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Postdoc (scholarship) in Systems Biology (Whole-body metabolic modeling of human host and microbiome)

KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm has grown to become one of Europe’s leading technical and engineering universities, as well as a key centre of intellectual talent and innovation. We are Sweden’s largest technical research and learning institution and home to students, researchers and faculty from around the world. Our research and education covers a wide area including natural sciences and all branches of engineering, as well as architecture, industrial management, urban planning, history and philosophy.

The workplace

SciLifeLab ( www.scilifelab.se/ ) is a national resource center dedicated to large scale bioscientific research with a focus on biomedicine, including genome and proteome profiling, bioimaging and bioinformatics. SciLifeLab Stockholm has been formed jointly by the three Stockholm universities, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Karolinska Institute (KI) and Stockholm University (SU), and thus combines the profiles and strengths of these three institutions. Academic research, as well as the Swedish health care system and the Swedish Life Science industry, will benefit through active collaboration, access to advanced tools and active programs for knowledge transfer. The goal is to achieve critical mass for large-scale life sciences and translational medicine.

The Mardinoglu Lab (https://sysmedicine.com/) at SciLifeLab develop Genome-scale metabolic models (GEMs) and other biological networks for the modelling of human cells/tissues and employs these comprehensive models in the analysis of the omics data obtained from subjects with complex diseases, including fatty liver disease, Alzheimer’s Disease and certain types of cancer (e.g. Hepatocellular Carcinoma). This is an exciting area of biomedical research, driven by the increase of common metabolic disorders as well as recent discoveries of metabolic reprogramming in cancer.

Project description

You will join the Mardinoglu Lab at SciLifeLab, which specializes in the development of whole-body, Genome-Scale Metabolic Models (GEMs) to study the complex metabolic interactions within human tissues and between the human host and microbial communities. These models are used to analyze multi-omics data in the context of various complex diseases, such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and cancer. In this project, you will focus on expanding existing human metabolic models by incorporating microbiome data, enabling a systems-level understanding of host–microbiome metabolic crosstalk.

Successful candidates will:

  • Develop and refine whole-body GEMs that integrate both human and microbial metabolism.

  • Incorporate multi-omics datasets (e.g., metagenomics, metabolomics, transcriptomics, lipidomics) to contextualize host–microbe interactions.

  • Apply AI and machine-learning approaches (e.g., graph neural networks, constraint-based modeling, network inference) to analyze complex datasets.

  • Collaborate with microbiologists, clinicians, and computational biologists to validate findings and identify microbiome-driven disease mechanisms or therapeutic targets.

  • Contribute to writing research publications and presenting at international conferences.

Qualifications

Requirements,

  • A doctoral degree or an equivalent foreign degree, obtained within the last three years prior to the application deadline.

  • Strong computational background in systems biology, bioinformatics, machine learning, or similar.

  • Experience in mathematical modeling of biological systems; proficiency in tools such as Python, R, or MATLAB.

  • Good communication skills in spoken and written English.

  • Ability to work independently and in collaborative settings.

Previous experience working with clinical/medical data is a plus. Great emphasis will be placed on personal skills.

Application

Apply to this scholarship by e-mail to hr@cbh.kth.se . You are the main responsible to ensure that your application is complete according to the ad. Your complete application must be received at KTH no later than 2025-10-26 Mark your application with reference number PA-2025-3027.

The application must include the following documents:

  • Curriculum vitae

  • Cover letter (detailing both your previous scientific work experience and your interest in this position)

  • Research statement (max 2 pages)

  • Contact information for three references

Please observe that you apply for a scholarship, not an employment.

It may be the case that a scholarshipcandidate at KTH is classified as a security-sensitive role in accordance with the Protective Security Act (2018:585). If this applies to the specific position, a security clearance will be conducted for the applicant in accordance with the same law with the applicant's consent. In such cases, a prerequisite for scholarshipcandidate is that the applicant is approved following the security clearance.

About the position/positions

Period: Up to two years in total

Extent: Full-time

Number of positions: One (1)

Amount of scholarship: 27,000 SEK/month

Location: SciLifeLab, Stockholm

EU Citizens on scholar or private funding need to bring a certificate showing EHIC insurance (a comprehensive medical- and health insurance) from the home country, which must cover during the full stay in Sweden.

Without this certificate you may only remain three months in Sweden and will not be able to register as a residence in Sweden.

The responsibility for the comprehensive insurance is strictly on the applicant.

Contact

Sophia Bergqvist, sopb@kth.se

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