Research Specialist in Precision Psychiatry

Do you want to contribute to top quality medical research? The position offers an opportunity to grow as a researcher within a successful and expanding team. The research specialist role includes career development through well-funded research projects, supported by experienced supervision and access to world-leading registry and genetic data for addressing clinically relevant research questions. The work is conducted in an interdisciplinary and clinically integrated research environment, comprising over 30 group members at Karolinska Flemingsberg, contributing to research of the highest international standard.

Description of the subject area

In the research group of Christian Rück we work to improve the life of individuals with psychiatric conditions through understanding their genesis and developing treatments. A core theme of our research is to develop more accurate prediction models for both the risk of developing, and also consequences of, psychiatric conditions. This position is based in the interdisciplinary modelling team led by John Wallert. As quantitative research specialist your work will be focused on both causal and predictive analytics applied to nationwide psychiatric data.

Your mission

The research specialist will mainly be working with study design, statistical modelling, and manuscript writing that pertains to involuntary (coercive) psychiatric care. The role involves collaboration with colleagues at Oxford University (UK), University of North Carolina Chapel Hill (US) as well as with our collaborators in Sweden. The primary focus will be on investigating risk indicators for adverse events and coercive interventions among psychiatric patients both during and following compulsive mental care. Data includes eleven years of nationwide register data on >73,000 individuals that have experienced >130,000 compulsory care episodes.

The successful candidate will partake in the construction of digital instruments that predict risk for adverse events based on different risk indicators and to apply causal inference methods (e.g., target trial emulation, instrumental variable design). There is also an opportunity to apply more advanced predictive modelling appropriate for large-scale observational data and to do some exploratory work with these methods applied to high-dimensional genetic data.

Work is conducted exclusively with two nationwide register databases respectively curated at the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics (MEB) and the Department of Global Public Health (GPH) – both at KI. The position enables effective use of already gathered data through the application of both well-established statistical modelling and newer machine learning methods. The research specialist will be integrated in the computational team led by John Wallert (supervisor) and also be part of the larger research group led by Christian Rück. A collaborative mindset and willingness to be generous with your expertise within the team are expected. This is a one-year position with a minimum of 40% working hours, but a higher scope can be discussed depending on our mutual needs and preferences.

Eligibility requirements

For employment as Research Specialist at Karolinska Institutet, the eligibility requirements stated in the Guidelines for non-teaching positions at Karolinska Institutet are applied in relation to the established profile of employment. You are a team player with a strong quantitative interest and skillset. The position demands that you are experienced and effective working in Python, R or similar software. You have methodological experience and a strong skillset in epidemiology and statistics. You enjoy to teach and supervise junior researchers. Your written English is excellent. To be eligible for employment as a Research Specialist, in addition to holding a Degree of Doctor, PhD, or having a foreign degree deemed equivalent to a Swedish doctoral degree, the applicant must have demonstrated research expertise as well as have documented postdoctoral research experience.

Assessment criteria

It is particularly meritorious that the applicant has shown prior experience with genetic data and applied machine learning, and leadership experience. 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. Personal fit for the position will weigh heavily in the assessment.

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: Flemingsberg.

Application

We prefer that Your application is written in English, but You can also apply in Swedish. An application must contain the following documents: PhD certificate, resumé, qualifications and description of planned research, presented in accordance with Karolinska Institutet's qualifications portfolio. Welcome to apply at the latest September 14, 2025. The application must be submitted through the Varbi recruitment system.