Doctoral student in Medical Science - Molecular neuroimaging
Reference number PAR 2024/821
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Doctoral position in Medical Science
Project title: Advancing tau-PET quantification for usage in clinical and research settings
The Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry is located at the Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology at the Faculty of Medicine at Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg. At the Department research is conducted on human behaviour, neuropsychiatric processes as well as psychiatric treatment and diagnosis in close collaboration with Västra Götaland region and a number of international partners. We participate in the undergraduate programmes in Medicine and within The National Research School in Psychiatry/Southwest Sweden. At the Department there are some 15 research groups and four research centers.
General information about being a doctoral student at the University of Gothenburg can be found on the university's doctoral student pages https://www.gu.se/en/doctoral-studies
Duties
Doctoral education in Medical Science comprises carrying out a scientific project and completing at least 30 credits of courses at third-cycle level. The doctoral student must also write a scientific compilation thesis or monograph corresponding to at least 120 credits. For more information about third-cycle studies at Sahlgrenska Academy, see https://www.gu.se/en/sahlgrenska-akademin/doctoral-studies
Project: The development of tau positron emission tomography (PET) imaging has allowed for in vivo visualization of neurofibrillary tangles in patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). This hallmark neuropathologic change occurs downstream of amyloid plaque pathology and is closely associated with cognitive decline. Accordingly, signal elevations on tau-PET have been shown to strongly correlate with MRI-assessed neurodegeneration and the development of dementia symptoms. Thus, it is expected that tau PET will play a major role in the diagnostic and prognostic workup of patients with early AD and in clinical trials testing disease-modifying drugs. However, due to the relatively recent implementation of tau PET in research and clinical practice, a number of important questions remain regarding the optimal quantification of tau-PET abnormality which will be critical for usage in clinical routine and trials.
Therefore, the first goal of this PhD project will be to determine optimal protocols for the application of tau PET in clinical and research settings and to optimize its’ usage as a readout in clinical trials. Specifically, we will develop automated tau PET quantification algorithms that are diagnostically and prognostically equivalent to the FDA-approved visual read scheme. The main purpose of this quantification algorithm will be to provide a fast, cost-efficient and reliable method to automate tau PET assessment on a larger scale without the need of time consuming and error prone expert visual read.
The second goal of the project will be to develop optimized methods for quantifying the progression and spreading of tau pathology on longitudinal tau PET data for measuring disease progression and for establishing personalized surrogate endpoints in tau targeting clinical trials. To this end, we will leverage a pre-established framework that models tau spreading across connected brain regions on the patient level, in order to determine patient-specific readouts that quantify tau progression.
Doctoral studies comprises four years of full-time study, and leads to a doctoral degree. As part of your employment as a doctoral student, you may have departmental duties corresponding to up to 20 % of full-time employment, distributed throughout your study period, and result in a corresponding extension of the studies. Departmental duties usually consist of teaching at first- and second-cycle levels, but may also include research and administration.
Eligibility
Doctoral education requires general eligibility and, where appropriate, specific eligibility as set out in the general syllabus for the subject.
The general eligibility requirements for doctoral studies are:
1. having completed a degree at second-cycle level, or
2. the fulfilment of course requirements totalling at least 240 credits, of which at least 60 credits must be at second-cycle level, or
3. the acquisition of equivalent knowledge in some other way, either in Sweden or abroad.
Specific entry requirements for this subject, according to the general syllabus, are:
having successfully completed the English B/6 course or is considered to have acquired equivalent knowledge through previous studies.
Assessment criteria
The selection of applicants who meet the basic and specific eligibility requirements will be based on the ability to assimilate the doctoral studies. The assessment shall attach particular importance to documented qualifications for:
- specific knowledge and skills within the subject area and related research fields
- experience of scientific theory and relevant research methodology
- scientific analysis and presentation verified through an academic paper, degree project, scientific journals or the like.
Employment
Once you have been admitted to doctoral studies, you will be employed as a doctoral student at the University of Gothenburg. The provisions for employment as a doctoral student can be found in ordinance SFS 1993:100. Initial employment as a doctoral student may apply for a maximum of one year, and may be renewed by a maximum of two years at a time. A doctoral student may be employed as a doctoral student for a maximum of eight years, but the total period of employment may not be longer than the equivalent of full-time education at doctoral level for four years.
Location: Sahlgrenska Academy, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry. Extent: 100%. First day of employment: as agreed.
The University applies a local agreement on salaries for doctoral students.
Contact information
For more information about the project please contact principal supervisor,
Michael Schöll, Professor, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology,
e-mail: michael.scholl@neuro.gu.se
Unions
Union representatives at the University of Gothenburg can be found here:
https://www.gu.se/om-universitetet/jobba-hos-oss/hjalp-for-sokande
Application
You can apply to be admitted to doctoral education via the University of Gothenburg’s recruitment portal. It is your responsibility to ensure that the application is complete as per this notice, and that the University receives it by the final application deadline.
You must include the following, in pdf format
- Personal letter
- CV
- Diploma and transcripts showing that you meet with the general entry requirement
- Proof of completion of English 6 course or the acquired equivalent knowledge through previous studies
If your degree is from a university outside of Sweden, make sure that you attach a diploma and full transcripts that makes assessing your degree easier.
If your degree has not been verified by a Swedish authority you need to provide contact details to the issuing university, registrar or similar, that can verify the degree at our request.
For information on what you need to submit in order to fulfill the English language requirement see https://www.universityadmissions.se/en/entry-requirements/english-language-requirements/
Applications must be received by: 2024-10-07
Information for International Applicants
Choosing a career in a foreign country is a big step. Thus, to give you a general idea of what we and Gothenburg have to offer in terms of benefits and life in general for you and your family/spouse/partner please visit:
https://www.gu.se/en/about-the-university/welcome-services
https://www.movetogothenburg.com/
The University works actively to achieve a working environment with equal conditions, and values the qualities that diversity brings to its operations.
Salaries are set individually at the University.
In accordance with the National Archives of Sweden’s regulations, the University must archive application documents for two years after the appointment is filled. If you request that your documents are returned, they will be returned to you once the two years have passed. Otherwise, they will be destroyed.
In connection to this recruitment, we have already decided which recruitment channels we should use. We therefore decline further contact with vendors, recruitment and staffing companies.