The University of Helsinki is an international scientific community of 40,000 students and researchers. It is one of the leading multidisciplinary research universities in Europe and ranks among the top 100 international universities in the world. We are an equal opportunity employer and offer an attractive and diverse workplace in an inspiring environment with a variety of development opportunities and benefits.

The Faculty of Pharmacy:
• ranked #46 in the world in the ShanghaiRanking's Global Ranking of Academic Subjects 2020
• is located on Viikki Campus in Helsinki and provides good access to local and national research infrastructures including biobanks
• has about 200 employees, out of which 15 professors
• has about 800 undergraduate and 160 postgraduate students with well-organized doctoral school programs

The Faculty of Pharmacy, Division of Pharmaceutical Biosciences, invites applications for the position of a

DOCTORAL STUDENT

The appointment is in the GeneCellNano Flagship project funded by Academy of Finland. The appointment will be until 31 December 2022. Further funding will be applied during the project. The preferred starting date is tentatively around 15 March 2021, but negotiable. The position will be filled with 6 months probationary period.

The appointment is at the Division of Pharmaceutical Biosciences. The research focuses on the use of new types of nanocarriers for ocular drug delivery. It is a collaborative project involving also Aalto University and University of Eastern Finland.

Requirements

We are looking for an applicant with
• M.Sc. degree in Pharmacy (e.g. Biopharmaceutics, Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Pharmaceutical Technology, or other closely related field)
• some previous experience in laboratory work. Experience in synthesis, nanoparticles, or drug delivery is seen as a benefit, but is not required. The work would include the preparation of nanoparticles and experimental work in ocular drug delivery, including in vitro/ex vivo studies.
• excellent written and verbal communication skills (in English)
• ability to work both independently and as part of a multidisciplinary research team

The duties of the doctoral student include conducting research in the project framework with the aim of achieving doctoral degree in accordance with the degree requirements of the University of Helsinki. The appointee will also participate in the supervision of undergraduate students, and in other discipline-specific teaching. Teaching tasks can account for up to 5 % of the annual working time.

Right to pursue a doctoral degree

The appointee must obtain the right to pursue a doctoral degree at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Helsinki and approval by a suitable doctoral programme by the end of the 6 month probationary period of the employment. Suitable doctoral programmes include Drug Research (DPDR) or Materials Research and Nanosciences (MATRENA). The specific research plan and other application material will be prepared together with the PhD supervisor(s) in the beginning of the employment period.

Salary and benefits

The salary is based on the demands level chart for teaching and research personnel in the salary system of the Finnish universities. Doctoral students typically start from level 2 and advance to level 3, when the research work and studies have advanced according to the plan and the publication work has begun, and eventually to level 4, when the time to completing the thesis is about one year. In addition, the appointee will be paid a salary component based on personal work performance. In total, the starting gross salary of a doctoral student is typically about 2200-2400 EUR per month.

Standard Finnish pension benefits and occupational health care are provided for university employees. Read more about the employee benefits at the University of Helsinki and why the University of Helsinki is an excellent career choice: https://www.helsinki.fi/en/university/working-at-the-university.

Application to the position

Please submit your application, together with the required attachments as a single pdf file, through the University of Helsinki Recruitment System via the button Apply for the position. Applicants who are employees of the University of Helsinki should submit their application via the SAP HR portal. You may fill in only the mandatory fields (*) in the Recruitment System.

The application should include
• a motivation letter (max 1 page)
• a complete CV with full contact details, education/previous degrees obtained, prior work/research experience, and list of possible publications and theses with links to their online versions (if available)
• copy/copies of the diploma(s) of previous degree(s)
• copy of English language test result if available
• recommendation letter(s) and contact information of one or more previous supervisors employers, or other references

The above mentioned attachments must be submitted as a single pdf file.

The closing date for applications is 7th of February 2021 (23:59 EET).

Further information about:
• The project and position: Professor Timo Laaksonen: timo.laaksonen(at)helsinki.fi
• Applying and/or technical support: HR Specialist Heidi Kauppinen, heidi.m.kauppinen(at)helsinki.fi, +358504155341
• Faculty of Pharmacy: https://www.helsinki.fi/en/faculty-of-pharmacy
• Support material for international applicants: https://www.helsinki.fi/en/university/careers-at-the-university-of-helsi...
• Application process to doctoral education: https://www.helsinki.fi/en/research/doctoral-education/the-application-p... (includes also information on accepted ways of proving language skills, when applying to doctoral education)
• Doctoral schools and programmes: https://www.helsinki.fi/en/research/doctoral-education/doctoral-schools-...
• DPDR: https://www.helsinki.fi/en/research/doctoral-education/doctoral-schools-...
• MATRENA: https://www.helsinki.fi/en/research/doctoral-education/doctoral-schools-...