"Postdoctoral Researcher for legal aspects of food and medical drug security"

The Faculty of Law invites applications for the position of Postdoctoral Researcher for a fixed-term appointment of five (5) years, starting as agreed.

FooDrug aims at high standards in quality, safety, acceptability, and sustainability of emerging technologies in food and medication production, including promising yet contested alteration of an organism’s genome for agri-food and pharmaceutical applications. Addressing food and nutritional security requires novel ways of producing sustainable, safe, affordable, healthy, and flavourful food. Europe alone faces numerous challenges related to the rise in obesity, accessibility of high-quality foods, the impacts of climate change on food systems, and the social, cultural, and regulatory requirements for the transition to sustainable diets. Similarly, drug and medication security are challenged by the high costs of development, manufacture, and distribution, evaluation of preclinical safety and efficacy, and the dependence of drug manufacturing on international supply chains. FooDrug focuses on tackling these challenges by uniting research across 9 units: the Faculties of Agriculture and Forestry, Pharmacy, Educational Sciences, Law, Science, Social Sciences, Veterinary Medicine and Medicine, and the Institute of Biotechnology (a core unit of HiLIFE).

The Faculty of Law seeks a motivated candidate with a strong interest in the regulation of food and/or medication security and sustainability. The position is open to applicants with a PhD degree in law with a topic that gives a good background for a post doc in this area. The post doc is expected to present a research plan in legal regulation of food and/or drug safety. The plan may tackle the challenges from any field of law, such as consumer protection, product safety, intellectual property law, regulation of supply chains, and at any level of regulation (national, European law, or international law). The post doc will be part of the interdisciplinary group of FooDrug, as well as Faculty of Law. The applicant should have good communication skills and willingness to work both independently and as part of a team within a multidisciplinary research environment. The candidate is expected to have pedagogical skills and willingness to teach in the Faculty’s teaching programmes. A post doc teaches normally two courses per academic year.

Qualification requirements

• PhD degree in law.
• Teamwork skills and the willingness to collaborate, share ideas, and contribute to a multidisciplinary research environment.
• Ability to teach in a relevant field of law.
• Strong communication skills in English, with both written and verbal proficiency.
• Knowledge of Finnish and/or Swedish language are considered a merit.

We offer

The University of Helsinki offers the appointee a first-class research and teaching environment and the conditions required for international cooperation (https://www.helsinki.fi/en/about-us/careers/why-university-helsinki). In addition, the university offers its employees comprehensive services, including occupational health care and health insurance, unemployment and pension fund, a generous holiday package, sports facilities, and opportunities for professional development. The salary for the position will be based on level 5 of the job requirement scheme for teaching and research staff in the salary system of Finnish universities. In addition, the appointee will be paid a salary component based on personal performance. The appointee’s gross monthly salary will range from €3,500 to €4,300, depending on their previous experience and qualifications. The position includes a six-month trial period. The University of Helsinki provides its staff with occupational health and fitness services as well as professional development opportunities (https://www.helsinki.fi/en/about-us/careers/why-university-helsinki/staff-benefits).

How to apply

The application must be accompanied by the following documents in PDF format: A curriculum vitae, A list of publications, A statement (e.g. a university portfolio) on the applicant's teaching expertise (max. 2 pages), A research plan (max. 3 pages), A statement (e.g. university portfolio) on the applicant's scientific activities, including research funding obtained (max. 3 pages). Candidates from outside the University must apply through the University’s recruitment system. The closing date for applications is 10.9.2025 at 23:59 (local Helsinki time).