Assistant Professor in Historical Epidemiology of Epidemic Diseases

The Department of People and Technology (IMT), Roskilde University, invites applications for a position as assistant professor in Population Health Science from 01-05-2025 or as soon as possible thereafter. The position is limited to 3 years.

Description of the PhD project
You will be associated with the DFF-funded Sapere Aude project: “Post-pandemic infectious disease landscapes: interactions across time and space (PID-scapes)”. The project explores how various epidemic infectious diseases interacted with one another at the population level, and in particular how pandemics affected such interactions. The project focusses on the late 19th and early 20th century where two major pandemics occurred: 1889-92 and 1918-20. Read more at https://forskning.ruc.dk/da/projects/post-pandemic-infectious-disease-landscapes-interactions-across-t. The Principal Investigator (PI) of PID-scapes is Maarten van Wijhe, associate professor in applied biostatistics for clinical and public health at IMT.

Section of Health and Society and the Department of People and Technology
You will work in an interdisciplinary environment at the Section of Health and Society at the Department of People and Technology (IMT) as well as in close collaboration with the PandemiX Center at the Department of Science and Environment (INM). The section of Health and Society covers highly dynamic and interdisciplinary health research across methods and disciplines. You will encounter an engaged team of researchers who are open towards new theoretical and methodological approaches and oriented towards contemporary health challenges. The section collaborates extensively with various external partners at local, regional, and national levels and actively participate in several international research networks. The candidate will primarily be based at the Section of Health and Society in IMT at the Roskilde University but is also expected to spend at least one day a week at the PandemiX Center in its location at the Statens Serum Institute in Copenhagen. At the PandemiX Center, you will have access to a wide range of expertise in history/demography, bioinformatics, biology, medicine, and mathematics specifically focused on pandemic research.

The Department of People and Technology encompasses human, social, health and IT sciences as well as planning, intervention and design-oriented disciplines. In round figures, the institute employs 150 academic staff, 40 TAP, 60 PhD students (internal and external) and 80 external lecturers. The Department is oriented towards developing interdisciplinary and sustainable solutions to important societal challenges. The department utilises a wide range of innovative and experimental research approaches that support human agency and humans active engagement in everyday life.

Responsibilities and tasks
The assistant professor’s work will primarily include research on historical epidemics and pandemics, including obligations with regard to publication/scientific communication and research-based teaching with associated examination obligations within health, health promotion, epidemiology and statistics at the bachelor studies ´Sundhedsfremme og Sundhedsstrategier´, the master level studies ´Tværvidenskabelige Sundhedsstudier´ and ´Sygepleje´ (all in Danish). In addition to research and research-based teaching, the position also requires knowledge sharing with the rest of society – including participation in public debate. To a limited extent this may also include performance of other activities.

You will be responsible for the part of the PID-scapes research project that involves collecting, digitizing, transcribing and analyzing patient journals from Danish hospitals in the late 19th and early 20th century. In addition, you will also be expected to engage with our collaborators at the University of Southern Denmark (SDU), as well as our international collaborators in the Netherlands and Switzerland.

The ideal candidate is expected to complete the educational training programme for assistant professors at RUC (up to 220 hours).

Qualifications
Applicants must hold a PhD degree or equivalent within history/demography, data science, biomedical science, public or population health, epidemiology, or related field. Qualifications within the following scientific areas are required:

• Documented experience with quantitative methods used in health sciences, such as data science, epidemiology, demography, or statistical modelling
• Fluency in Danish, since teaching and source material are in Danish

We also emphasize the following qualifications:

• Excellent communication skills in both written and oral English
• Motivated, creative, and capable of independent research work
• Enthusiasm for interdisciplinary research and collaboration
• Enthusiasm for the study of historical aspects of health and diseases
• Experience with handling and reading historical heath data

The ideal candidate shall be enterprising and possess good communication skills and be a visible involved participant in the department’s daily activities, in addition to being willing to engage in disciplinary and interdisciplinary collaboration across the department.

Assessment
In the assessment of the candidates, consideration will be given to;

• reflections on the research project,
• scientific production,
• research prospective and the ability to promote and utilize research results,
• experience in teaching and education in the field of health sciences,
• other academic experience, such as organizing research conferences or seminars,
• ability to contribute to the development of the department’s internal and external cooperation,

Questions
For further information about the position, please contact associate professor Maarten van Wijhe, [email protected] or on tel. (+45) 4674 3934

Terms of employment
We are planning to hold interviews during week 11 and 12, 2025. The employment is on full time, 37 hours per week and you will refer to Bjarke Oxlund, Dean.

The position will be filled according to the Agreement between the Danish Ministry of Finance and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations (AC) and Job Structure for Academic Staff at Universities.

Application procedure
After the deadline for applications the Dean will shortlist applicants for assessment with assistance from the recruitment committee including the chairperson of the assessment committee.

Shortly after the application deadline all applicants will be notified whether or not their application has been selected for assessment.

The shortlisted applicants will be informed about the composition of the assessment committee, and each applicant will be given the opportunity to comment on the composition of the committee and - later on - their assessment.

Once the recruitment process is completed, all applicants will be informed of the outcome of their application.

Application
To apply for the position go to www.ruc.dk/en/job/

Only applications in English are accepted.

Applications must include:

1. Cover letter

2. CV

3. Documentation of education

4. Teaching portfolio (read more about teaching portfolio at Roskilde University here)

5. A complete list of publications

6. A maximum of 5 relevant scientific works that you want included in the assessment

If any of the publications that you want included in the assessment are the result of a joint effort, the extent and the nature of your contribution to each individual work must then be clarified in a co-author statement (find template here)

Please submit your application no later than 31-01-2025.

Material received after this date will not be taken into consideration.

Roskilde University wishes to reflect the diversity of society and welcomes applications from all qualified candidates regardless of personal background.