Do you want to contribute to top-quality medical research?

Do you want to help produce laboratory results that directly contribute to future vaccination strategies in Europe and globally? We are looking for a postdoctoral researcher to evaluate immune responses in a multinational phase 3 clinical trial of different vaccination strategies to optimize protection against the infectious disease mpox.

Your Role

You will work at the intersection of advanced laboratory research and clinical studies. Your work will be in close collaboration with colleagues from the Public Health Agency and leading researchers in Belgium, France, and Ireland.

The study aims to evaluate differences in immune responses among primary vaccinated individuals who have been vaccinated intradermally (ID) or subcutaneously (SC), and who will receive a booster dose (often a third dose) in the study.

The study is crucial for guiding future vaccination recommendations for protection against mpox within Sweden, the EU/EEA, and globally. The project is funded by the EU (HaDEA/HERA). The results will be of great interest to both high-income and low- and middle-income countries. The infectious disease mpox is spreading globally, and vaccine availability is still limited.

Your main tasks will include:

• Growing viruses in an accredited BSL3 laboratory
• Performing analyses on samples from vaccinated individuals
• Analyzing and compiling results for reports to funders and for scientific publication
• Supporting the handling and storage of incoming samples from the clinical trial in collaboration with colleagues at the Public Health Agency and international partners

The work will primarily be conducted at the Public Health Agency's facilities, but the employment will be at Karolinska Institutet. The role requires a security clearance for work in BSL-3. A security review will be conducted during recruitment for a classified environment.

The position is a full-time role for 2 years. Expected start date is May 15 or by agreement.

Who are you?

To be employed as a postdoctoral researcher, a PhD degree or a foreign degree assessed to be equivalent to a Swedish PhD is required. This eligibility requirement must be fulfilled no later than at the time the employment decision is made. It is advantageous if you have obtained your PhD within the last three years; under special circumstances, your degree may have been obtained earlier.

Requirements for the position:

• Experience in cell culture
• Experience in virus culture
• Experience in virus neutralization tests in serum/plasma
• Basic understanding of research project management (timelines, milestones)
• Documented experience in scientific writing related to scientific publications
• Ability to conduct literature reviews and synthesize large amounts of information
• Ability to clearly articulate research goals, significance, and methodology
• Experience in statistical processing (working in R or equivalent), including graphical presentation
• Fluent in English, both spoken and written

Meritorious:

• Experience working in a biosafety level 3 (BSL3) laboratory
• Experience participating in clinical studies
• Experience working with large sample sizes
• Good knowledge of Swedish, both spoken and written

As a person, we hope you have good collaboration skills, are responsible and flexible. Furthermore, we see that you have good communication skills and a strong willingness to learn and adopt the methodologies within our operations. Attention to detail and the ability to manage multiple tasks simultaneously are highly valued, as is a proactive work approach, with the ability to both follow instructions and take initiative.

What do we offer?

A creative, international inspiring environment filled with competence and curiosity. Karolinska Institutet is one of the world's leading medical universities. Here, we conduct successful medical research and have the largest range of medical education in Sweden. At KI, you will meet researchers with various research orientations who work together. It is the cross-border collaboration that contributes to KI's world-leading position in research. Many of the people you meet in healthcare are educated at KI. A close relationship with healthcare is important for creating education and research of the highest quality. As a university, Karolinska Institutet is also a government authority. This means that you as an employee receive good benefits through our collective agreement.

Location: Solna

Karolinska Institutet (https://ki.se/gph)

Public Health Agency (https://www.folkhalsomyndigheten.se/)

Research Group (https://ki.se/forskning/forskningsomraden-centrum-och-natverk/forskargrupper/global-och-sexuell-halsa-glosh-anna-mia-ekstroms-forskargrupp)

International study on vaccine against mpox (https://www.folkhalsomyndigheten.se/nyheter-och-press/nyhetsarkiv/2025/september/folkhalsomyndigheten-leder-internationell-studie-om-vaccin-mot-mpox/)

Application

The application should consist of the following documents, written in English or Swedish:

• Proof of PhD
• A complete CV including the date of defense, title of the dissertation, previous academic positions, academic title, current position, academic awards, and committee work
• A complete publication list
• A summary of current work (maximum one page)

The application should be submitted via the recruitment system Varbi.

Warm welcome to submit your application by March 12, 2026.

Do you want to make a difference – and contribute to better health for all? Apply for a job with us!