Call for applications for a fully financed PhD fellowship

Project description

Mental disorders frequently emerge in late adolescence and early adulthood, often coinciding with the age of family formation. Psychiatric medications are the first-line pharmacological treatment for mental illness among individuals of reproductive age, including expectant fathers. Emerging experimental evidence indicates that such medications may cause DNA damage and epigenetic changes in sperm, potentially influencing pregnancy outcomes and offspring health. However, findings from animal models may not accurately translate to human populations, highlighting the need for high-quality human studies.

This DFF-funded project, Paternal Psychiatric Medication Use: Implications for Reproductive and Child Health Outcomes, aims to quantify the impact of paternal preconception exposure to psychiatric medications on pregnancy outcomes and offspring health, leveraging large-scale population-based data. The findings will advance our understanding of the role of paternal mental health and pharmacotherapy in shaping family well-being and may inform future clinical guidelines.

The successful PhD candidate will work in close collaboration with researchers at the University of Oslo, Norway, and will undertake a research stay at the University of Oslo as part of the project.

Qualifications

• Background in biostatistics, epidemiology/pharmacoepidemiology, or related fields, with a relevant master's degree
• Experience in analyzing multivariable longitudinal and survival data using packages such as R, STATA, or SAS
• Ability to work both independently and in structured groups and take responsibility for the complete research process from the idea phase to publication and presentation of results
• Fluent in spoken and written English (English is the working language)     

How to apply

Please submit your application via this link. Application deadline is 20 May 2025 23:59 CET. Preferred starting date is 1 October 2025.

For information about application requirements and mandatory attachments, please see our application guide.  

Further information

Please contact Senior Researcher Xiao Qin Liu, lxq.ncrr@au.dk for more information.

All interested candidates are encouraged to apply, regardless of their personal background. Salary and terms of employment are in accordance with applicable collective agreement.