The Barrett lab at the University of Helsinki, jointly affiliated with ELLIS Institute Finland, the Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM) and the Faculty of Medicine, is recruiting a doctoral researcher in computational genomics for predictive medicine. You would be one of the first members of a newly established lab led by Professor Jeffrey Barrett.
The role
The group analyses multiomic data to discover and measure mechanistically meaningful subtypes of complex human diseases, using national research biobanks and machine learning and AI methods. You will:
- design and carry out a PhD project in computational genomics for predictive medicine: propose hypotheses, write code, and interpret findings;
- work closely with the team, other researchers at the ELLIS Institute and the University of Helsinki, and international partners;
- share results through publications and conference talks, and contribute to open science such as preprints and open source software;
- help mentor and train the next generation of scientists.
The team has access to biobank data sets covering 2 million individuals (FinnGen, UK Biobank, All of Us, Estonian Biobank), local supercomputer facilities and extensive cloud computing.
Requirements
- A master’s degree in computational biology, data science, bioinformatics or a related discipline (exceptional candidates may be considered straight from a bachelor’s).
- Programming for data analysis in Python or R.
- Research experience in computational biology and/or data science.
- Excellent written and spoken English.
- Nice to have, not essential: high-performance or cloud computing, machine learning with PyTorch or TensorFlow, health care or genomics data, software development in a small team.
The application needs a one-page cover letter (the ad asks for it to be written without AI), a CV with publications and a github link if applicable, and contact details for two references. Apply through the University of Helsinki recruitment system.
About the employer
FIMM is an international research unit in human genomics and personalized medicine at the Helsinki Institute of Life Science (HiLIFE), on the Meilahti medical campus. ELLIS Institute Finland launched in 2025 as part of the European ELLIS network for AI and focuses on the fundamentals of applied machine learning.
Salary and deadline
The position is fixed term, up to four years, with a six-month trial period. Pay follows the Finnish universities’ salary system: typically about EUR 2,600 to 2,850 per month at the start, rising as the PhD work progresses. Deadline: 19 November 2026.
Source: University of Helsinki, “Doctoral researcher in computational genomics for predictive medicine”, read on 25 October 2026. Summary by AVIDE; see the original page for the full, current text.