Research fellow (University Researcher) in AI for Population Health and Genomics

The Faculty of Science and the Finnish Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), HiLIFE at the University of Helsinki invite applications for a joint (50%:50%) position as 

RESEARCH FELLOW (UNIVERSITY RESEARCHER) IN AI FOR POPULATION HEALTH AND GENOMICS

for a fixed-term appointment of maximum 4 years. The starting date is as agreed, ideally between September and December 2026.

We seek an ambitious researcher with expertise in artificial intelligence, machine learning, or computational statistics, and a demonstrated interest in applications to human genetics and/or population health. We primarily seek to appoint at the Research Fellow level, requiring postdoctoral experience and emerging record of independent research, but will also consider candidates to be appointed as Postdoctoral Researchers.

The research action Sustainable Wellbeing Across Lifespan (SWAN) (https://www.swan-helsinkiuni.net/) conducts cutting-edge research to promote health span by identifying individual risks and susceptibilities, aiming to clarify mechanisms of degeneration across the lifespan and exploring new approaches to detecting, monitoring and treating remodeled metabolism associated with ageing. 

The successful candidate is expected to develop an independent research programme within this broad scope, focusing on methodological innovation and the application of modern AI approaches to large-scale biomedical data. Research topics may include foundation models for longitudinal electronic health records and genomics, multimodal learning integrating health records with molecular data, causal representation learning, in-context learning and amortized inference for healthcare decision-making, and AI-assisted scientific discovery workflows.

The work will be done together with the Ganna Lab (https://www.dsgelab.org/) at FIMM and the Probabilistic Machine Learning Lab (https://www.helsinki.fi/en/researchgroups/probabilistic-machine-learning; groups of Acerbi and Klami) at the Department of Computer Science, aligning with concurrent projects developing foundation models for healthcare. The groups are active members of the ELLIS Institute Finland (https://www.ellisinstitute.fi/), providing extensive opportunities for collaboration with leading researchers in artificial intelligence across Finland and Europe. 

The position offers access to globally unique research resources, including nationwide longitudinal health records from Finland covering more than five billion healthcare events, FinnGen with genomic data from over 500,000 participants, and extensive multi-omics datasets including proteomics and single-cell transcriptomics. Researchers also benefit from access to world-class computing infrastructure through CSC and LUMI, one of Europe's most powerful supercomputers.

RESPONSIBILITIES
The appointed researcher is expected to pursue independent research on methodological innovation in developing and applying AI methods within the SWAN research action, in collaboration with existing research groups at the university, and will have the opportunity to be part of ELLIS Institute Finland activities. In addition, the appointed researcher participates in the joint activity of the university-wide AI Research Lab advancing the use of AI in scientific research, together with other researchers working in the intersection of AI and other scientific disciplines. 

The daily working activities of the appointed researcher will be split between the Faculty of Science and FIMM. Opportunities for contribution to teaching (up to 5-10% of annual working time) will be provided.

 
QUALIFICATIONS
An ideal applicant has:

1. A doctoral degree in a suitable field
2. Scientific competence in developing and/or applying artificial intelligence methods with proven publication record in scientific venues in the field. We expect publication record in top-tier venues in AI and machine learning (e.g. NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, or similar) and/or publications with clear AI contributions in leading biomedical journals (e.g. Nature Genetics, Nature Medicine, Nature Machine Intelligence or similar).
3. Applicants are expected to describe their research interests and their relationship to the scope and topic of the position, and to specify how they envision collaboration with existing research groups at the University of Helsinki.
4. A vision of the role of AI in the application domain and an outline of planned research relating specifically to the use of AI in scientific research, for instance development of AI methods for commonly recurring tasks in the field, human-AI collaboration in scientific research, or development of open-source tools for AI4Science.
5. To qualify for the Research Fellow (University Researcher) position, the candidate needs to additionally present
A. Demonstration of additional scholarly activity, such as evidence of independent research activity, the ability to lead a research group, and experience in the acquisition of research funding.
B. Evidence of public engagement
 

WHAT WE OFFER
University of Helsinki is an equal opportunity employer and offers an attractive and diverse workplace with a variety of development opportunities and benefits. The appointee’s gross annual salary will, in practice, range from €55,000 to €65,000, depending on their previous experience and qualifications. Standard Finnish pension benefits and occupational health care are provided for university employees. Further information can be obtained online. The employment contract will include a probationary period of six months.

Finland is a member of the European Union, has high quality free schooling (also in English) and generous family benefits and healthcare. Finland was recently ranked as the best country in the world for expat families, and Helsinki in the world’s top ten most livable cities. Finland and the Helsinki region feature leading research and innovation facilities, clean environment, affordable accommodation, and excellent international, national, and local transport connections. For more information about working at the University of Helsinki and living in Finland, please see the website.

The appointee is expected to reside in Finland while employed by the University of Helsinki. International staff are supported in relocating to Finland.

 
HOW TO APPLY
The University of Helsinki is committed to promoting equality and preventing discrimination in all its operations. We welcome applicants from a variety of genders, linguistic and cultural backgrounds, and minorities.

Please submit your application, together with the required attachments, through the University of Helsinki Recruitment System via the link "Apply now" (“Hae nyt”). Use your current email address to register to the Recruitment System. Applicants who are currently employed by the University of Helsinki are requested to submit their application via the link “Employee login” (“Työntekijän kirjautuminen”). The closing date for applications is 31 July 2026 (at 23:59 UTC + 3).

The following documents in English are required and must be included in the application:

1) A curriculum vitae
2) List of publications
3) An accompanying 2–4-page document addressing the qualification points 1-5 above and specifying which position you apply to (Research Fellow or Postdoctoral Researcher).
4) The names, positions and contact details of two referees

Other attachments, such as letters of recommendation or other certificates, are not required at this point.

 
FURTHER INFORMATION
Further information about the positions and the research project may be obtained from Professor Arto Klami at the Faculty of Science (arto.klami(at)helsinki.fi), and from Professor Andrea Ganna at FIMM (andrea.ganna(at)helsinki.fi). Further information about the recruitment process can be obtained from recruitment(at)helsinki.fi.