Postdoctoral Researcher in Dementia and Fall Prevention

Do you want to contribute to improving human health?

The Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society (NVS) conducts world leading research in aging, dementia, epidemiology and care sciences. This research extends from basic molecular and cell levels to clinical research and societal studies. NVS educates almost a third of KI students at basic and advanced levels. The Department has approximately 540 employees and a revenue 2025 of 580 million SEK. It comprises seven divisions, located at Campus Flemingsberg and Campus Solna.

The postdoctoral position is based in Welmer’s Aging and Health research group at the Division of Physiotherapy, NVS, and involves close collaboration with the Aging Research Center, NVS. The group conducts research on health and functioning across the aging process, with particular emphasis on physical function, physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and falls.

The postdoctoral researcher will join TraCeDem, described below, and work in an interdisciplinary research environment with expertise in geriatrics, physiotherapy, nursing, and epidemiology. The position combines independent research with strong collaboration within and beyond the research group, in a supportive environment where innovative ideas are encouraged. The candidate will have excellent opportunities to develop as an independent researcher, expand their scientific network, and contribute to improving health and care for older adults.

Transdisciplinary Research Center for Personalized Dementia Prevention & Care (TraCeDem).

Led by Karolinska Institutet, the newly established center TraCeDem brings together a transdisciplinary team of researchers and professionals working closely with healthcare services, municipalities, patient organizations, and policymakers. By combining population data, clinical research, digital tools, and co-created solutions, TraCeDem aims to improve how we prevent, detect, and care for dementia across the entire course of the condition. The center is funded by the Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare (FORTE) for the period 2026–2032.

Your mission

You will initiate and lead independent studies aimed at improving safety, continuity, and proactive care for people living with dementia, with a particular focus on fall prevention. A key objective will be to optimize tailored fall prevention for older adults with mild cognitive impairment and dementia by identifying fall risk factors and critical windows for preventing injurious falls. You will primarily work with large-scale longitudinal data from NEAR (National E-infrastructure for Aging Research), which includes several Swedish longitudinal aging cohorts with data from health examinations, cognitive and physical assessments, questionnaires, and linked national registers.

Your profile

To be eligible for employment as a postdoctoral researcher, a PhD or a foreign degree deemed to be equivalent to a Swedish PhD is required. This eligibility requirement must be fulfilled at the latest at the time of the employment decision. Completion of your doctoral degree within the last three years is considered an advantage. If there are special reasons, your degree may have been completed earlier.

To be considered for this position, you should also meet the following criteria:

• A professional background in nursing, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, medicine, or a related healthcare field.

• A doctoral degree in a relevant field is required, a specialization in dementia or aging research is particularly meritorious.

• Documented experience in epidemiological research, including advanced statistical analysis of longitudinal data and work with large-scale population-based and register-based datasets using statistical software such as R, Stata, or equivalent.
• A strong publication record, including first-author research articles in peer-reviewed international journals.
• Previous experience with writing grant applications
• Excellent written and spoken English.
• Ability to work effectively both independently and collaboratively in an international, multidisciplinary research environment.

Documented experience in research regarding falls is also considered an asset.

We are looking for an ambitious, enthusiastic, and self-driven researcher who is curious and eager to learn new methods, skills, and concepts. You are detail-oriented and goal-oriented, committed to high-quality research, and have strong interpersonal and collaborative skills.

What do we offer?

A creative and inspiring environment with wide-ranging expertise and interests. Karolinska Institutet is one of the world's leading medical universities. At Karolinska Institutet, we conduct successful medical research and hold the largest range of medical education in Sweden. At KI, you get to meet researchers working with a wide range of specialisms and methods, giving you ample opportunity to exchange knowledge and experience with the various scientific fields within medicine and health. It is the crossover collaborations, which have pushed KI to where it is today, at the forefront of global research. Several of the people you meet in healthcare are educated at KI. A close relationship with the health care providers is important for creating groundbreaking top quality education and research. Karolinska Institutet is also a state university, which entitles you to several benefits through our collective agreement.

Location: Solna and Flemingsberg

 Choose to work at KI – Ten reasons why

Application

An employment application must contain the following documents in English or Swedish:

• PhD certificate
• A complete resumé, including date of the thesis defence, title of the thesis, previous academic positions, academic title, current position, academic distinctions, and committee work
• A complete list of publications
• A summary of current work (no more than one page)

KI applies individual and differentiated salary setting in accordance with our collective agreements RALS and RALS-T

The application is to be submitted through the Varbi recruitment system.

Want to make a difference? Join us and contribute to better health for all!