The Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH) is a world-leading institute in global health with a particular focus on low- and middle-income countries. Associated with the University of Basel, Swiss TPH combines research, education and services at local, national and international level. Around 1000 staff and students from 96 nations work at Swiss TPH focusing on climate change, environment and health, infectious and non-communicable diseases, societal and cultural context, and health systems and policies.

The Department of Epidemiology and Public Health (EPH) investigates distribution and causes of infections and non-communicable diseases. To understand and promote the well-being of people in different cultural and environmental contexts, EPH applies various methods ranging from anthropology and social science to biostatistics and mathematical modelling as well as observational cohorts with biobanks.

The Environmental Exposures and Health Unit (EEH) of EPH is focused on research related to the many environmental exposures: including radiation, radon, electromagnet fields, noise, heat, air pollution and airborne pollen. We are currently looking for a:

PhD Candidate in Epidemiology/Public Health/Biostatistics with Interest in Ionizing Radiation and Health (100%)

The aim of this PhD project is to achieve a full assessment of the health risk including the uncertainty in relation to ionizing radiation exposure in a Swiss context. The proposed research will directly support the mission of the Swiss Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate (ENSI) to effectively monitor the safety reporting process, contributing to radiation protection advancement and enhancing the scientific basis for radiation-related health risk assessment and communication. The position is particularly well suited for a biostatistician with interest in epidemiology or vice versa for an epidemiologist with strong interest & experience in complex data analysis.

Your position

• Conduct epidemiological data analysis to explore the association of different health outcomes (e.g. lung cancer, leukaemia, Parkinsons disease) with ionizing radiation exposure using data from Atcomic Bomb Survivors Life Span Study (LSS) and the US Million-person study of occupationally exposed workers and veterans
• Explore a series of conventional risk models with various shapes of the risk to dose response models for each chosen outcome
• Combine the fitted models for each outcome by applying techniques of Multi-Model-Inference
• Build the effect estimates including the model uncertainty into lifetime risk calculations for the selected outcomes, based on European and Swiss external disease rates and implemented in a visualization tool
• Work in a multidisciplinary team of collaborators at the Swiss TPH focusing on exposure modelling, data science, and environmental epidemiology
• For complimentary advanced education, you will have the opportunity to register in the PhD program in Epidemiology/Public Health of the University of Basel and the Graduate Campus of the Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+)

Your profile

• Master's degree level in epidemiology, biostatistics, medicine, natural science, geography, psychology, statistics or a similar field with a strong focus on data analysis
• Excellent data analysis skills (preferably R)
• Experience in data visualization using R, Python or similar software
• Knowledge in radiation epidemiology or strong interest for this field of research
• Excellent English language skills (speaking and writing). German language skills are considered a strong asset for this position
• Strong spirit of teamwork, open for collaboration across scientific disciplines and ability to work independently

We offer you

• Rigorous training in quantitative epidemiological research methods
• Meaningful work in an international environment and together with the Government
• A state-of-the-art workplace in our new building with its own canteen on the dynamic BaseLink site in Allschwil
• Interesting encounters with people from a wide variety of backgrounds

Job conditions:

• Start Date: 1 January 2026 or upon agreement
• Duration: limited, three years
• Percentage: 100%
• Location: Allschwil, Switzerland
• Travel required: according to SNF PhD salary scheme
• Internal job title: none