DDLS Doctoral student position in Natural Sciences, specialising in Biology

The University of Gothenburg tackles society’s challenges with diverse knowledge. 58 000 students and 6800 employees make the university a large and inspiring place to work and study. Strong research and attractive study programmes attract researchers and students from around the world. With new knowledge and new perspectives, the University contributes to a better future.

Data-driven life science (DDLS) uses data, computational methods and artificial intelligence to study biological systems and processes at all levels, from molecular structures and cellular processes to human health and global ecosystems. The SciLifeLab and Wallenberg National Program for Data Driven Life Science (DDLS) aims to recruit and train the next generation of data-driven life scientists and to create globally leading computational and data science capabilities in Sweden. The program is funded with a total of 3.3 billion SEK over 12 years from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg (KAW) Foundation. In 2026 the DDLS Research School will be expanded with the recruitment of 25 academic and 7 industrial PhD students. During the course of the DDLS program more than 260 PhD students and 200 postdocs will be part of the Research School. The DDLS program has four strategic research areas: cell and molecular biology, evolution and biodiversity, precision medicine and diagnostics, epidemiology and biology of infection. For more information, please see https://www.scilifelab.se/data-driven/ddls-research-school/ The future of life science is data driven. Will you be part of that change? Then join us in this unique program! This PhD position is placed at The University of Gothenburg.

The Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biology conducts high-quality research and education in Chemical sciences and Molecular life sciences. Our research and education focus on a deep understanding of chemical and biological processes in cells and in the environment. We are responsible for postgraduate education in the subject area Natural Sciences with a focus on chemistry, biophysics, biology and educational science. In addition, the department hosts educational programs in molecular biology, genomics and systems biology, chemistry, organic chemistry and pharmaceutical chemistry, as well as prescription education. The department is an international environment with interdisciplinary collaborations in both research and education and contributes strongly to the University of Gothenburg's top ranking in life science. We are located in central premises at Natrium, Medicinareberget, Gothenburg.

Doctoral position in Natural Sciences, specialising in Biology

Data driven evolution and biodiversity concerns research that takes advantage of the massive data streams offered by techniques such as high-throughput sequencing of genomes and biomes, continuous recording of video and audio in the wild, high-throughput imaging of biological specimens, and large-scale remote monitoring of organisms or habitats.

In this PhD education, you will explore how the traits and genomes of organisms evolve under Darwinian selection. You will develop novel mathematical and computational methods to understand adaptation in complex environments, where different selection pressures impose conflicting demands on cellular biology and lead to complex trade-offs. For example: better performance at high temperatures often come at the cost of worse performance at low temperatures, and bacterial resistance to antibiotics is often connected to slower growth in absence of antibiotics. From this perspective, Darwinian selection can be seen as a multi-objective optimization problem, where selection strives to balance the costs and benefits of different traits to optimally position organisms in a high-dimensional trait space. You will explore whether multi-objective optimization algorithms commonly used in engineering can help us understand how organisms adapt and evolve. You will analyze large multivariate datasets on genome sequence and organismal fitness, using MOO techniques, machine learning and genome-wide association studies. Yeast and bacteria are your primary models, but the analytical framework you develop will be broadly applicable.

General information about being a doctoral student at the University of Gothenburg can be found on the university's doctoral student pages https://www.gu.se/en/doctoral-studies

Duties as a doctoral student

Doctoral studies comprise four years of full-time study, and lead to a doctoral degree.

The work during the doctoral student period is to result in a written and defended doctoral thesis that complies with the rules for a thesis at the University of Gothenburg.

As part of your employment as a doctoral student, you may have departmental duties corresponding to up to 20 per cent of full-time employment, distributed throughout your study period, and result in a corresponding extension of the studies. Departmental duties usually consist of teaching at first- and second-cycle levels but may also include research and administration.

In addition to their scientific work, doctoral students are required to participate in courses, staff activities and group activities such as group meetings and literature seminars.

In this PhD project, your duties:

• are interdisciplinary and require an interest in evolutionary biology, bioinformatics, computational/mathematical biology and genetics/genomics
• involve primarily bioinformatic activities, focused on developing and applying Multi-Objective Optimization (MOO) algorithms and Pareto-front thinking to understand how different individuals/lineages come to possess different traits and genes
• require handling extensive genome and trait data sets, where thousands of individuals have been characterized
• include multivariate analysis, machine-learning and genome-wide association analysis
• may involve testing your ideas and predictions in practice, e.g. by evolution experiments to track how organisms change under selection.

Eligibility

Doctoral studies require general eligibility and, where appropriate, specific eligibility as set out in the general syllabus for the subject.

The general eligibility requirements for doctoral studies are:

1. having completed a degree at second-cycle level, or
2. the fulfilment of course requirements totalling at least 240 credits, of which at least 60 credits must be at second-cycle level, or
3. the acquisition of equivalent knowledge in some other way, either in Sweden or abroad.

To meet the specific entry requirements for third-cycle studies, according to the general syllabus, applicants must:

1. have a second-cycle (advanced-level) degree in a for the planned third-cycle education relevant subject area in the natural sciences, or
2. have completed studies for at least 60 higher education credits at a second-cycle level in a for the planned third-cycle education relevant subject areas in the natural sciences, or
3. have completed a corresponding program of relevance to the planned third-cycle program, in Sweden or in another country, or have equivalent qualifications.

For specific eligibility, applicants must also have a good command of spoken and written English. The benchmark is 550 points on the TOEFL test (or 213 points on the TOEFL-CBT, or 79 points on the TOEFL-iBT).

Assessment criteria

Selection among applicants who meet the basic and specific entry requirements is based on their ability to benefit from the doctoral education.

The following assessment criteria shall be applied when selecting applicants:

• merits from basic education
• merits from advanced level education, which are invoked within specific entry requirements
• the relevance of previous education to the planned doctoral education
• assessment of the applicant's ability to benefit from doctoral education
• where applicable, assessment of the applicant's ability to work in a research group

Required knowledge and experience:

• Educational background in Bioinformatics, Biostatistics, Computational/mathematical biology or a Biologically oriented engineering.
• Experience of working in Bash, and other relevant programming languages (e.g. Python)
• Basic knowledge of molecular biology, genetics and evolutionary biology
• Strong scientific curiosity, drive and independence

Desirable knowledge and experience:

• Experience of working with DNA sequence/genotype and/or phenotype data
• Familiarity with population, quantitative, evolutionary or statistical genetic analysis (e.g. GWAS, population structure, signatures of selection)
• Experience of multivariate analysis, data grouping techniques and/or machine learning

Admission to doctoral studies

Decisions on admission to doctoral studies are made by the Head of Department and cannot be appealed.

Employment as a doctoral student

Once you have been admitted to doctoral studies, you will be employed as a doctoral student at the University of Gothenburg to finance your doctoral studies.

Type of employment: Fixed-term employment in accordance with Regulation SFS 1993:100, four years

Scope of employment: Full time [100 %]

Location: Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biology, Gothenburg

Start date: By agreement

The University applies a local agreement on salaries for doctoral students.

The provisions for employment as a doctoral student can be found in ordinance SFS 1993:100.

Initial employment as a doctoral student may apply for a maximum of one year, and may be renewed by a maximum of two years at a time. However, at the Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biology, the general rule is that employment as a doctoral student may be extended for a maximum of one year at a time, provided that progress is being made in the doctoral studies.

A doctoral student may be employed as a doctoral student for a maximum of eight years, but the total period of employment may not be longer than the equivalent of full-time education at doctoral level for four years.

Please note, doctoral studies at the Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biology require physical presence to conduct the studies. If the admitted applicant needs a residence permit for higher education to pursue studies in Sweden, the Department of Chemistry and Molecular Biology has the right to revoke the admission decision if the applicant cannot present a valid residence permit no later than at the start of the studies.

Contact information

If you have any questions regarding the doctoral student position, please feel free to contact Jonas Warringer, jonas.warringer@cmb.gu.se

Application

You can apply to be admitted to doctoral studies via the University of Gothenburg’s recruitment portal. It is your responsibility to ensure that the application is complete as per this notice, and that the University receives it by the final application deadline.

The application must be written in English and include:

• CV with description of educational background.
• Thesis or equivalent independent work.
• Proof of advanced level degree or completed courses, see eligibility requirements above. Proof must be translated into English if it is in a language other than Swedish or English. In your application, provide a contact (telephone number or email) for the issuing educational institution that can verify your degree.
• Certificate of valid TOEFL or TOEFL-CBT or TOEFL-iBT test.
• Two references (name, email address, telephone number, relationship)

All documents must be in PDF format and named in a way that clearly shows their content.

Applications must be received by: 2026-05-21