PhD stipend in psychiatric epidemiology and psychopharmacology at Aarhus University Hospital

Would you like to investigate how treatment with antipsychotic medication affects somatic health in people with schizophrenia?

The Research Unit for Psychoses at Aarhus University Hospital is seeking a committed and analytically strong PhD student for a fully funded PhD project on psychopharmacology and cardiometabolic health among people with schizophrenia. The project is part of the research project Improving Cardiometabolic Safety in Psychiatric Care: Real-World Evidence from Pharmacoepidemiological Studies , which is funded by the Independent Research Fund Denmark (DFF).

The PhD project aims to generate new knowledge about the use and safety of antipsychotic medication in clinical practice. Based on Danish registry data, the project will examine associations between treatment with antipsychotics and the risk of, among other things, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease among people with schizophrenia.

The position is located in an interdisciplinary research environment with strong competencies in clinical psychiatry, psychology, epidemiology, pharmacoepidemiology and advanced statistical methods.

About the PhD project

People with schizophrenia have a substantially increased risk of cardiometabolic diseases and a markedly shorter life expectancy than the background population. Neuropharmacological treatment can contribute to this risk, but the risk varies between preparations and patient groups. There is therefore a need for better knowledge about how treatment can be organized with respect to both the psychiatric disorder and the patient’s physical health.

The PhD project will primarily use nationwide Danish registry data on diagnoses, medication, hospital contacts, laboratory results, socioeconomic factors and mortality. The project will also be able to include data and experiences from the international collaboration with the German population study German National Cohort (NAKO).

The project’s central work areas will be to

• describe patterns of use of antipsychotic and cardiometabolic medicines among people with schizophrenia
• examine the risk of type 2 diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease and other relevant cardiometabolic diseases
• compare the cardiometabolic safety of different antipsychotic drugs
• investigate whether the risk varies by, among other things, age, gender, socioeconomic factors and somatic comorbidity
• apply epidemiological and statistical methods, including target trial emulation, propensity score methods, inverse probability weighting, survival analysis and negative control outcomes.

It is expected that the PhD project will result in three scientific articles and a PhD thesis. The project also includes PhD courses, participation in national and international conferences, and the possibility for a research stay in a Danish or international research group.

Your tasks

As a PhD student, your tasks will include among others

• preparation and further development of detailed study protocols
• literature search and critical assessment of scientific literature
• data management and documentation of large registry-based datasets
• operationalization of exposures, outcomes, covariates and study populations
• conducting descriptive and advanced statistical analyses
• application and further development of causal epidemiological methods
• interpretation and communication of research results
• preparation of scientific articles in English
• presentation of results at research meetings as well as national and international conferences
• collaboration with clinical, statistical and epidemiological researchers in Denmark and internationally
• participation in the research unit’s professional activities as well as relevant teaching and dissemination tasks.

Your profile

You must have completed a relevant Master’s degree at the time of appointment, for example in psychology, public health science, medicine, epidemiology, statistics or biostatistics, pharmacology, health sciences, data science or another relevant field.

Appointment is conditional on the candidate being approved for enrollment at the Graduate School of Health, Aarhus University.

We emphasize that you

• have a strong interest in psychiatry, psychopharmacology, epidemiology and physical health
• have experience with or an interest in quantitative research methods and statistical analysis
• have experience with research projects, for example as a research assistant, master’s student or through other relevant research activity
• have an interest in working with large and complex data sets
• can work in a structured and systematic manner with a strong focus on data quality and documentation
• have good written and spoken English skills
• can collaborate in an interdisciplinary and international research environment
• can work independently and take responsibility for the progress of own tasks
• are curious, engaged and motivated to learn new epidemiological and statistical methods.

It would be advantageous, but not a requirement, if you have experience in one or more of the following areas

• registry-based research
• psychiatric populations
• psychopharmacology
• epidemiological study design
• programming and statistical analysis in R, SAS or Stata
• regression analysis or survival analysis
• data management and reproducible analysis processes
• preparation of scientific manuscripts.

We do not expect you to master all of the project’s methods at the time of appointment. You will receive thorough supervision and relevant methodological training during the PhD program.

The project’s primary scientific working language is English. It is therefore a requirement that you can communicate confidently in English and produce scientific texts in English. Danish language skills are an advantage but not a requirement.

Research environment and supervision

You will be employed by the Research Unit for Psychoses, Aarhus University Hospital, and enrolled at the Graduate School of Health, Aarhus University. You will become part of an active and interdisciplinary research environment within clinical psychiatry, psychiatric epidemiology and psychopharmacology.

The principal supervisor will be Associate Professor and Psychiatrist Ole Köhler-Forsberg, PhD., the project’s principal investigator, and co-supervisor will be epidemiologist and biostatistician Kazi Ishtiak-Ahmed, PhD. The project is also supported by an interdisciplinary scientific network with expertise in pharmacoepidemiology, cardiology, psychiatry and registry research, as well as an international collaboration with Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin.

As a PhD student you will receive regular supervision and be part of a research environment that values

• high scientific quality
• open and reproducible research
• close professional sparring
• interdisciplinary collaboration
• international collaboration
• an inclusive working environment with room for professional development and new ideas.

We offer

• a fully funded three-year PhD program
• an independent and clinically relevant research project
• access to extensive Danish registry data
• thorough training in relevant epidemiological and statistical methods
• ongoing supervision from researchers with experience in psychiatry, registry research, pharmacoepidemiology and causal inference
• opportunity to participate in national and international conferences
• opportunity for a research stay in another Danish or international research group
• affiliation with an active research environment with national and international collaborators
• good opportunities for academic and professional development.

Terms of employment and place of work

The position is a three-year full-time appointment with employment at Aarhus University Hospital, Psychiatry. Appointment is conditional on approval for enrollment at the Graduate School of Health, Aarhus University.

Expected start date is 1 January 2027.

Workplace

Research Unit for Psychoses, Department of Psychoses, Aarhus University Hospital, Entrance K, Palle Juul-Jensens Boulevard 175, 8200 Aarhus N.

Salary and terms of employment in accordance with the applicable collective agreement. Employment is conditional on a satisfactory criminal record check and a satisfactory professional authorization.

Application

The application must include

• a motivated application of at most one page describing your motivation for the project and your relevant experiences
• curriculum vitae of at most two pages
• a copy of the diploma and transcript of records for the Master’s degree
• any publications, thesis or other relevant writings
• any documentation of experience with data analysis, statistics or programming.

The application must be submitted electronically via Region Midtjylland’s recruitment system no later than 1 November 2026.

Interviews are expected to be held in weeks 47 or 48. Selected applicants will be asked to briefly present their motivation, previous research work or reflections on the PhD project during the interview.

Further information

Further information about the position and the PhD project can be obtained by contacting Ole Köhler-Forsberg, MD, associate professor and psychiatrist, at email [email protected] or Kazi Ishtiak-Ahmed, PhD, research statistician and epidemiologist, at email [email protected] .

All interested candidates are encouraged to apply regardless of personal background. Applicants will be assessed based on their qualifications, motivation and potential to complete the PhD project.

The position is, as a rule, a full-time position.

As Region Midtjylland continually carries out savings and reorganizations, staff on redeployment, who apply for the position, will have priority.

Region Midtjylland, in accordance with the EU transparency directive, which came into force on 7 June 2026, is obliged to inform you of the starting salary or a salary range for the position before you are offered employment.

Here you can find Region Midtjylland’s salary catalog for most professional groups and positions found in Region Midtjylland: Transparency before employment - Medarbejder.rm.dk