The Department of Public Health at the University of Copenhagen offers a PhD fellowship in causal inference. The anticipated hiring date is January 1, 2027, or as soon as possible thereafter. The PhD student is expected to develop and apply methods for causal inference will be part of the SMARTbiomed Pioneer centre https://SMARTbiomed.dk/about-SMARTbiomed.

Project Description
The PhD project will develop new methods for causal inference in complex longitudinal survival data, with applications to nationwide Danish health registries. The project focuses on dynamic and asynchronously initiated combination treatments, where time-varying confounding, competing risks, treatment non-adherence and time-related biases challenge conventional analyses. By integrating mathematics, biostatistics and clinical epidemiology, and working with methods like random forest and targeted learning, the candidate will contribute to the development of interpretable survival models and doubly robust estimation methods for clinically meaningful causal effects. The methods will be applied to real-world questions concerning combination drug therapies in people with type 2 diabetes. The PhD student will join an interdisciplinary research environment with joint supervision and close collaboration across methodological and clinical research groups at the University of Copenhagen.

Principal supervisor: Thomas A. Gerds (University of Copenhagen, Medical faculty, Public Health, Biostatistics). Principal co-supervisor: Munir E. Hiabu (University of Copenhagen, Science faculty, Mathematics, Statistics). Co-supervisor: Christian Torp-Pedersen (Steno Diabetes Center Copenhagen)

Job description
Your key tasks as a PhD student at SUND are:

• Carry out an independent research project under supervision
• Complete PhD courses or other equivalent education corresponding to approx. 30 ECTS points
• Participate in active research environments including a stay at another research team
• Obtain experience with teaching or other types of dissemination related to your PhD project
• Write a PhD thesis on the grounds of your project

PhD Programme Description:
The PhD programme is a three-year full-time research education within the framework of the 5+3 scheme, intended for candidates holding a relevant academic degree within the project’s subject area (e.g., [relevant degrees]).

Key criteria for the assessment of applicants
The successful applicant for the Ph.D. scholarship will be a statistician with a solid background in mathematical statistics and biostatistics. Accordingly, we require documented skills within theoretical and applied statistics and the ability to program in R. Also, the applicant should be interested in learning to communicate research findings in teaching, conference talks, and by writing scientific papers for international journals. Knowledge of clinical trials will be valued, as well as experience in collaborating with medical researchers. Specific knowledge about group-sequential trials would be appreciated but is not necessary.

It is a prerequisite for the PhD fellowship that the candidate can be and is not already enrolled as a PhD student at the faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen.

Place of employment
The place of employment is at the Section of Biostatistics, Department of Public Health, CSS, University of Copenhagen. We offer creative and stimulating working conditions in dynamic and international research environment.

About the Centre
The Pioneer Centre for Statistical and Computational Methods for Advanced Research to Transform Biomedicine (SMARTbiomed) will support a critical mass of researchers who focus on method and software development for analysis and inference from massive human data, advancing applications in medicine. The Pioneer Centre for SMARTbiomed will leverage large-scale, multimodal biomedical data combined with focussed innovation in statistical and computational methods including machine learning to advance our understanding, treatment, and prevention of human disease.

Information on the centre can be found at: https://SMARTbiomed.dk/

Terms of employment
The employment as PhD fellow is full time and for 3 years.

It is conditioned upon the applicant’s successful enrollment 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 prior to employment.

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. The monthly salary will be based on the number of years of work experience (seniority).

Questions
For specific information about the PhD fellowship, please contact Professor Thomas A. Gerds, [email protected]

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

Application procedure
Submit your application via the link below no later than 20 September 2026. Applications submitted after this date will not be considered.

The application must be written in English and should consist of the following:

• Motivation letter of application (max 2 pages). Please briefly describe your previous research experience and interests and what attracts you to the position in terms of both the topic and the academic work.
• Curriculum vitae detailing education, work, research and teaching experiences, conference presentations, publication record, language skills and other skills relevant for the position
• Documentation of knowledge about mathematical statistics, biostatistics, clinical trials and experience in collaborating with medical researchers. A list of methods you have worked with and in which context would be appreciated.
• Official transcripts of examination results.
• A certified/signed copy of degree certificate(s).
• Contact information for two reference people.

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. 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 https://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 University of Copenhagen wishes to reflect the diversity of society and encourage all qualified candidates to apply regardless of personal background.

Københavns Universitet giver sine knap 10.000 medarbejdere muligheder for at udnytte deres talent fuldt ud i et ambitiøst, uformelt miljø. Vi sikrer traditionsrige og moderne rammer om uddannelser og fri forskning på højt internationalt niveau. Vi søger svar og løsninger på fælles problemer og gør ny viden tilgængelig og nyttig for andre.

Info
Ansøgningsfrist: 20-09-2026

Ansættelsesdato: 01-01-2027

Arbejdstid: Fuldtid

Afdeling/Sted: Department of Public Health