Postdoctoral Position in Perinatal Mental Health
Uppsala University Department of Women's and Children's Health
Sweden

Postdoctoral Position in Perinatal Mental Health

Published: 2021-06-17

Uppsala University is a comprehensive research-intensive university with a strong international standing. Our ultimate goal is to conduct education and research of the highest quality and relevance to make a long-term difference in society. Our most important assets are all the individuals whose curiosity and dedication make Uppsala University one of Sweden’s most exciting workplaces. Uppsala University has over 45,000 students, more than 7,000 employees and a turnover of around SEK 7 billion.

The research conducted at the Department of Women’s and Children’s Health encompasses a wide range of topics, distributed over four major divisions.  It offers a broad curriculum to undergraduate and graduate students, participation in nationally and internationally leading projects for researchers, and various outreach activities. The department is located in the MTC-house and the division of Obstetrics and Gynecology, with its five research groups, has a strong collaboration with Uppsala’s University hospital. Read more at www.kbh.uu.se.

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://kbh.uu.se/forskning/obstetrisk-och-reproduktiv-halsoforskning/)

Do you want to promote mental health for pregnant women and new mothers?

Within the research group, a number of researchers work with perinatal mental health and conduct large, population-based studies, such as BASIC (www.basicstudie.se), PACT (www.pactstudie.se) and the mobile-based Mom2B study (www.mom2b.se), as well as research based on data from the Swedish national health registers. 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.

We are now looking for you how 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 identify predictors, mechanisms and consequences of mental illness during pregnancy and after childbirth. This position, in an engaging, transdisciplinary and international research environment, where you will be able to contribute to internationally leading research, provides an excellent opportunity for a transition to an independent academic career.

Duties/Project description: The successful candidate will help coordinate the various research projects described above, in collaboration with other research assistants, doctoral students and researchers; focus will be on working with statistical analysis, manuscript preparation and grant applications. The exact content of the postdoctoral work is to some extent flexible and will take the profile and 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
• 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 and backend platforms
• 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: For employment as a postdoctoral fellow, you must have a doctoral degree, or a foreign degree that is deemed to correspond to a doctoral degree, mainly in the field of women's health or biostatistics/information technology, but a doctoral degree in psychology, biology/biomedicine or related subject may also be considered.  The PhD degree must have been obtained no more than three years prior to the application deadline. 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 quantitative research background, data analysis and manuscript preparation. Excellent oral and written English language skills are also required. Very good knowledge of the Microsoft Office suite and data management as well as extensive analysis experience in SPPS, R or STATA is required. 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 want to welcome into our team a person with high scientific merits and a collaborative attitude, who is be able to prioritize, take initiatives, be thorough and interested in constantly developing our team and work. We seek a reliable, ambitious and effective team member motivated to produce the best possible science.

Additional qualifications:

• Knowledge of the Swedish language could be a strength
• Experience of extraction and work with data from Swedish national registers
• Experience of systematic literature reviews and meta-analyses
• Experience of working with qualitative methods
• Experience and /or knowledge of feasibility and pilot studies, participatory action research, involvement of the people involved in the research and implementation of research
• Number 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

Salary: Individual salary, fixed salary.
 
Starting date: Autumn 2021.

Type of employment: Temporary position, for two years, according to central collective agreement.

Scope of employment: 100%.

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

Please submit your application by August 13 2021, UFV-PA 2021/2590.

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