Doctoral Researcher (PhD Student), Neuromusculoskeletal Pain and Mechanobiology

The University of Eastern Finland is inviting applications for a Doctoral Researcher (PhD Student) position in Neuromusculoskeletal Pain and Mechanobiology at the Department of Technical Physics on the Kuopio campus. The position will be filled for a fixed term as from 1 August 2026 (or as agreed) to 30 April 2029.

Please find more information below and submit your application by 10 June 2026.

Role and salary

We are seeking a highly motivated Doctoral Researcher (PhD Student) to join our research project “Multidata-driven virtual human model for understanding and modification of osteoarthritis-associated pain (MULTIPAIN)” at the Department of Technical Physics of the University of Eastern Finland. This project aims to identify the key mechanisms explaining pain and the degree of subject-specific pain mitigation in knee osteoarthritis. The project focuses specifically on pain sensitivity (quantitative sensory testing), sleep quality (polysomnography), neuromuscular function (transcranial magnetic stimulation), inflammation, and mechanobiological factors in a clinically relevant patient cohort. Furthermore, the project includes development of computational pain models and virtual twins including calibration with clinical data.

As a Doctoral Researcher (PhD Student) you will focus on one of the following tasks:

• establishing relationships between pain, sleep, and neuromuscular function in osteoarthritis patients
• developing predictive computational models to understand mechanisms for pain and osteoarthritis progression.

The main duty of the Doctoral Researcher (PhD Student) is to conduct research for their doctoral dissertation and to complete postgraduate studies. Doctoral research will include experimental work or computational model development, reporting the findings in the form of research manuscripts, generating open access datasets or models and attending relevant conferences. The position may also include teaching duties (max. 5% of the total working hours) within the discipline, in line with the candidate’s area of expertise.

The work is done primarily in the Biophysics group (website) at the Department of Technical Physics of the University of Eastern Finland, which is globally one of the leading groups in musculoskeletal research. The group belongs to the “Ageing, Lifestyles, and Health” profile area and “the Musculoskeletal Health and Technology” research community of the University of Eastern Finland (website). The project involves national and international collaborators from the Kuopio University Hospital (Wellbeing Services County of North Savo), Aalborg University, Denmark, and the Center for Mathematical modeling of KneeOsteoArthritis (website).

The position will be filled for a fixed term as from 1 August 2026 (or as agreed) to 30 April 2029 due to the Doctoral Researcher’s (PhD Student’s) own doctoral dissertation work and studies. A trial period is applied to all new members of the staff.

The salary of the position is determined in accordance with the salary system for Finnish universities. The salary comprises two components: a job-related salary element and a personal salary element. For a Doctoral Researcher (PhD Student), the job-related salary element is based on levels 2–4 of the job requirement level chart for teaching and research staff depending on the stage of the applicant’s doctoral research and postgraduate studies. The personal salary element is 6–50% of the job-related salary element. At the beginning of the employment, the total salary will be approximately EUR 2,710 – 2,845 /month.

Our requirements and expectations

We require you to

• be eligible for postgraduate studies; i.e., to hold a Master’s degree in biomedical engineering, biomechanics, mechanobiology, medical physics and engineering, mechanical engineering, computational science, biophysics or a related field, awarded by a university or a university of applied sciences, or to have completed an applicable study programme abroad which in the awarding country gives eligibility for corresponding postgraduate education
• meet the student admission criteria for the LUMETO doctoral programme (Doctoral Programme in Science, Forestry and Technology, website)
• have good skills in English, both written and spoken.

Please note that the applicant must fulfil the stated requirements by the end of the application period.

Applicants who do not yet have the right to pursue postgraduate studies at the University of Eastern Finland are not required to apply for study rights at the application stage. If the applicant is selected for the position and applies for postgraduate study rights, the selection will be conditional until the right to pursue postgraduate studies in the faculty’s doctoral programme has been granted. The application for postgraduate study rights is submitted through the Studyinfo (Opintopolku) service.

Depending on the topic of the doctoral dissertation, some of the following will be considered an advantage

• biomedical signal analysis skills
• programming skills (MATLAB, Python)
• computational modeling skills (COMSOL Multiphysics, Abaqus, other finite element software)
• general data analysis skills including statistical analysis
• and/or clinical research experience.

Your benefits

You will have access to the university’s staff benefits, including 

• the opportunity for flexible multi-location work
• extensive occupational health care
• a broad selection of staff training
• staff discount on lunch in our campus restaurants, as well as on a range of other services
• affordable sports services.

Please read more in the Work at UEF section on our website. 

You will have an opportunity to work in a meaningful role as part of our international, creative, participatory and inclusive academic community.    

Enjoy your life in Finland! Known for its cleanliness, welfare know-how, modern technology and superb education system, Finland is an exotic and safe country to work in. Please visit the Life in Finland section on our website to learn more.

How to apply?

Submit your application by using our electronic application form no later than 10 June 2026 by 23:59 (midnight) Finnish time (UTC +3).

Please note that you must include the following appendices in your application

• a CV (Template for CV, TENK website)
• a list of publications (Instructions, Research Council of Finland website)
• copies of your academic degree certificates / diplomas, and copies of certificates / diplomas relating to your language proficiency, if not indicated in the academic degree certificates/diplomas
• a transcript of records
• a motivation letter (max. 1 page) in which you describe your interest in the position and research project, your background, as well as your career aspirations
• other documents to demonstrate your merits for the position.

If your degree certificate is not in English, Finnish, or Swedish, you must provide official English translations of your degree certificate documents. All translations must be issued by the awarding educational institution or an authorized translator. Each page of the official translation must bear the translator's stamp and/or signature. Official translations must be accurate translations of the original documents. Translations made by the applicants themselves will not be accepted.

Questions?

For further information on the position, please contact Professor Rami Korhonen, e-mail: [email protected], tel.: ++358 29 445 3343 and Postdoctoral Researcher Atte Eskelinen, e-mail: [email protected], tel.: +358 40 748 3373.

For further information on the application procedure, please contact HR Specialist Iiris Korhonen, e-mail: [email protected], tel.: +358 29 445 8161.

Haemme väitöskirjatutkijaa Itä-Suomen yliopistolle. Tehtävä sijoittuu luonnontieteiden, metsätieteiden ja tekniikan tiedekuntaan teknillisen fysiikan laitokselle Kuopion kampukselle. Tehtävä alkaa 1.8.2026 (tai sopimuksen mukaan) ja se täytetään 30.4.2029 saakka. Tehtävässä tehtäväkohtainen palkanosa on vaativuustasoluokittelussa tasoilla 2–4. Lisäksi maksetaan henkilökohtaiseen suoriutumiseen perustuvaa palkanosaa, joka on 6–50 % tehtäväkohtaisesta palkanosasta. Tehtävässä edellytetään hyvää englannin kielen taitoa.​

Lue tarkemmat tiedot tehtävästä ja hakuohjeet yllä olevasta englanninkielisestä ilmoituksesta. Jätäthän hakemuksesi englanniksi. Hakuaika tehtävään päättyy 10.6.2026.

The Faculty of Science, Forestry and Technology operates on the Kuopio and Joensuu campuses of the University of Eastern Finland. The mission of the faculty is to carry out internationally recognised scientific research and to offer research-education in the fields of natural sciences, forestry and technology. The faculty invests in all of the strategic research areas of the university. The faculty’s environments for research and learning are international, modern and multidisciplinary. The faculty has approximately 2,650 Bachelor’s and Master’s degree students and some 440 postgraduate students. The number of staff amounts to 650.

The University of Eastern Finland (UEF) is the most multidisciplinary university in Finland. Our university employs approximately 3,200 employees, and our community includes approximately 17,000 degree students and 16,000 adult education students. Our campuses are located in Joensuu and Kuopio. We represent the world’s cutting edge of research in many fields and produce research-based knowledge, which is made openly available to benefit everyone. Learn more about our university at www.uef.fi/en. Read also about UEF as a working community and employer and the career stories of our employees.

1. Rami Korhonen, [email protected]