The Department of Clinical Microbiology at Umeå University is seeking a scholarship recipient for a 8-month scholarship for education at the graduate level within lung repair following influenza infection. The application deadline is10 August 2026.
Departmental specific information
The Department of Clinical Microbiology conducts research on a broad range of topics in infectious diseases, including host-pathogen interactions, microbial properties, and immune responses. The host research group studies the pathogenesis of respiratory viruses including highly pathogenic avian influenza with a focus on how virus infection and host immune responses disrupt lung tissue repair and drive severe lung disease.
Project description
You will participate in ongoing research activities evaluating how host immune responses to highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 viruses contribute to pathogenesis in 3D human lung organoids and air-liquid interface cultures along with in vivo animal models. This project aims to identify specific viral and/or host factors that mediate differential immune responses, and how these responses affect lung tissue repair, with the goal of uncovering novel therapeutic strategies to treat severe lower respiratory tract infections.
The Department of Clinical Microbiology, together with the Wallenberg Centre for Molecular Medicine and the Molecular Infection Medicine Sweden (MIMS) programme (the Swedish node of the Nordic EMBL Partnership for Molecular Medicine), contributes to creating a strong research environment in infection biology in Umeå. Our department is successful in attracting external research funding and publishing in well-ranked scientific journals
Qualifications
Excellent English communication skills, both spoken and written. You can conduct experiments independently, analyze data, interpret results, and maintain thorough documentation.Personal qualities such as creativity, initiative, and interpersonal skills are highly valued.
You must have experience in the following:
Virology experience including infection, virus titration, virus stock maintenance
Experience with -omics approaches including single cell and bulk RNA-seq, ATAC-seq, and metabolomics, including familiarity with programming languages such as R or Python
Experience with fundamental molecular biology techniques including mammalian cell culture, flow cytometry, q-RT-PCR, molecular cloning, and nucleic acid extraction
Experience with rodent animal models, including necropsy/dissection
Prior research experience in immunology and developmental biology
Ability and willingness to work in a biosafety level 3 (BSL3) facility using BSL3 practices and procedures
Demonstrated ability to communicate results such as oral/poster presentations
Ability to collaborate effectively.
The scholarship recipient is expected to be able to participate independently in the laboratory.
Application
Applications may be submitted in either English or Swedish. Attached documents must be in Word or PDF format. Applications should be submitted through Umeå University's e-recruitment system, Varbi, and must be received no later than10 August 2026.
The scholarship for first-cycle/second-cycle level education is limited to 8 months. The starting date is as soon as possible, according to agreement.
The application should include:
A cover letter describing your qualifications, research interests, and reasons for applying for the scholarship.
Optional:
Bachelor's degree certificate.
Any other documents you wish to submit in support of your application.
Additional Information and Contact
For further information, please contact research fellow, Meaghan Flagg, meaghan.flagg@umu.se.
