Are you a bold, creative researcher ready to shape the future of medical science? Karolinska Institutet (KI), one of the world’s foremost medical universities, is launching a major recruitment initiative in 2026. KI is looking for up to 21 outstanding early- career researchers to join us as Assistant Professors in a wide range of subject areas.
At KI, we foster a vibrant and international academic environment that values curiosity, collaboration, innovation, and high quality research. We are looking for inspiring scientists who are motivated to contribute to and further develop strong research and education environment, and who demonstrate high quality science and potential for academic leadership.
Do you want to contribute to top-quality medical research? Are you passionate about biomarker discovery and precision medicine within the field of cancer, and eager to conduct cutting-edge research? Join us at Karolinska Institutet (KI) and the Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, where clinical and translational genetics research in cancer is closely integrated to improve patient care. MMK conducts both preclinical and clinical research across a wide range of medical fields, including cancer and genomics.
If you meet our requirements and propose a groundbreaking research project, we are prepared to employ you as an Assistant Professor for six years and support you with a generous funding package of 9 MSEK to cover your salary and other research costs. KI offers the opportunity to be promoted from a time-limited (six-year) position as Assistant Professor to permanent employment as Senior Lecturer. You can read more about it here.
At KI, you will be part of an interdisciplinary research community. Our researchers work across a wide range of fields and methodologies within medicine and health, creating rich opportunities for knowledge exchange and cross-disciplinary collaboration. You will also benefit from close connections with healthcare providers, ensuring your research remains closely aligned with real-world clinical practice.
As a governmental authority, KI offers a comprehensive benefits package governed by collective agreements. These include annual salary reviews, supplementary insurance, and opportunities to participate in institutional decision-making.
A successful research career is supported by a strong personal foundation. Sweden is known for being a family-friendly country, offering a high quality of life, generous parental leave, and excellent childcare and education systems — creating a welcoming environment for both researchers and their families.
At KI, we value differences in backgrounds and perspectives, and diversity, equity and inclusion are parts of our core values. KI is dedicated to our work for equal opportunities and rejects all forms of discrimination.
Learn more about what KI and Sweden can offer, and the different calls!
Location: Solna
Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer worldwide, with nearly two million new cases diagnosed annually, and remains a leading cause of cancer-related mortality. Despite major advances in surgery, systemic therapy, and surveillance, up to 30–40% of patients treated with curative intent ultimately develop recurrent disease. Once recurrence occurs, prognosis is poor and curative treatment is rarely possible. Preventing relapse therefore remains one of the most urgent unmet needs in colorectal cancer care. There is consequently a major need for biologically informed precision medicine approaches that can identify patients at high risk of recurrence, predict benefit from adjuvant therapy, and guide individualized treatment strategies.
The research is embedded within extensive national and international collaborations in colorectal cancer and precision oncology. The programme builds on the ALASCCA Study and the ALASCCA Research Platform, which connect 33 Nordic hospitals through harmonized protocols for surgery, oncology, pathology, biobanking, and longitudinal data capture. Through the national data infrastructure CRCBaSe the group collaborates closely with epidemiologists, biostatisticians, and health economists utilizing Sweden’s nationwide colorectal cancer registry linkages. The environment also includes expertise in digital pathology and AI-driven modelling, bringing together gastrointestinal pathologists, computational scientists, and biostatisticians within a shared slide-scanning and data infrastructure.
The research network originates from clinical practice in colorectal surgery and pursues a highly translational and multidisciplinary research strategy spanning surgery, radiotherapy, systemic oncology, molecular pathology, epidemiology, and experimental cancer research. The overarching goal is to improve prevention, diagnostics, treatment, and survival for patients with colorectal cancer and related diseases.
We offer a strong and collaborative research environment where clinicians, experimental researchers, data scientists, and core facilities work in close interaction to enable translational research with impact on patient care. The successful candidate will join a vibrant and rapidly expanding precision medicine ecosystem with strong links to Karolinska University Hospital, Karolinska Comprehensive Cancer Center, Precision Medicine Center Karolinska, SciLifeLab, Genomic Medicine Sweden (GMS), and leading international consortia. The environment supports interdisciplinary, clinically integrated, and data-intensive research across genomics, transcriptomics, epigenomics, biomarker discovery, and AI-enhanced analytics, with the ultimate aim of improving diagnostics, prognostication, and individualized treatment strategies for patients with colorectal cancer.
This Assistant Professor position offers excellent opportunities to build a strong academic profile—primarily by developing your independence as a researcher, while also gaining valuable teaching and pedagogical experience.
Your primary responsibility is to conduct high-quality, independent research in biomarker discovery and precision medicine. You are expected to develop a competitive research program, apply for external research funding, and actively contribute to education at the undergraduate and doctoral levels. You will supervise PhD students and postdocs and are expected to collaborate nationally and internationally. This position is a career-development position aimed at facilitating academic advancement and promotion to senior lecturer within the employment period.
To be eligible for an appointment as Assistant Professor, you must demonstrate good scientific skills according to KI’s eligibility criteria as follows:
-
A PhD (or equivalent degree) in a relevant subject area
-
At least two peer-reviewed original scientific publications as first or last author, in addition to the doctoral thesis
Priority is given to those who were awarded a PhD (or attained equivalent competence) no more than seven years prior to the expiry of the deadline for the application.
Those who have been awarded a doctoral degree or attained equivalent research competence earlier will also be considered if there are special circumstances for absence from research (deductible time), such as: parental leave, long-term illness, positions of trust in trade union organizations or mandatory service in total defence.
The circumstances, dates and extent must be clearly specified in the application and verified by relevant documentation.
For this call, exceptions are made from all pedagogical requirements specified in the instructions regarding the Appointment procedure for teachers at KI. However, you must complete three weeks of higher education pedagogical courses in accordance with the Association of Swedish Higher Education Institutions’ recommendations, no later than two years after starting your employment as an Assistant Professor (unless you can certify that you have completed equivalent training before starting the position).
Candidates will be evaluated based on both scientific and pedagogical qualifications, with greater emphasis placed on scientific excellence. The full set of assessment criteria is outlined in the instructions regarding the Appointment Procedure for Teachers at KI.
Particularly meritorious is:
-
The scientific quality, originality, and feasibility of your research plan within the relevant subject area
-
documented experience in research environments outside KI, with special consideration given to international research experience
-
Experience in the development and application of cancer genomic methods, such as identification of copy-number alterations, structural variation or point mutations as well as handling of large-scale research data and computationally intensive analyses
-
Expertise in cancer research
-
Experience of performing outcome analysis
-
Experience integrating bioinformatics and AI-based approaches for data analysis and clinical translation
-
Demonstrated ability to lead or supervise in computational or interdisciplinary research settings
-
To have a collaborative approach to translational research involving clinical partners and technology platforms
These criteria reflect our commitment to fostering university with diverse and globally recognised researchers who contribute to high quality science and excellent academic citizenship.
The criteria listed will form part of the overall assessment of the applicant. All criteria will be assessed but they should not individually be seen as requirements.
Offers will be extended to the best candidate based on an overall assessment of the applicant’s expertise and merits in relation to the subject area.
All applicants are expected to follow the application instructions carefully. Failure to comply with the guidelines or misrepresentation of qualifications may negatively impact on the evaluation of your application.
The application shall consist of the following documents, written in English:
-
A personal letter (maximum 1 page)
-
Application form, including your research project (Application form)
-
Up to ten published papers and optionally one manuscript, in PDF format
-
PhD certificate
-
If you have a PhD that is older than seven years and want to claim deductible time, you must attach a certificate of deductible time in Swedish or English.
Welcome to apply no later than August 31, 2026 (time 23.59 CEST).
KI applies individual and differentiated salary setting in accordance with our collective agreements RALS and RALS-T.
The application must be submitted through the Varbi recruitment system.
Read more regardning the calls, conditions regarding funding and employment!
Want to make a difference? Join us and contribute to better health for all.
