Assistant Professor in statistics for the development of privacy-enhancing techniques in health care

At the Center for Clinical Data Science, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aalborg University, a position as Assistant Professor in statistics for the development of privacy-enhancing techniques in health care is available for appointment as of December 1, 2026, or as soon as possible thereafter.

The position is available for two years and comprises 37 hours per week.

Your work tasks

There is substantial potential to improve diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment across a wide range of diseases through data‑driven analytical approaches. Progress in developing robust methodological frameworks relies on access to extensive clinical data. However, patient data are highly sensitive, and restricted access can limit research, innovation, and education. Privacy‑enhancing techniques provide promising avenues for enabling data-driven research while ensuring GDPR compliance and protection of individual privacy. Despite rapid methodological developments, there is still a need for systematic approaches to evaluate and validate privacy‑enhancing techniques in real‑world clinical settings. The purpose of the position is therefore to advance statistical methods for assessing and improving privacy‑enhancing techniques in health care and to apply these methods in clinically relevant collaborative projects. The Assistant Professor will contribute to the development, evaluation, and implementation of privacy‑enhancing techniques and will play a key role in attracting external funding to strengthen this emerging research field.

The project is a part of the ambitious Novo Nordisk Foundation Data Science Collaborative Programme, “Synthetic health data: ethical development and deployment via deep learning approaches (SE3D)” which is a collaboration between Head of Center and Professor Martin Bøgsted, Center for Clinical Data Science, Aalborg University, Professor Anders Krogh, Center for Health Data Science, University of Copenhagen, and Professor Jan Trzaskowski, Department of Law, Aalborg University who are responsible for, respectively, developing privacy metrics, developing generative AI workflows, and ensuring GDPR compliance of the developed methods. There will also be interaction with the Novo Nordisk Foundation Data Science Infrastructure Programme, “the National Health Data Science Sandbox”, a network of data scientists and researchers across five Danish universities building training and research infrastructure.

There will be limited teaching and supervision responsibilities primarily in clinical data science at the Faculty of Medicine, but also in other study programmes at the University.

Your competencies

Your background is in statistics, computer science, mathematics, engineering, or a field relating to data science with emphasis on statistical modelling. You are required to have:

• Experience with statistical modelling
• Strong programming skills in one of the main languages (e.g., R or Python)
• Proficient in English

It will be considered an advantage if the candidate has experience with one or more of the following areas:

• Synthetic data generation
• Machine learning
• Large health register data
• GDPR compliance rules

Valued personal competencies include being independent and creative, having an outgoing personality with a strong interest in providing advice within your field of expertise, and demonstrating flexibility along with a willingness to take on a variety of tasks.

Qualification requirements

Appointment as assistant professor requires academic qualifications at PhD level. The research potential of each applicant will be emphasized in the overall assessment.

Who we are

CLINDA is a multidisciplinary center dedicated to bridging clinical practice and data science. It comprises three research groups: (1) Clinical AI, (2) Bioinformatics and Statistics, and (3) Data Science Methods. The PhD student will be part of the Data Science Methods group, which has a strong research focus on privacy-preserving techniques. CLINDA includes 17 core staff members and collaborates with more than 20 affiliated postdocs and PhD students from other university faculties and Aalborg University Hospital. Learn more about CLINDA here.

The Department of Clinical Medicine provides research-based teaching across all disciplines of the medical degree programme and conducts research within the clinical specialties.

The department collaborates closely with hospitals in the North Denmark Region and general practice in both teaching and research. Medical students receive instruction at several hospital sites and in general practice throughout the region.

The department is affiliated with approximately 40 research units, each representing a specific medical specialty. In addition, the department is also associated with several other research units and centres. The majority of the department’s staff hold concurrent clinical positions alongside their academic appointments. Learn more about the Department of Clinical Medicine here.

Qualification requirements

Appointment as assistant professor requires academic qualifications at PhD level. The research potential of each applicant will be emphasized in the overall assessment.

How to apply

Your application must include the following:

• Application, stating reasons for applying, qualifications in relation to the position, and intentions and visions for the position
• Curriculum Vitae (CV)
• Diplomas (master's degree diploma and PhD diploma)
• List of publications, with an indication of the attached publications that you wish to be taken into account in the assessment. You may attach a maximum of five publications.
• Documentation of teaching qualifications. Please see guidelines for teaching portfolio at The Technical Faculty of IT and Design, The Faculty of Engineering and Science and The Faculty of Medicine.
• Dissemination qualifications, including participation on committees or boards, participation in organisations etc.
• Additional qualifications in relation to the position
• References/recommendations

You can read more about the requirements for your application here.

The application must be submitted via Aalborg University’s recruitment system, which can be accessed under the job advertisement on Aalborg University's website.

Aalborg University wants to reflect the surrounding society and has diversity as a core value. Therefore, everyone, regardless of personal background and orientation, is encouraged to apply for the position.

Aalborg University has a policy of parallel language use. International staff are encouraged, with support from the university, to learn Danish during their employment in order to support their integration into the workplace and Danish society.

Danish language courses will be offered as part of the employment.

Do you have any questions?

If you have any questions about the position, you are more than welcome to contact us. You will find contact persons at the bottom of the jobpost.

Further information

Read more about our recruitment process here

The appointment process at Aalborg University involves a shortlisting process. You can read more about the shortlisting and appointment process here.

The hiring process at Aalborg University may include a risk assessment as a tool to identify potential risks associated with new hires, ensuring the safety, compliance, and integrity of the workplace.

Salary and terms of employment

The employment is in accordance with the Ministerial Order on the Appointment of Academic Staff at Universities (the Appointment Order) and the Ministerial Order on Job Structure for Academic Staff at Universities (in Danish) and protocol on certain terms of employment of academic staff at universities (in Danish).

Salary and terms of employment are in accordance with the collective agreement between the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations and the state (AC collective agreement) (only in Danish) and protocol on certain terms of employment of academic staff at universities (only in Danish).

There is a mutual probationary period of 3 months for the position.

Aalborg University - Knowledge for the worldAalborg University is an international workplace with more than 3,700 employees. We offer real-world-oriented education and create world-class research results through collaboration between researchers, students, and public and private companies. This is how we achieve insights, new solutions to societal problems, and knowledge that changes the world. Our main campus is in Aalborg, but we also have campuses in Esbjerg and Copenhagen.

Type of employment: temporary position | Contract type: full time | Number of positions: 1 | Full-time equivalent: 37 | City: Aalborg | County: Nordjylland | Country: Denmark | Reference number: 2026/983 | Contact: Martin Bøgsted +4550925639, Heidi Søgaard Christensen +4521710151, | Published: 2026-08-25 | Last application date: 2026-09-07