Two Swedish Centres of Excellences; Umeå Centre for Microbial Research (UCMR) and Umeå Plant Science Centre (UPSC) at Umeå University are running the ‘Excellence by Choice’ Postdoctoral Programme in Life Science offering a highly interactive and multidisciplinary research environment. In this fifth call, up to two postdoctoral fellowships are open to all nationalities.
Last day to apply: 17 August 2025
The programme aims to encourage new synergies in life science with a focus on molecular and translational research, training outstanding young researchers, and stimulating cutting-edge research in Umeå. Patron for the programme is Nobel laureate Emmanuelle Charpentier, who discovered the CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technology during her time as a scientist and group leader in Umeå.
The ‘EC’ Postdoctoral fellow will:
- Develop a collaborative project under supervision of at least two PIs
- Obtain a fellowship over a minimum of 21 months as well as a career development grant (25,000 SEK). In addition, the ‘EC’ postdoctoral project is supported with a grant to cover running costs (320,000 SEK).
- Have access to UCMR/UPSC-affiliated core facilities and technical platforms: Research infrastructures at Umeå University
- Get opportunities to participate in career development activities aiming at developing soft skills and at strengthening networks and collaborations in academics and industry.
- Be part of a strong postdoc community. The Umeå Postdoc Society fosters networking, and organizes social and career development events.
List of projects in call 5:
Candidates are encouraged to consider one of the project ideas listed. The candidates' merits and motivation for choice of project idea will be assessed by the PIs of each project respectively. For detailed information about every project, click the link.
- Evolution of Scots pine forests since the last glacial maximum (Rosario García Gil (UPSC), Nathaniel Street (UPSC) & Ivanka Hristova)
- Molecular innovation to explore genome function and host-parasite interactions in Schistosoma mansoni (Changchun Chen & Ryo Morimoto)
- Phage–bacteria interactions shaping the infant gut microbiome (Chinmay Dwibedi & Christina West)
- Calcium-induced activation of transcription of defense response genes in plants (Magnus Andersson & Åsa Strand (UPSC))
- Deciphering the role of specialized mitoribosomes in proteotoxic stress and ageing (Verena Kohler & Andreas Kohler)
- ncRNA_net: Development of a novel approach to lncRNA-mRNA Regulatory Network Inference (Peter Kindgren (UPSC) & Jian-Feng Mao (UPSC))
- Virome–vector competence shifts: How mosquito laboratory rearing conditions shape virus transmission (Olivia Wesula Lwande, Yonas Meheretu & Vincent Obanda)
- CRISPR-Cas9 delivery via carbon nanotubes and chitosan nanoparticles for floral induction in Norway spruce (Ove Nilsson (UPSC) & Ulrika Egertsdotter (UPSC))
Please go to the full programme description for more details about qualification and application that is published on Umeå University´s webpage.
Contact
For further information, please contact Ingrid Söderbergh, Research Coordinator,