UPSC is a highly dynamic institute with around 200 employees, 30 principal investigators and about 10 associated principal investigators. Approximately half of our staff is non-Swedish and the working language is English. We recruit researchers from all over the world. More than 40 nations are represented at UPSC. Post-doctoral fellows have the most diverse nationalities, but also our PIs, graduate and undergraduate students represent many different nations.
Are you interested in joining us? Please have a look below for currently open job opportunities. You are also always welcome to contact our principal investigators directly if you are interested in working with them.
A PhD position is available in Hannele Tuominen's research group at Umeå Plant Science Centre (UPSC). The PhD student will join the WIFORCE Research School and is going to be placed at the Department of Forest Genetics and Plant Physiology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, that is part of UPSC.
Last day to apply: 10 February 2026
Project description
Nitrogen is the main growth limiting nutrient in boreal forests. Fertilization with nitrogen is a powerful way to increase forest productivity but not enticing due to the negative consequences on the surrounding environment. As an alternative, growth can be increased by improving nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) of trees. In addition to targeting growth of trees, it is important to consider the qualitative properties of wood that are likely to be influenced along with the changes in NUE.
In this project, the student will investigate NUE in a natural population of aspen (the SwAsp collection). Together with other researchers, an integrative analysis, including automated phenotyping, genome wide association study (GWAS) and transcriptome wide association study (TWAS), is taken in the SwAsp collection to identify genetic variation in NUE and candidate genes that are functionally validated in transgenic trees. To investigate how variation in NUE influences properties of wood, the student will also perform high-resolution analyses of wood chemical, structural and mechanical properties of wood.
A PhD position is available in Kelly Swarts' research group at Umeå Plant Science Centre (UPSC). The PhD student will join the WIFORCE Research School and is going to be placed at the Department of Forest Genetics and Plant Physiology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, that is part of UPSC.
Last day to apply: 10 February 2026
Project description
Climate change presents a particular challenge for woody perennial plants. Long generation times limit the opportunities for heritable adaptive responses, but increase the range of environmental conditions an individual will experience across their lifespan, making plastic responses – individual responses to external environmental cues, influenced by life history, morphology, physiology and behavior – potentially more important than in annual plants. Despite this, little is known about the genetics underlying plastic responses, especially in long-generation organisms where it is harder to study.
Genomic prediction is a powerful tool for breeding, and it is known in crop plants that plastic variation is heritable. With genomic prediction, better adapted individuals can be selected at the seedling stage using only genetic data, accelerating the breeding cycle. Incorporating information about plasticity can aid genomic prediction modeling of tree growth and health under future climates. This project seeks to address generalizable principles underlying the genetic basis of plastic response in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), European aspen (Populus tremula) and assess how these insights can be used to improve genomic prediction under changing environments in Norway spruce (Picea abies).
A PhD position is available in Peter Kindgren's research group at Umeå Plant Science Centre (UPSC). The PhD student will join the WIFORCE Research School and is going to be placed at the Department of Forest Genetics and Plant Physiology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, that is part of UPSC.
Last day to apply: 10 February 2026
Project description
Our society is facing a big challenge when we need to switch from a fossil fuel dependent economy to a sustainable alternative. An especially difficult challenge is faced by the forest industry that in addition must adapt to a rapidly changing climate. Further, the frequency of extreme weather events will only increase in the future. The Swedish Forest is a large part of the prosperity in Sweden, but despite the importance of trees, we know little of how they use their DNA sequence to cope stressful situation and ongoing climate change.
Our research will use Norway spruce and Scots pine to investigate how these trees adapt their RNA synthesis (transcription) during their life cycle. We will utilize numerous modern sequencing techniques to study transcription initiation and termination during several years in growing spruces and pines that are exposed to stress. The project includes both wet lab work and bioinformatic analysis. With our research, we will increase our understanding of how climate change can regulate the growth and development of trees.
https://www.upsc.se/undergraduate/1430-undergraduate-education.html
UPSC group leaders: https://www.upsc.se/research/research-groups.html
UPSC associated group leaders: https://www.upsc.se/research/associated-research-groups.html