PhD Position in Medical Science

Project Title: Molecular Tools for Improving Diagnostics of Infectious Diseases

The Department of Infectious Diseases is located at the Institute of Biomedicine at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg.

General information about what it means to be a PhD student at the University of Gothenburg can be found on the university's PhD pages here (https://www.gu.se/utbildning-till-att-bli-forskare).

Job Responsibilities

Education in medical science consists of conducting a scientific project and participating in doctoral-level courses of at least 30 higher education credits. The education concludes with the PhD student writing a scientific compilation thesis or a monograph corresponding to at least 120 higher education credits. For more information about doctoral education at the Sahlgrenska Academy, see here (https://www.gu.se/sahlgrenska-akademin/var-forskarutbildning).

Project: Antibiotic resistance remains one of the most serious threats to global health, causing over 100,000 deaths worldwide each year and leading to direct and indirect economic consequences in the billions. In Europe alone, an estimated 25,000 deaths annually are attributed to resistant bacterial infections. The spread of AMR is driven by improper and excessive use of antibiotics, but also by changing societal and environmental conditions – including frequent travel, climate change, and an aging population. Conventional culture-based diagnostics, while reliable, are slow and may not always provide timely and sufficient information for critical clinical decisions, especially in emergency and healthcare settings. Reducing diagnostic turnaround time and increasing resolution for pathogen identification and resistance profiling is crucial to minimizing mortality, suffering, and healthcare costs. Therefore, new methods – based on molecular and structural biology, high-resolution mass spectrometry, and bioinformatics are urgently needed.

The main goal of this PhD project is to enhance clinical diagnostics of infectious diseases by developing molecular tools and biosensor technologies that can detect bacterial pathogens and antimicrobial resistance directly from patient samples. This work aims to accelerate the identification and characterization of key biomarkers using genomics, mass spectrometry-based proteomics, and bioinformatics.

We are now seeking a candidate with a relevant background in the field, such as experience with bacterial pathogens in risk group 2 (cultivation, isolation, and safe handling), plus molecular biology skills in genomics and proteomics, including optimized DNA extraction for NGS and workflows for peptide- and protein-based proteotyping. Additionally, experience in bacterial genome sequencing with various platforms, downstream genome assembly and annotation is advantageous, as well as integration of mass spectrometry-based peptide data with genome sequences to identify biomarkers for antimicrobial resistance and virulence.

The PhD student will work in Roger Karlsson's group at the University of Gothenburg (UGOT), Institute of Biomedicine, Department of Infectious Diseases, and in close collaboration with PhD students in the BUG-ID project as well as with physicians at Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Department of Clinical Microbiology. The method chosen to study the surface of pathogens is Lipid-based Protein Immobilization (LPI) (developed by Nanoxis Consulting AB), which has been successfully used to perform surface profiling of intact bacteria. After bioinformatics validation, species-specific peptide markers will be used to functionalize the graphene sensors in the BUG-ID project.

For more information, see here (https://www.gu.se/en/research/roger-karlsson).

Doctoral education comprises four years of full-time study and leads to a doctoral degree.

Contact Information for the PhD Position

If you have questions about the project, please feel free to contact the main supervisor, Roger Karlsson, Associate Professor, Institute of Biomedicine
e-mail: [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])

Application

For further information and to apply for the position, see the full advertisement here (https://www.gu.se/om-universitetet/jobba-hos-oss/lediga-anstallningar).

The application must be received by: 2026-02-19

The university actively works for a working environment with equal conditions and values the qualities diversity brings to the organization.

The university applies individual salary setting.

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