Assistant Professor of Health Science

The University of Copenhagen seeks to appoint up to three Group Leaders at Associate Professor or Professor level in Cardiometabolic Health and Disease to the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research (CBMR) commencing in April 2025, or after agreement. The applicants must complement existing Research Groups and align with the Center’s overarching research strategy. Preference is given to applicants with a background in metabolomics (metabolic flux analysis), cardiovascular pathophysiology, and the central regulation of body weight and energy homeostasis.
 

Groundbreaking research towards better cardiometabolic health
 

CBMR’s mission is to transform the basic understanding of cardiometabolic health, and accelerate its translation into prevention and treatment strategies, through interdisciplinary research spanning from single-cell genomics to whole-body systems. The Center’s research has resulted in seminal discoveries as to how genes, hormones, and environmental factors influence cardiometabolic health and disease throughout life.

The Center received its third round of strategic funding from the Novo Nordisk Foundation in 2024, worth up to DKK 1BN over five years. This generous external financing allows the Center’s 24 Research Groups to receive core funding to support their research activities in addition to their own external independent grants from prestigious funding agencies such as the ERC, NIH and DFF.

Collaborative and interdisciplinary fundamental cardiometabolic research

CBMR's primary research objective is to understand the fundamental mechanisms underlying cardiometabolic health and disease. The Center's 24 Research Groups each take a unique approach through the study of energy homeostasis, appetite, adipose tissue biology, genetics, insulin sensitivity/resistance, muscular function and organ crosstalk.

CBMR scientists work synergistically across the Center in a collaborative and interdisciplinary research environment. To support collaboration among closely aligned researchers, Research Groups are clustered into four thematic Research Programs that represent promising areas of scientific investigation, which reflect the Center's scientific strengths:

• Human Variation and Functional Genomics
• Metabolic Dynamics and Organ Crosstalk
• Physiological Control of Energy Homeostasis
• Cardiometabolic Research in Society and Culture

Read more about the Center’s research strategy, here.

CBMR is embedded in the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences at the University of Copenhagen, which allows close collaboration with scientists in a range of complementary fields.

Read more about Departments and Centers at the Faculty here.

Cutting-edge Enabling Biology and Technology Platforms

To advance the Center’s basic research questions, six Enabling Biology and Technology Platforms have been established to empower the scientists and accelerate their discovery and innovation.

• Metabolomics
• Rodent Metabolic Phenotyping
• Single-Cell Omics
• Data Analytics
• Genetic Perturbation
• Computational Chemistry

Read more about the Center’s Enabling Biology and Technology Platforms here.

CBMR scientists also have direct access to highly specialized core facilities at the Faculty. These include the Core Facility for Transgenic Mice, the Proteomics Research Infrastructure and Core Facility for Integrated Microscopy.

Find the full list of core facilities at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences here.

From Discovery to Therapy

The Center is committed to translating its discoveries to accelerate the prediction, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cardiometabolic disease.  While the Center already has a proven track record in successful patent applications and developing spinout companies, additional initiatives are being implemented to foster a stronger innovative culture and translational mindset across CBMR.

Read more about the Center’s translation strategy here.

The University of Copenhagen and other local support structures provide a rich innovation-driven environment for researchers to advance their discoveries into business ideas. Read more about innovation at the University here.

Outreach and Engagement

CBMR is committed to enabling more nuanced discussions about cardiometabolic health and disease, and to build trust and curiosity through engagement that acknowledges the complexity of metabolism in an approachable and relatable way. Our outreach activities are largely driven by Research Program 4, Cardiometabolic Research in Society and Culture, at the Medical Museion.

Read more about outreach and engagement at CBMR here.

Strong Technical and Administrative Support in an International Work Environment

CBMR is a rich and dynamic international research environment with around 170 academic staff and 90 technical and administrative staff. More than half are international and drawn from 39 countries around the world. The gender distribution among all scientific staff is close to 50 percent.

The Center staff receives comprehensive research support from an in-house admin team, including secretarial services, HR, finance, communications, research coordination, management and leadership support.

Copenhagen, Denmark – High Quality of Life and Rich Research Ecosystem

The Center is highly integrated into the regional research ecosystem, which includes clinical partners such as Rigshospitalet and Gentofte Hospital, as well as the pharma and biotech industry located in Medicon Valley. The Center’s translational efforts benefit from rich Danish registers with longitudinal health information, and the biological samples available from the Danish Biobanks.

Copenhagen, Denmark, placed 2nd in the 2023 Global Liveability Ranking published by the Economist Intelligence Unit, based on assessments of stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure. The Center is located across three floors of the Maersk Tower at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences in the Copenhagen district Nørrebro. It can be reached in less than 10 minutes by public transportation from one of the city’s central transportation hubs, Nørreport Station. Most staff choose to cycle to work, and park in the dedicated bicycle parking basement beneath the Maersk Tower.

Job description
The applicant shall be heading an independent Research Group at CBMR and will be expected to conduct research aligned with the Center's strategy. Preference is given to applicants with a background in metabolomics (metabolic flux analysis), cardiovascular pathophysiology and the central regulation of body weight and energy homeostasis.

The Associate Professor’s or Professor’s responsibilities will primarily consist of:

• Research, including publication/academic dissemination, in close collaboration with other Research Groups within CBMR and the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences
• Research-based teaching, including associated examination
• Research leadership, including guidance and supervision of researchers
• Obligation to share knowledge with the rest of society, including participation in public debate
• Academic assessments

Required qualifications
To qualify for an Associate Professor or Professor position, you will be assessed according to these six overall criteria for recognising merit at the University of Copenhagen: research, teaching, societal impact, organisational contribution, external funding, and leadership. Find information about each criterion.

Furthermore, the successful Associate Professor must be able to document:

• Research qualifications at the level that can be achieved by satisfactorily completing a period of employment as an Assistant Professor/Postdoc, but may also be obtained in other ways
• Teaching qualifications and pedagogical competencies
• Research-based teaching

Furthermore, the successful Professor must be able to document:

• A high degree of original academic production at an international level, including considerable contributions to the development of the academic discipline
• Research management and other management functions, e.g., engagement in the university’s external academic activities, as well as knowledge and technology transfer
• Research-based teaching

The Associate Professor or Professor is also required to possess excellent interpersonal and communicative skills.

In considering applications for the Professorship or Associate Professorship, the main emphasis will be on the applicant’s ability to document an outstanding research and publication record, including the ability to attract research funding. The Center offers a supportive and vibrant scientific community, and the candidate should possess the ability to work collaboratively with other scientists and the scholarly qualities required for supervising graduate students.

Terms of employment
The position is a fixed-term position for a period of five years, with the scope for contract renewal.

Salary and other terms and conditions of appointment are set in accordance with the Agreement between the Ministry of Taxation and AC (Danish Confederation of Professional Associations) or other relevant professional organisations.

The position is covered by the Job Structure for Academic Staff at Universities 2020.

Questions
For further information, please contact Executive Director Professor Juleen R. Zierath at juleen.zierath@sund.ku.dk. For questions regarding the recruitment procedure, please contact SUND HR CBMR at SUND-HR-CBMR@sund.ku.dk.

International applicants may find these links useful: www.ism.ku.dk (International Staff Mobility) and https://www.workindenmark.dk/. 

Application
The application must be submitted in English and include the following documents:

• Application (including motivation for applying for this position (maximum 2 pages))
• Curriculum vitae (including information about external funding)
• Diplomas (Master’s, PhD and other relevant certificates)
• A complete list of publications (including bibliometrics)
• Research plan (3–5 pages)
• Uploads of maximum 10 publications to be considered in the assessment
• Teaching plan
• Teaching portfolio (Guidelines)

Application procedure
After the expiry of the deadline for applications, the authorized recruitment manager selects applicants for assessment on the advice of the Appointments Committee. All applicants are then immediately notified whether their application has been passed for assessment. The Dean then appoints an expert assessment committee in order to make an assessment of the selected applicants for the specific post. Selected applicants are notified of the composition of the committee and 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 the University's Job Portal.

The applicant will be contacted if the assessment committee requires further documentation.

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 University of Copenhagen encourages all interested applicants to apply for this position.

Please submit the application with the required attachments. Only online applications will be accepted. The closing date for applications is 1 December 2024, 23:59 PM CET.

Part of the International Alliance of Research Universities (IARU), and among Europe’s top-ranking universities, the University of Copenhagen promotes research and teaching of the highest international standard. Rich in tradition and modern in outlook, the University gives students and staff the opportunity to cultivate their talent in an ambitious and informal environment. An effective organisation – with good working conditions and a collaborative work culture – creates the ideal framework for a successful academic career.