data with MRI imaging, creating new opportunities to study skeletal muscle in relation to metabolic health, aging, and disease risk using anatomically informed measures.

Research Aims

The overall aim of this PhD project is to leverage MRI data from the UK Biobank to study skeletal muscle traits at scale and to identify genetic factors influencing variation in skeletal muscle composition.

The project will:

• Generate robust imaging‑derived measures related to skeletal muscle using population‑based MRI data.
• Identify genetic variants associated with these skeletal muscle traits.
• Explore the relevance of genetic findings for metabolic health and disease risk using genetic and epidemiological approaches.

Your Role

We strive to provide PhD trainees with both independence and strong mentorship. Your tasks would include:

• Processing and quality‑controlling large‑scale abdominal MRI data
• Developing reproducible pipelines for skeletal muscle phenotyping
• Performing genome‑wide and gene‑level genetic association analyses
• Integrating genetic findings with proteomic and functional genomic data
• Interpreting results in close collaboration with clinical and experimental partners
• Disseminating findings through publications, conference presentations, and open, well‑documented analysis workflows

Principal supervisor: Professor, Ruth Loos, ruth.loos@sund.ku.dk

Start: November 15, 2026

Duration: 1 year as Research Assistant followed by 3 years as PhD fellow contingent on a positive evaluation of the 1st year.

Profile

This PhD fellowship is aimed at early‑career researchers with strong quantitative training who aspire to a career in academic research at the interface of imaging, genetics, and metabolic health.

Required qualifications:

• Master's degree in Biomedical Sciences, Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, Medical Imaging, Biostatistics, or related fields (equivalent to a Danish Master's degree)
• Strong quantitative and analytical skills
• Experience working with large‑scale biomedical datasets
• Programming skills in Python and/or R
• Familiarity with Linux and HPC environments
• A curious mindset with a strong interest in imaging‑based phenotyping, statistical genetics, and metabolic health
• Excellent English communication skills, written and oral

Experience with MRI analysis, deep learning, statistical genetics, or multi‑omics integration is advantageous but not required.

Eligibility

The PhD fellowships within the CBMR International PhD & Postdoc Program are open for applicants that hold a Master's degree equivalent to a Danish master's degree (two years). The Master's degree has to be obtained before November 15, 2026. You are not eligible to apply for the program if you have been employed in a Research Assistant position for more than two years at the University of Copenhagen prior to the commencement of the fellowship.

Terms of Employment

The employment consists of 1 year as a Research Assistant followed by 3 years as PhD fellow contingent on a positive evaluation of the 1st year. Starting date is November 15, 2026, or after agreement.

The employment as PhD fellow is conditioned upon the applicant's successful enrolment as a PhD student at the Graduate School at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen. This requires submission and acceptance of an application for the specific project formulated by the applicant. The PhD study must be completed in accordance with The Ministerial Order on the PhD programme (2013) and the Faculty's rules on achieving the degree.

Salary, pension and terms of employment are in accordance with the agreement between the Ministry of Finance and The Danish Confederation of Professional Associations on Academics in the State.

When you will be affiliated with the University of Copenhagen or otherwise have access to their research, you may be required to undergo a background screening. The purpose is to protect the security and research integrity of the University of Copenhagen.

Questions

For further information about the position, please contact Professor Ruth Loos at ruth.loos@sund.ku.dk. Questions regarding the CBMR International PhD & Postdoc Program must be directed to Senior Advisor Sarah Christoffersen at sarah.christoffersen@sund.ku.dk. For questions regarding the recruitment procedure, please contact HR at hr-cbmr@adm.ku.dk.

General information about PhD studies at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences is available at the Graduate School's website.

The University of Copenhagen International Staff Mobility office offers support and assistance to all international researchers on all issues related to moving to and settling in Denmark.

Application Procedure

Your online application must be submitted in English via the 'Apply for position' link below. Furthermore, your application must include the following documents/attachments – all in PDF format:

• Motivated letter of application (max. one page)
• CV incl. education, experience, language skills and other skills relevant to the position
• Certified copy of original Master's diploma and transcript of records in the original language, including an authorized English translation if issued in another language than English or Danish. If not completed, a certified/signed copy of a recent transcript of records or a written statement from the institution or supervisor is accepted.
• List of publications
• References (name and contact details of at least two references)

Application Deadline: August 10, 2026, 23.59pm CET

We reserve the right not to consider material received after the deadline and not to consider applications that do not live up to the abovementioned requirements.

The further process after the expiry of the deadline for applications involves selection by the authorized recruitment manager on the advice of the hiring committee. All applicants are then immediately notified whether their application has been passed for assessment by an unbiased assessor. Once the assessment work has been completed, each applicant has the opportunity to comment on the part of the assessment that relates to the applicant him/herself.

You can read about the recruitment process at www.employment.ku.dk/faculty/recruitment-process.

The applicant will be assessed according to Ministerial Order No. 242 of March 13, 2012, on