MSCA Doctoral Researcher, DETECTIVE project (virology) / Väitöskirjatutkija (virologia)

Tiivistelmä työpaikkailmoituksesta: Doctoral Researcher position within the MSCA DETECTIVE network to investigate enterovirus population immunity and predict epidemic risk using the Finnish DIPP longitudinal cohort. The role involves type-specific neutralizing antibody analyses, integrating healthcare surveillance and wastewater data, and developing predictive epidemic-risk models. Applicants must hold a relevant Master’s degree before the start date and meet MSCA mobility rules, with skills or strong interest in molecular methods, bioinformatics and data science and excellent English. The three-year position offers an MSCA-rate salary and includes international secondments to MHRA and Imperial College London, network training, and access to extensive virology and computational infrastructure. Tämä tiivistelmä on luotu tekoälyn avulla. Tampere University is a unique, boldly future‑oriented and evolving community, and one of Finland’s most multidisciplinary universities. At Tampere University, technology, health and society come together in a distinctive way. Our research groups and projects carry out interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral research that transcends organisational boundaries. Our community is international, with members from more than 80 countries. Read more at https://www.tuni.fi/en/tau . DETECTIVE (Data-driven Excellence in Training of Epidemiological, Clinical, Technological and Innovative Virus Experts) is a Horizon Europe Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Doctoral Network. The network brings together leading academic, public health, clinical, and industrial partners across Europe to train the next generation of researchers in epidemic intelligence, emerging virus surveillance, and pandemic preparedness. Through interdisciplinary research and international collaboration, DETECTIVE aims to improve the early detection of emerging pathogens, strengthen risk assessment, and support real-time, evidence-based public health decision-making. Read more at virusdetective.eu Population dynamics and emerging epidemics Background of Project Doctoral Candidate 8 Enteroviruses are common human pathogens that cause infections ranging from asymptomatic or mild disease to severe neurological, cardiac and systemic illness. While some enterovirus types circulate continuously in the population, others show epidemic or re-emerging patterns and can cause large outbreaks. The factors determining when an enterovirus type shifts from limited circulation to epidemic spread remain incompletely understood. Population immunity is likely to play an important role in these dynamics. Type-specific neutralizing antibodies induced by previous infections can provide long-lasting protection, while susceptible individuals continuously enter the population. Consequently, immunity against individual enterovirus types changes across age groups, birth cohorts and calendar time, potentially creating population-level immunity gaps that favor epidemic emergence. This doctoral project will investigate how enterovirus circulation and population immunity have changed over time and whether these dynamics can be used to predict epidemic risk. The project will exploit the unique longitudinal resources of the Finnish DIPP study, which has collected biological samples from children since 1994, and integrate these data with healthcare surveillance, wastewater monitoring and historical epidemic data. The ultimate goal is to identify immunological and epidemiological signals associated with epidemic emergence and use them to develop predictive models for enterovirus epidemic risk. Job Description and Research Objectives At Tampere University, DETECTIVE is looking for a Doctoral Candidate 8 to work on Work Package 2. As Doctoral Candidate 8, you will: – Characterize type-specific enterovirus immunity across age groups, birth cohorts and calendar periods using longitudinal serum samples and neutralizing antibody analyses. – Investigate long-term enterovirus circulation in the background population and integrate these findings with healthcare surveillance and wastewater monitoring. – Identify population susceptibility and immunity patterns associated with increased enterovirus circulation and epidemic emergence. – Develop and validate predictive models for enterovirus epidemic risk by integrating longitudinal immunological, virological and surveillance data. – Work with unique longitudinal sample collections and datasets spanning more than three decades and combine laboratory-based virology and serology with epidemiological data analysis and predictive modelling. The project will be carried out within a multidisciplinary and international research environment, with opportunities to collaborate with experts in virology, epidemiology, bioinformatics, public health and epidemic modelling across the DETECTIVE network. Supervisory Team The DC will be supervised by: – Adj. Professor Sami Oikarinen – Dr. Jutta Laiho Additional scientific mentoring and