Research Fellow in Population Genetics

Position

We are looking for a postdoctoral researcher in population and/or statistical genetics to develop polygenic risk scores that would a) address the problem of transferability of PRS across populations and b) be suitable for risk prediction for individuals with mixed ancestry. In addition, other aspects of context that modulate the predictive power of PRS, would be relevant research topics for this position.

Who we’re looking for

We’re looking for a motivated researcher with a PhD with proficiency in statistical and or population genetics methods and exposure to health data analysis. We expect knowledge in at least three of the following areas: human genomics, population genetics, bioinformatics, (genetic) epidemiology, risk scores. 

What you will get

We are forming a joint research team with FIMM (https://www.helsinki.fi/en/hilife-helsinki-institute-life-science/units/fimm)  at the University of Helsinki https://www.helsinki.fi/en with the group of prof. Samuli Ripatti https://researchportal.helsinki.fi/en/persons/samuli-ripatti under the recently funded TeamPerMed project funded by EU and Estonian government. This international setting will give the successful applicant opportunity to collaborate and join forces of two research centres and large biobanks. There will be opportunity to supervise PhD students and gain teaching experience.

Who we are

The University of Tartu (https://ut.ee/en)  was founded in 1632. With more than 14,000 students and 1,500 faculty UT is a thriving international hub for science and education. Institute of genomics (https://genomics.ut.ee/en)  was founded in 2018. Today we are more than 170 enthusiastic individuals of many languages. 20 % of our academic staff and students are international. We run the Estonian biobank (https://genomics.ut.ee/en/content/estonian-biobank), which is an awesome resource for genomics and multiomics research with genetic and registry-based health information for over 200 000 people. We have strong track record in research into how genetic variation is translated into variation in health outcomes and how this genetic variation was formed in the first place. We are heavily invested into bringing the knowledge to life in applications of personalised medicine.

How to apply

For more information please don’t hesitate to contact prof. Mait Metspalu <[email protected]> and prof Reedik Mägi <[email protected]>

Apply here: https://ut.ee/en/job-offer/research-fellow-population-genetics-1 by 30th April 2025.