The research school of the SciLifeLab & Wallenberg National Program for Data-Driven Life Science (DDLS) is a national initiative that will train high competence researchers in data-driven life sciences. The school is set to open its doors during 2024 with a mission to address the evolving needs across research and development (R&D), industry, health care, and society at large. It will provide PhD students and postdocs with cutting edge knowledge and skills in the four DDLS research areas, as well as fostering national and international collaborations.

Recently, a call for an assignment as a research school director attracted applications from 14 excellent and highly qualified candidates. The selection committee was particularly impressed with Olof Emanuelsson (KTH) and Peetra Magnusson (UU), whose forward-looking vision for the role of a national research school aligned closely with the ambitious goals of the 12-year DDLS program.

Eventually a joint directorship was established for Olof and Peetra, in order to secure the expertise and knowledge from both life science and data/computational science and to ensure that the DDLS Research School Directors will be able to handle the variety of tasks, roles and meetings across the country. The initial assignment is for the next two-year funding period, but this can be prolonged, based on continued funding from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg’s Foundation to the DDLS program.

“We look forward to working with Olof and Peetra in propagating the DDLS Research School as a key functional unit for recruitment, training and networking of young scientists in the DDLS program,” says the DDLS Program Director, Olli Kallioniemi.

Over the next 10 years, there will be over 250 PhD students and over 200 postdocs associated with the research school. These students will come from 11 universities/partners, where the PhD students are enrolled in local graduate schools. The students represent the four research areas, and there will be both academic and industrial PhD and postdoc programs. This illustrates the unique scale and diversity of the DDLS Research School and adds to the exciting challenge and opportunity of the DDLS program.