Research Assistant and PhD fellow in the Genetic architecture of skeletal muscle

About the role

The University of Copenhagen is seeking a highly motivated and talented PhD fellow to commence November 15, 2026, or after agreement in the Loos Group at the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research (CBMR), University of Copenhagen.

Research Aims

• Generate robust imaging-derived measures related to skeletal muscle using population-based MRI data.
• Identify genetic variants associated with skeletal muscle traits.
• Explore the relevance of genetic findings for metabolic health and disease risk using genetic and epidemiological approaches.

Your role

• Processing and quality-controlling large-scale abdominal MRI data.
• Developing reproducible pipelines for skeletal muscle phenotyping.
• Performing genome-wide and gene-level genetic association analyses.
• Integrating genetic findings with proteomic and functional genomic data.
• Interpreting results in close collaboration with clinical and experimental partners.
• Disseminating findings through publications, conference presentations, and open, well-documented analysis workflows.

Profile

• This PhD fellowship is aimed at early-career researchers with strong quantitative training who aspire to a career in academic research at the interface of imaging, genetics, and metabolic health.
• Required qualifications include a Master’s degree in Biomedical Sciences, Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, Medical Imaging, Biostatistics, or related fields (equivalent to a Danish Master’s degree).
• Strong quantitative and analytical skills, experience working with large-scale biomedical datasets, programming skills in Python and/or R, familiarity with Linux and HPC environments, a curious mindset with a strong interest in imaging-based phenotyping, statistical genetics, and metabolic health, and excellent English communication skills, written and oral.

Eligibility

• The PhD fellowships within the CBMR International PhD & Postdoc Program are open for applicants that hold a Master’s degree equivalent to a Danish master’s degree (two years).
• The Master’s degree has to be obtained before November 15, 2026.
• You are not eligible to apply for the program if you have been employed in a Research Assistant position for more than two years at the University of Copenhagen prior to the commencement of the fellowship.

Terms of Employment

• The employment consists of 1 year as a Research Assistant followed by 3 years as PhD fellow contingent on a positive evaluation of the 1st year.
• Starting date is November 15, 2026, or after agreement.
• The employment as PhD fellow is conditioned upon the applicant’s successful enrolment as a PhD student at the Graduate School at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen.
• Salary, pension and terms of employment are in accordance with the agreement between the Ministry of Finance and The Danish Confederation of Professional Associations on Academics in the State.

Application Procedure

• Your online application must be submitted in English via the 'Apply for position' link below.
• Furthermore, your application must include the following documents/attachments – all in PDF format:
• Motivated letter of application (max. one page)
• CV incl. education, experience, language skills and other skills relevant to the position
• Certified copy of original Master’s diploma and transcript of records in the original language, including an authorized English translation if issued in another language than English or Danish. If not completed, a certified/signed copy of a recent transcript of records or a written statement from the institution or supervisor is accepted.
• List of publications
• References (name and contact details of at least two references)