Doctoral researcher position (PhD student) is available in the laboratory of Professor Jukka Westermarck at the Turku Bioscience Centre, University of Turku, Turku, Finland (https://bioscience.fi/research/cancer-cell-signaling/profile/). Turku Bioscience is a top-quality research center harboring several distinguished research groups and excellent core facilities (https://bioscience.fi/services/). The entire biomedical campus harbors more than 100 research groups including a strong cancer research community. The working language is English, and University of Turku has comprehensive welcome services for the newcomers: https://www.utu.fi/en/university/for-visitors. Turku on the other hand is a charming medieval city in South-West coast of Finland with good connections to Helsinki and Stockholm.

We are looking for a highly motivated researcher with MSc degree or equivalent to join our international research group. The group broadly focuses on very exciting therapeutic potential of phosphatases in cancer therapy. Recent very rapidly accumulating data from others and us indicate that pharmacological phosphatase targeting may open entirely new perspectives for treatment of cancer patients with otherwise dismal prognosis. The project is focused on characterization of novel therapeutic opportunities emerging from our recent research related to role of phosphatases in breast cancer development and drug resistance.

Specific subprojects include:

-Role of phosphatases in therapy resistance of breast cancer

-Development of pharmacological approaches for targeting breast cancer relevant phosphatases

Candidate requirements:

-MSc or equivalent degree

-Documented previous interest in cancer research

-Documented experience in experimental research in mammalian systems

-Documented experience in small molecule drug development is a clear asset

-Good team-working and communication skills

-Requirements of English language skills can be found here: https://www.utu.fi/en/research/utugs/how-to-apply/language

The DL for applications is March 19th, 2023 and position is available starting from May 1st, 2023. The selected candidate will receive a monthly personal research grant plus pension and occupational accident insurances. Position is for four years and starts with 4-months trial period. To apply, e-mail to tiina.arsiola@utu.fi one PDF document including your CV (including publications) and an application letter clearly describing how your profile matches to the candidate requirements listed above, and other previous achievements in the field. Also include names and contact information of three references. Indicate following text in the subject line of your e-mail: PhD student position/Breast cancer. Applications send to any other e-mail address than tiina.arsiola@utu.fi will not be considered. However, if you have inquiries regarding this post before sending application, please contact Jukka Westermarck by e-mail: jukwes@utu.fi.

Relevant recent publications:

Pavic et al., Nat Commun, in press; Laine et al., Cancer Res, 2021; Vervoort et al., Cell, 2021; Mäkelä et al., Clin Cancer Res, 2021; Kauko et al., Sci Transl Med, 2018.