PhD position within the research field of Science and Technology Studies/Animal Studies

The Unit of Health Services Research invites expressions of interest for a three-year PhD position at the University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Health, Department of Public Health. The PhD position is part of a new research project "Modelling pigs and humans. Understanding human/animal connections in translational research" funded by the Danish Research Council for the Humanities under the Danish Councils for Independent Research abd headed by professor Lene Koch. The project is expected to start by August 2009.

Research
The research project ‘Modelling pigs and humans. Understanding human/animal connections in translational research’ aims to investigate the moral, socio-material, technical and organisational work that is needed in order to establish the pig as potential and locus of producing knowledge about human life and disease. Focussing on pigs as translational animal models in established and experimental biomedical research and treatment, the project contains the following sub-projects:

* A Initiating life: The use of the preterm pig as animal model in neonatal research (ethnographic research project, associate professor Mette Nordahl Svendsen).

* B Extending life: The use of transgenic (humanised) pigs as disease models in biomedical research and treatment (PhD fellowship, empirical project, preferably based on qualitative/ethnographic methods).

* C Digitalising life: The translation of the pig into coded and decoded sequences and its use in globalised research networks through sequencing and informatics consortiums and web based databases (informatics research project, post doc Nis Johannsen)

* D Negotiating life: the interplay between biomedical research development and bioethical debate about the establishment of ethically responsible policies for using pigs as model animals ("history of the present" project, professor Lene Koch).

The PhD fellowship concerns the second sub-project (B). It should address the social dimensions and epistemic aspirations of the emerging field of translational medicine within selected biomedical research areas. Specifically, the moral, socio-material organisational and scientific work performed in order to establish the pig as a potential for modelling human organs and/or functions in research settings and in patient treatment. The successful applicant will be using qualitative research methods in order to examine basic and clinical biomedical practices based on the use of the transgenic pig as disease model. One possible avenue of research is the implications of using transgenic pigs as human proxies in experimental neurological (Alzheimer) research and experimental treatment and how the process of working on such a potential and turning it into clinical treatment affects both health service providers and future Alzheimer patients seeking to benefit from new experimental treatments. Other biomedical fields may also be chosen according to the interests of the successful applicant.

Qualifications
Applicants for the PhD position should have a relevant Master’s degree in social science fields (anthropology, sociology, social psychology, history or other). The candidate needs strong scientific writing skills and those with academic publications will be preferred. Experience in conducting fieldwork and in working in multidisciplinary teams is a plus.

Research environment
The project will be carried out in a multidisciplinary research setting focussing on health policy processes; administration, coordination and development of the health system as an organization; the relations between technology and the health system; the health system's results; and the relations between the health system and various groups in the population.

Salary and Terms of Employment
Salary and terms of employment are according to current agreement for state-employed academics and government circular from the Ministry of Finance regarding PhD students as well as the appointment structure of 2007 for scientific personnel at universities. The salary level for PhD students with qualifications corresponding to a Danish Master degree is approx. DKK 288,000 per year excluding pension (corresponding to USD 48,600 / EUR 38,600 per year - depending on the rate of exchange at the actual time of employment). Matriculation as a PhD student will be in accordance with Ministerial Order no. 18 of 14 January 2008 on the PhD Programme at Universities, and matriculation at the Faculty of Health is a prerequisite for employment as a PhD student. The place of work is the Center for Health and Society, Øster Farimagsgade 5 A, opg. B og C, DK-1014 Copenhagen K, Denmark.

Practicalities
For further information, please contact professor Lene Koch, Department of Public Health, Health Services Research Unit, koch@pubhealth.ku.dk.

Send your expression of interest with CV to Susanne Fray, s.fray@pubhealth.ku.dk before May 1, 2009.