161720 Professor of Biostatistics

Professor of Biostatistics
Department of Public Health

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences
University of Copenhagen

The University of Copenhagen seeks to appoint a professor of Biostatistics at the Department of Public Health to commence as soon as possible.

Information on the department can be found at: publichealth.ku.dk/. The position as professor belongs to the Section of Biostatistics, which conducts biostatistical research and development, participates in medical research projects and offers biostatistical advice to PhD students and staff in all disciplines of the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences. The section’s methodological research covers most areas of biostatistics, but is particularly focused at event history analysis, latent variable models, causal inference, trial design, statistical computing, and epidemiological methods. The section takes part in a wide range applied statistical collaborations and teaches biostatistics within all pre-graduate programs of the Faculty as well as courses in the PhD programme of the Faculty. More information available at https://biostat.ku.dk/.

Job description
When considering applications for the professorship, the main emphasis will be on the applicant's ability to document a high level of original scientific work at an international level within the areas of causal inference and clinical trials. This will include a track record of developing novel biostatistical tools (preferably including both analysis of mathematical properties as well as implementation aspects) as well as a track record of successful collaborations with researchers in other fields.

Specifically, a successful candidate will have an international reputation in the field of causal inference and have a proven background in both practical and methodological work in clinical trials that will enrich the knowledge of the department. An ideal candidate would work in areas that include but are not limited to partial identification and sensitivity analysis, both in observational and randomized studies, surrogate evaluation, and exact methods for small samples within clinical trials. The candidate must have a documented track record of successfully obtaining research funding from public and private institutions as principal investigator. The candidate must have a strong international network of collaborators and experience contributing to the evaluation of biostatistics research, e.g., as editor of a major biostatistics or statistics journal.

The professor’s responsibilities will primarily consist of:

• Research, including publication/academic dissemination.
• Research-based teaching, including associated examination.
• Research leadership, including guidance and supervision of researchers.
• Obligation to share knowledge with the rest of society, including participation in public debate.
• Academic assessments.
• Creating new collaborations with other fields/researchers within medical research, which can ensure that the methodological research of the section remains relevant and useful for applied medical researchers. Over time some of these collaborations are expected to lead to joint applications for research funds.

Required qualifications
Six overall criteria apply for professor appointments at the University of Copenhagen. The six criteria (research, teaching, societal impact, organisational contribution, external funding, and leadership) are considered a framework for the overall assessment of candidates. Find information about each criterion here: https://employment.ku.dk/faculty/criteria-for-recognising-merit.

Furthermore, each applicant must be able to document:

• Document a high degree of original academic production at an international level, including considerable contributions to the development of the academic discipline.
• Build up research collaborations and participate in the subsequence management of these.
• Manage research and other management functions, e.g. engage in the university’s external academic activities, as well as knowledge and technology transfer.
• Provide research-based teaching.

The professor is also required to possess good interpersonal and communicative skills.

Terms of employment
The position is a permanent position.

Salary and other terms and conditions of appointment are set in accordance with the Agreement between the Ministry of Taxation and AC (Danish Confederation of Professional Associations) or other relevant professional organisations.

The position is covered by the Job Structure for Academic Staff at Universities 2020.

Questions
For further information, please contact Head of Department Theis Lange, thlan@sund.ku.dk.

Foreign applicants may find this link useful: https://www.ism.ku.dk/ (International Staff Mobility).

Application
The application must be submitted in English and must include the following documents:

• Application, including motivation for applying for this position (maximum 2 pages).
• Curriculum vitae, including information about external funding.
• Diplomas (Master’s, PhD, and other relevant certificates).
• A complete list of publications.
• Research plan (3‐5 pages).
• Uploads of maximum 10 publications to be considered in the assessment.
• Teaching plan.
• Teaching portfolio (Guidelines: https://employment.ku.dk/faculty/recruitment-process/job-application-portfolio).

Application procedure
After the expiry of the deadline for applications, the authorized recruitment manager selects applicants for assessment on the advice of the Appointments Committee.  All applicants are then immediately notified whether their application has been passed for assessment. The Dean then appoints an expert assessment committee to make an assessment of the selected applicants for the specific post. Selected applicants are notified of the composition of the committee and each applicant has the opportunity to comment on the part of the assessment that relates to the applicant him/herself. You can read about the recruitment process at https://employment.ku.dk/.

Please note that the applicant will be contacted if the assessment committee requires further documentation.

The applicant will be assessed according to the Ministerial Order no. 242 of 13 March 2012 on the Appointment of Academic Staff at Universities.

The University of Copenhagen encourages all interested applicants to apply for this position.

Please submit the application with the required attachments. Only online applications will be accepted. The closing date for applications is 23.59 p.m. CET, Sunday 2 June 2024.

Interviews for this position are likely to be held on Friday 4 October 2024.