Vacant job

Job Description

Alpha Cell is a new SciLifeLab program aimed at building a computational model of the human cell. The program is led by Jan Ellenberg, Director of SciLifeLab, and Mathias Uhlen, Director of the Human Protein Atlas, together with a collaborative, multi-institutional network of researchers and infrastructure units within SciLifeLab.

The Human Protein Atlas (HPA) is a large-scale international initiative mapping proteins in human cells, tissues, and organs using antibody-based image analysis, transcriptomics, and systems biology methods. Since its inception, the atlas has become one of the world's most comprehensive open resources for spatial molecular biology, featuring millions of images and extensive molecular measurement data. All data is made openly available and is widely used by researchers worldwide.

The Alpha Cell program is recruiting a postdoctoral researcher in biological data systems to develop scalable data infrastructures and computational systems for large-scale biological data. The position is located within the Human Protein Atlas at KTH and SciLifeLab. The candidate will work closely with Avlant Nilsson's cancer cell modeling group and Wei Ouyang's AICell group, who together will develop a cell model based on HPA and other external large-scale datasets.

The role focuses on establishing and supporting the data foundation for the program's initial modeling efforts by identifying, evaluating, structuring, and integrating large biological datasets. This includes developing scalable pipelines, standardized representations, and AI-adapted, user-friendly interfaces for efficient computational modeling. The work takes place in SciLifeLab's interdisciplinary environment where image data, molecular data, and computational methods are developed in parallel. It involves developing systems and services that make data accessible for AI systems and computational tools. The postdoctoral researcher will work closely with the Human Protein Atlas (HPA) team and other researchers to improve data integration, annotation, structure, and accessibility, link external data sources, and contribute to open science and AI-driven workflows.

Qualifications

Requirements

• A completed PhD degree or a foreign degree assessed as equivalent to a PhD. This requirement must be met no later than the time the employment decision is made.
• Good understanding of biological data and its relevance in cell biology, such as image data, transcriptomics, proteomics, or spatial data.
• Extensive experience using open databases and bioinformatics tools.
• Strong programming skills for developing computational tools or data pipelines (Python or similar), good software engineering practices, experience with collaborative development (e.g., Git/GitHub), and the ability to effectively use AI-assisted coding tools.
• Good communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work with experimental, computational, and infrastructure-focused teams.

Merits

• PhD degree or foreign degree assessed as equivalent to a PhD awarded no more than three years before the application deadline.
• PhD in bioinformatics, computational biology, cell biology with a strong computational component, or a related field.
• Experience working with large heterogeneous datasets.
• Experience with biological data types such as image data, genomics, proteomics, or spatial mapping.
• Experience building scalable or automated data processing pipelines.
• Experience building APIs or data services for large scientific datasets.
• Knowledge of Model Context Protocol or similar systems for exposing data to AI tools and agents.
• Experience developing infrastructure for machine learning pipelines.
• Experience contributing to open data platforms or large scientific databases.
• Awareness of diversity and equal opportunity issues, with a particular focus on gender equality.

We will place great emphasis on personal qualities.

Join KTH

KTH shapes the future through education, research, and innovation. As a leading international technical university, we play an active role in driving and contributing to the transition to a sustainable society. Here, you are offered the opportunity to grow and develop in a creative and dynamic workplace with good working conditions and benefits. Gender equality, diversity, and equal opportunities are quality issues and a clear part of KTH's values as a university and a government agency.

Read more about our benefits and what it is like to work and develop at KTH.

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Contact information for union representatives.

Application

You apply via KTH's recruitment system. As an applicant, you are primarily responsible for ensuring your application is complete when submitted.

The application should include:

• CV including relevant professional experience and knowledge.
• Copy of degree certificates and transcripts from your previous university studies. Translations into English or Swedish if the original documents are not issued in either of these languages.
• A brief statement on why you wish to conduct research, your academic interests, and how they relate to your previous studies and future goals. Maximum 2 pages.

The application must be received by KTH no later than midnight on the application deadline, CET/CEST (Central European Time/Central European Summer Time).

About the Position

The employment is permanent, but for a maximum of two years.

A postdoctoral position is a time-limited qualifying appointment with a primary focus on research, intended as a first career step after the PhD.

Other Information

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It may occur that a position at KTH is classified for security reasons. If this applies to this specific position, a security clearance check will be conducted on the applicant in accordance with the Security Protection Act (2018:585) with consent. In such cases, a condition for employment is that the applicant passes the security clearance check.

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