PhD fellowship in Forensic genetic applications of age estimation

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen

The Department of Forensic Medicine is offering a three-year PhD fellowship. The PhD fellowship is conditioned on enrolment as PhD-student. The PhD fellowship is within the field of age estimation in the forensic context and is available from August 1st, 2025 or as soon as possible hereafter.

Our group and research

The Department of Forensic Medicine performs forensic pathology, anthropology, odontology, chemistry, and genetic investigations. The Section of Forensic Genetics performs research concerning molecular biology investigations, including investigation of DNA, methylated DNA, and RNA. The research group of the Section of Forensic Genetics has an academic staff of four academics in fixed positions, academics in postdoc and PhD positions, and a number of bachelor and master students. The research areas include investigation of new forensic genetic markers and methods, population genetics, genetics of sudden cardiac death, age determination with molecular markers.

Project description

The PhD project will focus on the applications of age estimation with a particular focus on forensic genetic casework.

The estimation of the age of an individual from biological material is of great importance in forensic casework. Prediction of chronological age can help to describe an alleged perpetrator in situations where there is neither a suspect nor a match of the DNA profile in the database. Besides being informative in criminal investigations, age estimation can also be important in human identification of victims and human remains, e.g. in mass disasters, and in immigration cases where the age of e.g. asylum seekers without valid documentation is important for the protection status subadult asylum seekers have under the law.

The work will focus on age estimation in different tissues with forensic relevance (blood, buccal swabs, hair, bones, etc). The recovery of viable DNA methylation profiles from low template and trace samples will also be evaluated. Relevant population data for the establishment of age estimation models will be produced.

The project will be performed at the Section of Forensic Genetics, Department of Forensic Medicine.

Principal supervisor

Vânia Pereira, Associate Professor, Section of Forensic Genetics, Department of Forensic Medicine

E-mail: vania.pereira@sund.ku.dk

Co-supervisor

Claus Børsting, Senior Researcher, Section of Forensic Genetics, Department of Forensic Medicine.

Start: August 1st, 2025

Duration: 3 years as a PhD student.

Job description

The key tasks as a PhD student at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences are:

- Perform an independent research project under supervision
- Complete PhD courses or other equivalent education corresponding to approx. 30 ECTS points
- Participate in other research environments including an external stay at another research group
- Gain experience in teaching or other types of research dissemination related to the PhD project
- Write a PhD thesis on the grounds of the project

Key criteria for the assessment of applicants

Applicants must have qualifications corresponding to a master's degree related to the subject area of the project, e.g. master's degree in genetics, biology, medicine, or a related field. Please note that your master's degree must be equivalent to a Danish master's degree (two years).

Other important criteria are:

- The grade point average achieved
- Professional qualifications relevant to the PhD project
- Relevant work/research experience, preferably on MPS and age estimation using DNA methylation
- Relevant bioinformatic background
- Publications
- Other professional activities
- Curious mindset with a strong interest in forensic genetics
- Language skills

Place of employment

The place of employment is at the Department of Forensic Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen. We offer creative and stimulating working conditions in a dynamic and international research environment. Our research facilities include modern laboratories and competent research staff.

Terms of employment

The employment as PhD student is a full time fixed-position limited to a period of 3 years; it is conditioned upon the applicant's successful enrolment as a PhD student at the Graduate School at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen. This requires submission and acceptance of an application for the specific project formulated by the applicant.

The PhD study must be completed in accordance with The Ministerial Order on the PhD programme (2013) and the Faculty's rules on achieving the degree.

Salary, pension and terms of employment are in accordance with the agreement between the Ministry of Finance and The Danish Confederation of Professional Associations on Academics in the State. Depending on seniority, the monthly salary starts at approximately 30,700 DKK/Roughly 4,100 EUR (April 2024 level) plus pension.

Questions

For specific information about the PhD position, please contact the main supervisor.

General information about PhD studies at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences is available at the Graduate School's website: https://healthsciences.ku.dk/phd/guidelines/

Application procedure

The application must be submitted electronically by clicking 'Apply now' below. We will not consider applications sent by email or submitted outside the HR system. The application must include the following documents in PDF format:

- Motivation letter of application (max. one page)
- CV incl. education, experience, language skills, and other skills relevant for the position
- Master of Science diploma and transcript of records. If not completed, a certified/signed copy of a recent transcript of records or a written statement from the institution or supervisor will do
- Publication list (if applicable)

Application deadline: April 10th, 2025, 23.59 pm CET

We reserve the right not to consider material received after the deadline, and not to consider applications that do not live up to the abovementioned requirements.

The further process

After the expiry of the deadline for applications, the authorized recruitment manager selects applicants for assessment on the advice of the hiring committee. All applicants are then immediately notified whether their application has been passed for assessment by an unbiased assessor.

The assessor makes a non-prioritized assessment of the academic qualifications and experience with respect to the above-mentioned area of research, techniques, skills and other requirements listed in the advertisement.

Once the assessment work has been completed 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 http://employment.ku.dk/faculty/recruitment-process/

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 Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences comprises approximately 7,500 students, 1,500 PhD students, and 3,200 employees. The Faculty advances the field of health sciences through its core activities: research, teaching, knowledge sharing and communication. With basic research fields ranging from molecular studies to studies of society, the Faculty contributes to a healthy future through its graduates, research findings and inventions benefitting patients and the community. The University of Copenhagen wishes to reflect the surrounding community and invites all regardless of personal background to apply for the position.

Apply

The University of Copenhagen offers its nearly 10,000 employees the opportunity to fully utilize their talent in an ambitious, informal environment. We ensure a traditional and modern framework for education and free research at a high international level. We seek answers and solutions to common problems and make new knowledge accessible and useful to others.

Please note in your application that you found the job at Jobindex

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