PhD in Statistical Methods for Privacy-Preserving Analysis of Spatial Health Data

Are you interested in working with sensitive health data and making a real impact on how it can be used safely and responsibly At the Center for Clinical Data Science (CLINDA) Department of Clinical Medicine Aalborg University we are offering afully funded 3-year PhD position starting November 1 2026or soon hereafter.

Your work tasks
This PhD sits at the intersection of mathematics statistics data science and public health. The goal is to develop new methods that allow researchers to learn from sensitive health data without compromising individual privacy.

Using unique nationwide Danish health registry data you will work with spatial data such as disease maps and medical imaging. Such data are highly informative but also pose significant privacy risks.

Your work will focus on developing and studying privacy-preserving methods such as differential privacy Bayesian privacy federated learning and synthetic data. The aim is to enable meaningful analyses such as identifying disease hotspots or detecting cancer-affected areas and support decision-making while ensuring that no individual can be identified. Possible research directions include the generation of synthetic spatial point patterns representing health incidents and the development of privacy-preserving methods for visualizing health data.

What you will gain:

• Strong expertise in statistical and computational methods for privacy
• Experience working with unique real-world health data
• Collaboration with an interdisciplinary research team across data science mathematics and health
• Skills highly relevant for careers in academia industry and the public sector

The project combines methodological research with applications to real-world health data offering a unique opportunity to contribute to the future of privacy-preserving health data science in an interdisciplinary setting.

The research will be performed in close collaboration with The Department of Mathematical Sciences Faculty of Engineering and Science Aalborg University.

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.

Your competencies
You must have documented strong qualifications in mathematics statistics or mathematically founded data science as well as excellent oral and written English language skills. Experience with spatial statistics is an advantage.

The applicant must hold an MSc degree in mathematical statistics mathematically founded data science mathematical economics or similar. Applicants who will complete an MSc of the type mentioned before the appointment date may also that case a statement from the supervisor including expected time of MSc exam is required as well as the MSc thesis contract. A possible appointment is then conditional on passing the MSc exam.

Qualification requirements
PhD stipends are allocated to individuals who hold a Masters degree. PhD stipends are normally for a period of 3 years. It is a prerequisite for allocation of the stipend that the candidate will be enrolled as a PhD student at the Doctoral School in Medicine Biomedical Science and Technology in accordance with the regulations of Ministerial Order No. 1124 of September 19 2025 on the PhD Programme at the Universities and Certain Higher Artistic Educational Institutions.

According to the Ministerial Order the progress of the PhD student shall be assessed at regular points in time. As part of the PhD study you are among other things required to complete PhD courses corresponding to 30 ECTS gain experience with teaching or other forms of knowledge dissemination and complete an external research stay outside of Aalborg University preferably 3-6 months at a foreign research institution.

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 Mathematical Sciences conducts research in a wide range of mathematical disciplines. This includes both fundamental and applied research in statistics (e.g. statistical methods for forensics life sciences topological data analysis spatial statistics and computational statistics). Learn more about the Department of Mathematical Sciences here.

The Department of Clinical Medicine provides research-based teaching across all disciplines of the medical degreeprogrammeand 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 eachrepresentinga specific medical additionthe department is also associated with several other research units majority of the departments staff hold concurrent clinical positions alongside their academic appointments.

Learn more about the Department of Clinical Medicinehere.

We offer an international and informal working environment. We are proud of our long tradition of good social relations and collaboration among colleagues.

The Aalborg area has a high quality of life and work/life balance. There is a lively cultural scene modern infrastructure (busses train station and airport) and affordable living costs. The region offers easy access to nature ideal for relaxing hiking biking or sailing (beaches forests and fjords). Read more about Aalborg and the region at e.g. enjoy nordjylland and invest in Aalborg.

How to apply
Your application must include the following:

• Application stating reasons for applying and qualifications in relation to the position
• Curriculum Vitae (CV)
• Diplomas (bachelors and masters degree diploma including grades)
• Other relevant documents
  
  

The application must be submitted via Aalborg Universitys recruitment system which can be accessed under the job advertisement on Aalborg Universitys 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.

Do you have any questions
If you have any questions you are very welcome to contact the person listed at the bottom of the job posting.

Further information
Read more about our recruitment process here.

The assessment of candidates for the position will be carried out by qualified experts.
Shortlisting will be applied. This means that after the application deadline the head of the department with the assistance of the hiring committee will select the applicants to be assessed. All applicants will be informed whether they have been shortlisted for assessment or not.

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.

Read more about The Doctoral School in Medicine Biomedical Science and Technology

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).

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) (in Danish)

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

Aalborg University - Knowledge for the world
Aalborg University is an international workplace with more than 3700 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.