13 Postdoctoral Fellowship at Umea University, Sweden 

The Ultrafast Nanoscience Group (https://www.umu.se/en/research/groups/nicolo-maccaferri-lab/) research focus is the study of both the fundamental and applied aspects of light-matter interactions at the nanoscale. In more detail, we study light-driven charge, spin and lattice dynamics and strong optical nonlinearities in nano- and meta-materials for opto-electronics and information processing, photochemistry, and biotechnology. We use frequency- and time-resolved (magneto-)optical spectroscopy, finite-element computational methods and bottom-up/top-down nanofabrication techniques. We are now seeking a postdoctoral researcher to work in a project where we are making use of ultrashort light pulses to understand and control spin dynamics in nanostructured systems. The successful candidate will work with a newly established pump-probe system able to generate sub-5 fs light pulses which will be used to excite and probe plasmons in magnetic nanostructures and achieve a coherent control of spin dynamics with unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution. As a postdoctoral researcher in our group, you will work in a dynamic, creative, ambitious and international environment, with many external collaborations and opportunities to present your research at international meetings and conferences.

The postdoctoral candidate will be part of the Simons Foundation initiative “Promoting functional brain maintenance – insights from successful agers” which adopts a longitudinal approach to study brain structure and function in highly selected individuals resisting typical age-related deteriorations in cognition.

The project encompasses a diverse range of methodologies, including behavioral studies and brain imaging techniques, all aimed at elucidating mechanisms and factors supporting maintained plasticity in aging.

The postdoctoral candidate will work with researchers from various fields and will be involved in human lab experiments, functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), brain imaging techniques focusing on the cerebral vasculature and brain structure.

The details of the appointment will be determined together with the postdoctoral supervisors, depending on the specific interests and competencies of the applicant and the needs of the project. Regardless of specific research questions, the work will include analyses and interpretation of imaging data.

Interventions to promote lifelong learning show promising results but are hampered by large individual differences in response. It is evident that we need to rethink the premises of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to better predict who will benefit from which intervention. As a first step in this process we sought to utilize existing prospective cohort studies and intervention data to predict individual factors conducive to lifelong learning trajectories. Examples of such data come from the Betula study, the Västerbotten Intervention Programme (VIP), exercise and cognitive training interventions, and rehabilitation studies.

The candidate will be part of the sub project ‘Adaptive Interventions to Promote Life-Long Learning‘, aimed at leveraging the rich longitudinal databases to better understand how health-promoting lifestyle interventions can promote cognitive abilities in aging. The main task is to develop methods for predicting health outcomes using dynamic and adaptive modeling whilst addressing statistical challenges the analysis pose. This will contribute to constructing individualized, AI-based interventions that can be updated using individual characteristics that may change over time, e.g. motivation, health, and activity. Outputs from this project will include new models and estimation tools, and will inform the design of future interventions to promote life-long learning.

The species that compose the human gut microbiome are poorly characterized at their molecular level, despite their important roles to keep a healthy state. The presence of pathogenic species or imbalances in the composition of commensal species are associated with disease. The mechanisms by which these species interact with each other are not fully understood – for example, which species support or inhibit the growth of other species and what are the molecular mechanisms behind these growth interactions.

In this project, you will identify which species promote or inhibit the growth of other species by monitoring bacterial growth, and will use proteomics, metabolomics and traditional molecular biology approaches to identify the mechanisms behind some of these interactions. You will also study some of these interactions in the context of a microbial community.

The project, which will analyse the contemporary commemoration and contestation of the Holocaust on social media during its anniversaries in English, Swedish and German linguistic settings, is led by Associate Professor Samuel Merrill. The project will also study the role that social media platforms play in these matters in terms of their technical design and underlying algorithms. It will generate new knowledge, of relevance to a range of societal stakeholders, at a time when memory of the Holocaust is not only being eroded by the passing of its living survivors but also faces risks associated with a contemporary political landscape characterised by increasing polarisation, especially online.

The recruited employee, who will be supervised by Merrill at Umeå University’s Department of Sociology and Centre for Digital Social Research (DIGSUM), is expected to conduct and publish academic research related to the project’s objectives.

The employee is ideally expected to be able to understand and analyze German, Swedish and English language material and to strengthen the project’s use of interviewing methods and/or computational methods to collect and analyze relevant data.

The causes of brain tumours (gliomas) are not well understood, and there are no specific blood tests to discover glioma, the most common type of brain tumor today. We believe that if we understand how brain tumours arise, we can also find new opportunities for early diagnosis or new targets for treatment. For pancreatic cancer, we know there often are symptoms that precede the diagnosis. In this project, we have a special focus on how different diseases affect the risk of getting glioma and pancreatic cancer. There are studies that show that both diabetes and asthma seem to be protective against getting gliomas. The reasons behind this are so far unknown. More information about our publications and the research group can be found at: https://www.umu.se/forskning/grupper/beatrice-melin/

The postdoc will work in the research project “Remote and flexible work arrangements: A cross-national study focused on implications for leaders and employees (REMOTE-FLEX)”, which is a project focused on the role of work characteristics and leadership in remote and flexible work settings and how these impact employees work motivation, well-being, and performance. The tasks will consist of data collection and data analyses of quantitative and qualitative data and writing of scientific articles. The postdoc will also have opportunities to contribute to research applications. As a postdoc, you are expected to contribute to the department’s common research and educational environment.

The position is at the Department of Psychology. The place of employment is Umeå, Sweden, and active participation in the department’s activities and involvement in the activities are expected. Opportunities will also be provided for the postdoc to spend time at the University of South-Eastern Norway, Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, and ISM University of Management and Economics (Lithuania) where some of the project members are based. 

Innate immune cells are constantly sensing the environment and responding to pathogen invasion. In this process, cells change their transcriptional and proteomic landscape. Microproteins are small proteins (<100 amino acids) encoded by short Open Reading Frames present in coding and non-coding regions. Different microproteins have been shown to play regulatory roles in diverse cellular pathways. The project aims to identify microproteins in innate immune cells involved in immune processes by combining bioinformatic, ribosome profiling and proteomic approaches. Further experimental approaches will be used to determine the function of specific proteins.

The research group currently consists of 4-6 individuals in collaboration with, among others, the sections of Neurology, Pathology, Imaging and Functional Medicine at Norrland University Hospital (NUS), as well as the Department of Psychology at Umeå University. The group currently includes a group leader, a doctoral student, a postdoctoral fellow, a research nurse and, in addition, several affiliated researchers and students. Our research ranges from clinical patient studies, to studies involving cerebrospinal fluid, genetics and lifestyle factors in patients, down to molecular genetics and biochemical aspects of Parkinson’s disease and other alpha-synucleinopathies. A major focus is on studies of genetics and lifestyle factors in people affected by these currently incurable diseases, to understand what causes them. This research is conducted both by analyses of patients and molecular biological data collected on site, locally in Umeå and Västerbotten, and in international databases in collaboration with different research groups, which means that new knowledge can be secured through many observations from different geographical regions.  

The proposed projects target serine and cysteine proteases with small organic molecules, with the aim to modulate the function of the enzymes for relevant medical applications, including infectious diseases and toxifications. The postdoctoral research will include organic synthesis and biochemical and biophysical measurements.

Furthermore, the postdoctoral researcher will lead the collaborative work that includes functional and in vivo assays of promising candidates.

Umeå University is one of Sweden’s largest higher education institutions with over 37,000 students and about 4,700 employees. The University offers a diversity of high-quality education and world-leading research in several fields. Notably, the groundbreaking discovery of the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing tool, which was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, was made here. At Umeå University, everything is close. Our cohesive campuses make it easy to meet, work together and exchange knowledge, which promotes a dynamic and open culture.

The ongoing societal transformation and large green investments in northern Sweden create enormous opportunities and complex challenges. For Umeå University, conducting research about – and in the middle of – a society in transition is key. We also take pride in delivering education to enable regions to expand quickly and sustainably. In fact, the future is made here.

This Fellowship will be part of the Co-Creating Better Blue Programme recently funded by MISTRA which aims to develop ecosystem-based management processes where decisions are based on sustainability and democracy. The project’s vision is to steer developments towards a more sustainable, open and democratic blue economy involving stakeholders to scientists. Co-Creating Better Blue involves 13 partners from academia and research organizations, 25 co-funded partners from industry and the public sector, and stakeholders from civil society.

In particular, Umeå University will lead the part of the program called Living Lab North, which will focus on the northern parts of the Baltic Sea where we have close links with the local stakeholders. A key issue in the northern Baltic is that it experience up to three times the rate of global warming as lower latitudes meaning a combined increase in biotic stressors but also the opportunity for human interaction via an increasing population but also exploitation. Most recently, there has been an increase in activities surrounding the exploitation of shallow-water polymetallic nodules which are significantly easier to extract that those found in the deep sea. Yet in this context, we have little information on how this process can be managed in a sustainable and democratic manner.

Project advances beyond the state-of-the-art: We anticipate that the postdoctoral fellow will make key advances in sustainable development of the northern Baltic by engaging with local actors and stakeholders, including but not limited to the mining, energy and shipping sectors, to develop an ecosystem-based management framework which is particular focused on a warming and increasingly exploited northern Baltic.

The Postdoctoral researcher will spend time in all three collaborating Umeå University departments, providing a multidisciplinary working environment.  The postdoctoral fellow will be an engaged member of a research active team that places a high value on collaborative, multidisciplinary and impactful science. The candidate will have the support of a multidisciplinary team with complementary expertise in the northern Baltic and sustainable development as well as in the governance and management of natural resources.

Interactions between malaria parasites and mosquitoes determine the success of malaria transmission and are coming in focus as targets for interventions. The biology of Plasmodium mosquito stages remains poorly understood, but recent breakthroughs in CRISPR screening technologies, single cell transcriptomics, imaging and computational modelling open new opportunities to get at the genetic and molecular interactions between parasite and vector. As part of an international network of collaborators, and with funding from the Wallenberg foundation, we are growing our interdisciplinary team to tackle important questions related to the biology of the Plasmodium ookinete and oocyst and their metabolic and immune interactions with mosquitoes.

In a lab with a strong track record of facilitating the postdoc-PI transition, you will work in a rodent model, for instance to build on our unique expertise in developing large-scale phenotypic screens, or to develop other genome scale approaches to get at how molecular parasite-vector interactions determine transmission success. See our lab page for more details on available projects: www.billkerlab.org.

You will join the Laboratory for Molecular Infection Medicine Sweden (MIMS), the Swedish EMBL node, hosted at the Department of Molecular Biology. You will have access to outstanding research facilities and networking opportunities offered in Umeå, by Sweden’s SciLifeLab infrastructure and through our partnership Nordic EMBL-Partnership for Molecular Medicine.