Assistant Professor in Reproductive Systems Biology

Join a global community of excellence

Are you a bold, creative researcher ready to shape the future of medical science? Karolinska Institutet (KI), one of the world’s foremost medical universities, is launching a major recruitment initiative in 2026. KI is looking for up to 21 outstanding early- career researchers to join us as Assistant Professors in a wide range of subject areas.

At KI, we foster a vibrant and international academic environment that values curiosity, collaboration, innovation, and high quality research. We are looking for inspiring scientists who are motivated to contribute to and further develop strong research and education environment, and who demonstrate high quality science and potential for academic leadership.

The Department of Women’s and Children’s Health (KBH) conducts internationally leading translational research in women's health, spanning the full spectrum from preclinical discovery to clinical application, in close collaboration with Karolinska University Hospital. The department integrates multiple disciplines to address key questions in reproductive health and diseases. Research activities are based at Campus North, with groups located both at Biomedicum and SciLifeLab. The infrastructure at Karolinska Institutet, combining advanced core facilities with patient-centered research at the Karolinska University Hospital, creates a uniquely strong platform for integrative and translational science.

What do we offer?

If you meet our requirements and propose a groundbreaking research project, we are prepared to employ you as an Assistant Professor for six years and support you with a generous funding package of 9 MSEK to cover your salary and other research costs. KI offers the opportunity to be promoted from a time-limited (six-year) position as Assistant Professor to permanent employment as Senior Lecturer. You can read more about it here.

At KI, you will be part of an interdisciplinary research community. Our researchers work across a wide range of fields and methodologies within medicine and health, creating rich opportunities for knowledge exchange and cross-disciplinary collaboration. You will also benefit from close connections with healthcare providers, ensuring your research remains closely aligned with real-world clinical practice.

As a governmental authority, KI offers a comprehensive benefits package governed by collective agreements. These include annual salary reviews, supplementary insurance, and opportunities to participate in institutional decision-making.

A successful research career is supported by a strong personal foundation. Sweden is known for being a family-friendly country, offering a high quality of life, generous parental leave, and excellent childcare and education systems — creating a welcoming environment for both researchers and their families.

At KI, we value differences in backgrounds and perspectives, and diversity, equity and inclusion are parts of our core values. KI is dedicated to our work for equal opportunities and rejects all forms of discrimination.

Learn more about what KI and Sweden can offer, and the different calls!

Location: Solna

Description of the subject area 

Research at the Department of Women’s and Children’s Health is conducted in close collaboration with Karolinska University Hospital. Approximately forty research groups cover areas ranging from paediatric oncology and neurology to endocrinology, obstetrics, gynaecology, and reproductive health. Through this collaboration, the department has access to unique patient materials, advanced organoid and tissue models, and a broad repertoire of omics technologies and datasets. Together, these resources provide an exceptional foundation for integrative analyses linking molecular and cellular insights to tissue and organ function.

This Assistant Professor position is designed to leverage these strengths to advance knowledge of human reproductive health through integrative, data-driven reproductive systems biology. This includes the development and application of bioinformatic, data science, and artificial intelligence approaches to analyse and integrate multi-omics data, including transcriptomics, proteomics, and spatial data across clinically annotated patient samples and experimental models. The strong collaborative environment supports validation of computationally derived hypotheses, for example related to biomarkers, disease mechanisms, and fertility. You are expected to develop research aimed at understanding the function of the tightly interlinked and coordinated reproductive organs that act in concert to enable fertility and reproductive health. The results are expected to benefit patients with reproductive disorders, as well as the wider public concerned with reproductive health.

Your mission 

This Assistant Professor position offers excellent opportunities to build a strong academic profile—primarily by developing your independence as a researcher, while also gaining valuable teaching and pedagogical experience.

Your mission is to advance the understanding of human reproductive health through integrative, data-driven research that bridges molecular, cellular, tissue, and system-level biology. You will establish an independent research line at the Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, building and leading your own team in reproductive systems biology. A central focus will be the development and application of advanced data analysis approaches to integrate complex, multi-dimensional datasets and extract biologically meaningful insights. The research will aim to uncover mechanisms underlying fertility, reproductive disorders, and developmental processes, with clear relevance to patient care. You will collaborate closely with research groups across the department and with clinical partners at the hospital, contributing to a highly integrated and translational research environment. Ultimately, the goal is to generate knowledge that supports improved diagnostics, prevention strategies, and treatments in reproductive health.

Eligibility requirements 

To be eligible for an appointment as Assistant Professor, you must demonstrate good scientific skills according to KI’s eligibility criteria as follows:

• A PhD (or equivalent degree) in a relevant subject area
• At least two peer-reviewed original scientific publications as first or last author, in addition to the doctoral thesis

Priority is given to those who were awarded a PhD (or attained equivalent competence) no more than seven years prior to the expiry of the deadline for the application.

Those who have been awarded a doctoral degree or attained equivalent research competence earlier will also be considered if there are special circumstances for absence from research (deductible time), such as: parental leave, long-term illness, positions of trust in trade union organizations or mandatory service in total defence.

The circumstances, dates and extent must be clearly specified in the application and verified by relevant documentation.

For this call, exceptions are made from all pedagogical requirements specified in the instructions regarding the Appointment procedure for teachers at KI. However, you must complete three weeks of higher education pedagogical courses in accordance with the Association of Swedish Higher Education Institutions’ recommendations, no later than two years after starting your employment as an Assistant Professor (unless you can certify that you have completed equivalent training before starting the position).

Assessment criteria

Candidates will be evaluated based on both scientific and pedagogical qualifications, with greater emphasis placed on scientific excellence. The full set of assessment criteria is outlined in the instructions regarding the Appointment Procedure for Teachers at KI.

Particularly meritorious is:

• the scientific quality, originality, and feasibility of your research plan within the relevant subject area
• documented experience in research environments outside KI, with special consideration given to international research experience
• documented research experience integrating human reproductive biology, or a closely related field, with computational multi-omics analyses to generate biologically testable hypotheses

These criteria reflect our commitment to fostering university with diverse and globally recognised researchers who contribute to high quality science and excellent academic citizenship.

The criteria listed will form part of the overall assessment of the applicant. All criteria will be assessed but they should not individually be seen as requirements.

Offers will be extended to the best candidate based on an overall assessment of the applicant’s expertise and merits in relation to the subject area.

Application guidelines

All applicants are expected to follow the application instructions carefully. Failure to comply with the guidelines or misrepresentation of qualifications may negatively impact on the evaluation of your application.

The application shall consist of the following documents, written in English:

• A personal letter (maximum 1 page)
• Application form, including your research project (Application form)
• Up to ten published papers and optionally one manuscript, in PDF format
• PhD certificate
• If you have a PhD that is older than seven years and want to claim deductible time, you must attach a certificate of deductible time in Swedish or English.

Welcome to apply no later than August 31, 2026 (time 23.59 CEST).

KI applies individual and differentiated salary setting in accordance with our collective agreements RALS and RALS-T.

Want to make a difference? Join us and contribute to better health for all!

1. Pauliina Damdimopoulou, [email protected]
2. Karin Björström, [email protected]

1. Bodil Moberg , OFR/ST, [email protected]
2. Elizabeth Valenzuela, SEKO, [email protected]
3. John Inge Johnsen , SACO, [email protected]