Call for DDLS academic PhD Projects 2025

Call for Academic PhD Projects in Data-driven Life Science

Generic Description of the DDLS PhD Program

The SciLifeLab and Wallenberg National Program for Data-Driven Life Science (DDLS) is a 12-year initiative funded with a total of 3,1 billion SEK from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation. The purpose of the program is to recruit and train the next-generation of data-driven life scientists and to create globally leading computational and data science capabilities in life science in Sweden.

One part of the program is to establish a research school for 260 PhDs, within both academia and industry. The aim of the DDLS Research School is to educate highly skilled and competent professionals who will make a significant contribution to the field of life science research in Sweden.

The PhD students will be recruited to a host university/organization in Sweden, aiming to link them up with strong local research environments as well as with the national DDLS program.

As the PhD candidates are recruited at a host university in Sweden, they will be enrolled as members of the DDLS Research School and expected to take part in the DDLS Research School activities (networking events, courses, scientific visits, etc.).

The DDLS program will focus on four strategic areas of data-driven research: cell and molecular biology, evolution and biodiversity, precision medicine and diagnostics, epidemiology and biology of infection.

We are now launching a competitive grant call for group leaders (and hence potential PhD student supervisors) to suggest exciting data-driven research projects and training opportunities for PhD students in the four strategic areas of data-driven life science. In the 2024 call, 19 academic PhD projects will be awarded.

What is Data-driven life science?

Data-driven life science is a field of research that focuses on using data, computational methods and artificial intelligence to study biological systems and processes. This approach can include assembling, sharing, integration and advanced analysis of large amounts of data from diverse sources, including experiments, observations, and simulations, in order to gain a better understanding of how living organisms function.

For a PhD project to be considered data-driven it has to have a clear data science component such as the use of advanced data analysis techniques, from statistics to machine learning involving either method development or novel application of data science methods to life science problems. Projects that only involve laboratory research or that depend solely on the acquisition of large amounts of new biological data from e.g. laboratory experiments or patient materials will not be given priority. However, laboratory research to validate and extend data-driven insights can be included.

Role of the DDLS Research School

The focus of the research school is to engage the students with a national network and in annual network activities. The DDLS Research School will complement already existing graduate schools and other training activities at the universities. Specific national DDLS Research School courses will be provided to assure that the students will at the end of their education have proficiency in data handling and analysis, integration of multidisciplinary knowledge and ethics. The students will also have access to a plethora of other training events and courses arranged by the SciLifeLab Training Hub.

Requirements

Project proposals in the four DDLS research areas are welcome. The funded projects should be in line with DDLS strategy and have a novel and original data-driven perspective, be of high scientific quality and combine the life science and data science topics. Project applicant, i.e. the main supervisor of the PhD student must have a secured employment at a Swedish University during the suggested PhD period.

The call is open to all researchers in Sweden who can act as a main supervisor or a co-supervisor for a PhD student. The same applicant can be the main supervisor in only one academic and one industrial project, but can act as co-supervisors in applications by other PIs. DDLS fellows who already have a start-up package with PhD student positions, cannot apply to the call as main supervisor for DDLS academic PhD student positions. However, they can file joint applications as co-supervisor together with e.g. SciLifeLab, WCMM fellows or any other scientists with the goal of forming new joint collaborations and creating new multi-disciplinary data-driven opportunities for training PhD students.

Researchers that were granted funding as main supervisors in the 2023 DDLS academic PhD project call are not eligible to apply as main supervisors for academic PhD project in the current call. They may, however, apply as co-supervisors for academic and industrial PhD projects in the current call, and they may also apply as main supervisors for industrial PhD projects (see the Call for DDLS Industrial PhD Projects for details).

Project participants (supervisors and students) are expected to be active contributors and participants in the national DDLS community events, training activities, seminars, and symposia organized by the DDLS Research School.

Any necessary co-funding needed for a KAW-funded project is the responsibility of each university/department/supervisor and should be ensured via a letter of commitment from the head of the department/faculty.

Required Documents

Please note that it is important not to exceed the page limitation for the respective part as indicated in the template (Project proposal, 3 pages; Description of the research and training environment, 1 page; CV of the main supervisor 2 pages + 1 page of 10 top publications; CV of the co-supervisor(s) 1 page each). Not adhering to the page limitations will affect the evaluation of your application. Use the template provided in the application system.

Letter of commitment from the Head of Department/faculty
CV of the main applicant/supervisor (max 2 pages + 1 page top 10 publications)
CV of the co-supervisor(s) (if applicable) (max1 page per co-supervisor)
Research project proposal: (max 3 pages including references). Describe the field of research and the central questions, include the specific aims of the suggested PhD project, the material and methods, data analysis and computational approaches as well as the contributions from the team of supervisors. Indicate what additional costs are encountered in the project and how such costs will be covered from other funding sources. Indicate why this project together with the main supervisor and the co-supervisor(s) are ideal to promote the goals of the DDLS and the specific DDLS research area, both in terms of research questions and the training of next-generation life scientists.
Description of the research and training environment
- (max1 page), including the following: what is the local research environment of the main supervisor (laboratory, department, faculty, university) and how this links to the DDLS program goals and provides a good training environment with sufficient critical mass of expertise. Describe how the team of supervisors will collaborate and the training plan for the PhD student. Describe any local graduate school/doctoral program the student will be affiliated with and how this could provide synergistic benefits.

Evaluation Process and Decisions

Project proposals and supervisors are evaluated and ranked by international and national reviewers. If necessary a pre-evaluation might be applied. Projects are evaluated according to defined DDLS evaluation criteria:

Scientific quality of the project
Merits of the applicant and co-applicants (scientific and training)
Fit and contribution of the project to the DDLS program
Quality of the supervision plan and the training environment

We will also consider inclusiveness and diversity.

Decisions

The projects will be evaluated by an international evaluation committee and the final decision of funding will be made by the SciLifeLab Board. In the 2024 call, 19 projects will be selected. No written feedback will be provided. The accepted supervisor(s) are then eligible to be part in the next step, the selection of the PhD students as part of an international call. The supervisors(s) are then also invited to take part in the activities of the DDLS program, the DDLS Research School and contribute to associated training events.

The next steps in the process will be provided later on, but are briefly described here for completeness.

PhD Student Selection: International Announcement of All Positions

After the board decision is done, SciLifeLab will coordinate an international announcement for all DDLS PhD positions. This will be done jointly together with all DDLS partner organizations that have been granted a PhD slot. The announcement details will be available via links to the SciLifeLab web site and local sites.

Each university with a granted project can also announce the position at their respective websites to meet the local rules and regulations. The local announcement should clearly indicate that the PhD position is part of a large national DDLS program.

Application Process of the PhD student candidates

The PhD student candidates will submit their applications to the respective university, according to the local application instructions. The candidates can apply to multiple positions but will need to file each application separately at each university.

Evaluation of the PhD Candidates

All supervisors with approved projects select their PhD candidates from the international joint PhD call according to the timelines set by the DDLS program. The purpose of the joint timelines is to promote the national aspect of the program.

During the recruitment process at each local department with granted supervisors, a DDLS representative is recommended to be present at the interviews but they will not participate in the scoring and selection of the candidates.

The role of the DDLS representative during the interviews is to support the recruitment process and ensure that the candidates meet the overall requirements of the DDLS program and the DDLS Research School. A one-page description of the selection process, including a summary of the main applicants from the call is requested by the DDLS Program Office. After approval by the DDLS Program Director or the DDLS Research School Director, the selected candidates will be eligible for funding.

Conditions for Funding

The DDLS program finances both 4-year full-time PhD positions as well as positions for 5 years at an 80% effort. It is currently expected in 2024 that 19 projects/PhD positions in academia will be awarded. The supervisors of the approved projects, together with the head of department, will be asked to sign an agreement containing the Terms and Conditions of the DDLS funding. The granted funds will not be available until the PhD student is recruited by the department/university. The incurred project costs will be requisitioned according to the funding conditions for all DDLS activities.

Financial Information

The grants will be funded by KAW. The supervisors, departments or faculties are responsible for any necessary co-funding needed at each university.
3,25 MSEK total KAW funding per project.
Out of the total KAW funding, max. 165 KSEK can be allocated for running costs during the project period defined.
A maximum of 20% of the amount granted by KAW can be allocated for premises and overhead costs.
There is also a maximum coverage of 52,5 % for LKP (payroll overhead) on personnel costs.
Costs will be reimbursed by requisition to KAW. KTH/SciLifeLab will coordinate this process. Information about the financial process flow and reporting templates will be provided for this purpose at a later stage.
No funding can be directed to industry, industrial partners or other public sectors in this call.

Call for projects (October 1 – November 15)

Timelines for Selection of Projects (November 2024 – January 2025)

Evaluation (November – January)
List of selected projects (February)

Timelines for Selection of PhD Students (March – June 2025)

Announcement of the positions (February 2025)
Evaluation of the applications (March-April)
Interviews (end of April)
List of selected industrial PhD students – offer and acceptance (May)
Start of the individual projects (October or upon agreement between supervisors and PhD student, preferably not later than October)

Apply here

Deadline: November 15 2024, 15:00 CET

For further questions, please contact: ddls-rs@scilifelab.se