PhD fellowship in Improved oral health among middle-aged and older adults

We are offering a PhD fellowship in Community Dentistry commencing 1 March 2025, or after agreement.

The overall aim of the project is to identify intervention targets that can ensure good oral health among middle-aged and older Danes.

The specific aims of the PhD project are:

• Identify risk factors for the development of poor oral health.
• Investigate the association between development in oral health and co-morbidity.
• Investigate the association between development in oral health and use of health care services and related expenses.

The PhD student will use pre-generated data collected from a cohort of Danish middle-aged and older adults and national registers 

Project description
The project is a collaboration between the Department of Odontology and the Department of Public Health at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen.

Older people in vulnerable situations in Denmark experience severe dental problems. At the same time, dental health is one of the health areas where the greatest inequality in the population is seen.

Unfortunately, there is a lack of knowledge about the causes of the poor oral conditions in the elderly and what consequences this has for them and the society. The project will utilize the Copenhagen Aging and Midlife Biobank (CAMB) (www.camb.ku.dk), which contains data on a cohort from midlife onwards, and national registers, to provide this knowledge. This will provide a solid basis for introducing the most relevant and effective efforts, including dental care services for older people in the future.

The project is based on pre-generated data on a large population and is thus epidemiological in nature. This means that the first part of the project offers collection, cleansing, control, and analysis of data. The project is therefore relatively statistically demanding. Subsequently, the results must be reported to international journals and in a PhD thesis, which results in a major writing task in the project.

Supervision
The project will be carried out under the supervision of:

• Primary supervisor, Associate professor Esben Boeskov Øzhayat, Section for Oral Health, Society, and Technology, Department of Odontology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen.
• Primary co-supervisor, Associate professor Charlotte Juul Nilsson, Section of Social Medicine, Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen.
• Co-supervisor, Professor Claus Ekstrøm, Section of Biostatistics, Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen.
• Co-supervisor, Associate Professor Christian Damgaard, Section for Oral Biology and Immunopathology, Department of Odontology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen

Further, Associate professor Miriam Wüst, Department of Economics, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Copenhagen is a collaborator in the project.

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

• Carrying through an independent research project under supervision.
• Completing PhD courses or other equivalent education corresponding to approximately 30 ECTS points.
• Participating in active research environments including a stay at another research team and attending the events arranged by the Graduate Programme for Oral Sciences, Forensic Medicine and Bioanthropology (RIO).
• Obtaining experience with teaching or other types of dissemination related to your PhD project.
• Teaching and disseminating your knowledge.
• Writing a PhD thesis on the grounds of your 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, i.e., public health, medicine, or odontology. Please note that your master’s degree must be equivalent to a Danish master’s degree (two years).

Terms of employment
The average weekly working hours are 37 hours per week.

The position is a fixed-term position limited to a period of 3 years. The start date is 1 March 2025 or after agreement.

The employment 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 Taxation 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 4,000 EUR (October 2021 level) plus pension.

Questions
For further information regarding the position, please contact Associate professor Esben Boeskov Øzhayat (eboz@sund.ku.dk).

Application procedure
Your application must be submitted electronically by clicking ‘Apply now’ below. The application must include the following documents in PDF format: 

1. Motivated letter of application (max. one page)
2. CV incl. education, experience, language skills and other skills relevant for the position
3. Certified copy of original Master of Science diploma and transcript of records in the original language, including an authorized English translation if issued in other language than English or Danish. If not completed, a certified/signed copy of a recent transcript of records or a written statement from the institution or supervisor is accepted. As a prerequisite for a PhD fellowship employment, your master’s degree must be equivalent to a Danish master’s degree. We encourage you to read more in the assessment database: https://ufm.dk/en/education/recognition-and-transparency/find-assessments/assessment-database Please note that we might ask you to obtain an assessment of your education performed by the Ministry of Higher Education and Science
4. Publication list (if possible)

Application deadline: 15 December 2024, 23.59pm 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 will have the opportunity to comment on the part of the assessment that relates to the applicant him/herself.

You find information about the recruitment process at: https://employment.ku.dk/faculty/recruitment-process/

The applicants 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 wish to reflect the diversity of society and encourage all qualified candidates to apply regardless of personal background.