Professor of Computational Biology

- with focus on research

Do you want to contribute to top quality medical research?

As one of Karolinska Institutet’s largest preclinical departments, the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics (MBB) brings together internationally recognized research excellence across diverse scientific fields.

The department has a strong tradition of methodological innovation and a collaborative culture between experimental and quantitative groups, housed in the state-of-the-art Biomedicum research building on the Solna campus, which co-locates several preclinical departments under one roof and is purpose-built to support cross-disciplinary collaboration.

From Biomedicum, MBB researchers benefit from immediate access to the SciLifeLab ecosystem on the same campus — including national infrastructure for genomics, single-cell and spatial biology, advanced light and electron microscopy, mass spectrometry, structural biology, and high-performance and AI computing. They also benefit from proximity to Karolinska University Hospital, one of the highest-ranked university hospitals in Europe, located directly across the road from Biomedicum and offering direct opportunities for translational collaboration with clinical researchers, biobanks, and patient cohorts.

MBB is now launching a strategic expansion in computational and quantitative life sciences and is establishing a new Division of Computational Biology. The division will operate alongside and complement the department's existing strengths – for instance in molecular biophysics, structural biology, biochemistry, molecular neurobiology, molecular metabolism, and immunology – and will serve as a hub for method development at the interface of experimental measurement, statistical inference, and modern artificial intelligence (AI). To lead this work, we are now recruiting a Professor of Computational Biology.

Description of the subject area

Computational biology comprises the development and application of computational, statistical, and machine-learning methods for analysing, modelling, and interpreting biological systems. The subject includes mathematical and probabilistic modelling of biological processes, method development for large-scale molecular and cellular measurement data, and the design of computational approaches in close interplay with experimental technologies and biological questions.

The subject area may include, among others, the following areas

• Single-cell and single-molecule genomics analysis
• Spatial omics and image-free or sequencing-based imaging analysis
• Multi-modal data integration across single-cell, spatial, and bulk assays
• Probabilistic and generative models for high-dimensional biological data
• Foundation models and transfer learning for cellular and molecular biology
• Inference of cellular dynamics, lineage relationships, and tissue architecture
• Co-design of wet-lab chemistry, measurement systems, and inference algorithms to extract previously inaccessible biological information

Your mission

We seek a scientist who develops computational, statistical, and machine-learning frameworks tightly coupled to novel experimental modalities in molecular and cellular biology, and who treats quantitative technologies, mathematical modelling, and biological discovery as a single, integrated problem. We are particularly interested in candidates working on modern AI methods — including deep generative models, foundation models for biological sequences, structures, cells, and tissues, large-scale representation learning, and physics- or mechanism-informed neural architectures — in service of rigorous biological inference rather than as an end in itself.  

This is a leadership appointment at professorial level. Beyond conducting your own research at the highest international level, you will be expected to build and lead MBB's new Division of Computational Biology: setting its scientific direction, recruiting and developing faculty and research groups, taking responsibility for the build-out of shared computational infrastructure, and representing the subject area within KI and in national and international contexts. You will also be expected to take department-wide responsibility for building and disseminating computational and quantitative competence across MBB's and KI's research and education environments.

You will be expected to:

• lead an independent, internationally competitive research programme and secure sustained competitive external funding
• serve as the founding director of the new Division of Computational Biology, with responsibility for its scientific strategy and operational planning, for the recruitment, mentorship, and career development of faculty and research groups, and for the build-out of shared computational infrastructure and technical staffing
• assume strategic leadership and mentorship responsibilities within the department, including support for the career development of early-career researchers
• engage in collaboration with experimental groups at MBB, SciLifeLab, and across the KI translational environment
• contribute to and take a leading responsibility for education at bachelor's, master's, and doctoral level at MBB and across KI – including developing courses and teaching modules in computational biology, quantitative methods, and AI for the life sciences, supervising doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows, and helping to strengthen computational competence among students and staff
• represent the division in departmental and institutional governance

Eligibility requirements

To be eligible for an employment as Professor with focus on research the applicant must have demonstrated excellent scientific skills and very good pedagogical skills

For employment as Professor at Karolinska Institutet, the eligibility requirements are stated in the Instructions regarding the Appointment Procedure and these are applied in relation to the subject area of the established recruitment profile.

See the instructions regarding the Appointment Procedure for Teachers at Karolinska Institutet.

It is a requirement that you have completed 10 weeks of courses on teaching in higher education as indicated in the recommendations of the Association of Swedish Higher Education Institution. If you lack such education at the time of employment, you must undergo such education during the first two years of employment.

Assessment criteria

The Professorship has a focus on research. The assessment will weight qualifications as follows: scientific skills (3), pedagogical skills (1), and leadership and collaboration skills (2).

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

See the instructions regarding the Appointment Procedure for Teachers at Karolinska Institutet.

It is furthermore meritorious that you have demonstrated

• the capacity to develop methodologically novel work that bridges experimental biology with statistical and AI-based inference, particularly in the areas of single-cell and spatial biology
• a documented ability to build, lead, and develop a research group or research environment, including the recruitment and mentorship of early-career researchers
• experience of developing and leading teaching in computational biology, quantitative methods, or AI for students and researchers with experimental or clinical backgrounds
• a documented track record of collaboration across disciplinary boundaries – for example, through joint projects and publications with experimental or clinical research groups, participation in or leadership of interdisciplinary consortia, or the establishment of shared method and infrastructure resources.

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 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 benefits through our collective agreement. 

Location: Solna

Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics | Karolinska Institutet Your career continues here

Application

Your application must contain the following documents: a cover letter as well as a resumé and a qualifications portfolio including a description of your research plan, both presented in accordance with Karolinska Institutet’s template (http://ki.se/qualificationsportfolio). You may change or add to your application at any time up to and including the application deadline date. After the deadline, the process closes, and no amendment or addition can be made to your application.

The applications will be reviewed by external reviewers, most often both national and international. For that reason, we prefer that the documents are in English.

KI applies individual and differentiated salary setting in accordance with our collective agreements RALS and RALS-T

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

We look forward to receiving your application!

Want to make a difference? Join us and contribute to better health for all!

1. Björn Högberg, [email protected]
2. Goncalo Castelo-Branco, [email protected]
3. Anna Wredenberg, [email protected]
4. Tamsin Lindström, [email protected]

1. Bodil Moberg , OFR/ST, [email protected]
2. Helin Norberg, SACO, [email protected]