PhD fellowship in Human-Centered AI in Pharmacy Education at the Department of Pharmacy

We are offering a three-year PhD fellowship in data science commencing 1 September 2026.

 

Project description
Today, no AI-based communication learning platforms (AICLP) are available in pharmacy education. This PhD project entitled “LLM-enabled patient-pharmacist conversations to improve communication education” will explore how a new learning platform for pharmacy students doing their pharmacy internship, driven by generative AI (gAI) and incorporating modelling techniques together with gAI feedback on patient-centered performance, can support the development of reflective and clinically sound pharmacy practice. The PhD student will investigate how a data-driven AICLP using large language models can be designed, implemented and evaluated to support high-quality person-centered communication among future pharmacists. Furthermore, the project will examine how learning environments and curricula can be co-designed to integrate the AICLP in collaboration with educational and clinical partners and assess to what extent AICLP-supported learning improves pharmacy students´ self-efficacy, communication quality and potentially the patient´s clinical outcomes compared with current approaches.

The AICLP will be developed as part of a larger Nordic research initiative (PharmaComCoach). The PhD student will not be responsible for the technical development of the underlying large language models or platform architecture. Instead, focus will be on co-designing and evaluating how the system functions in educational practice.

Specifically, the PhD project will:

• Examine how the AICLP is experienced and used by pharmacy students and supervisors
• Evaluate how the system supports the development of person-centered communication competencies
• Contribute to the investigation of how learning environments and curricula can be co-designed to integrate the AICLP in collaboration with educational and clinical partners
• Assess to what extent AICLP-supported learning improves students’ self-efficacy and communication quality compared with existing approaches

The project will employ relevant research methodologies (e.g., mixed methods, educational evaluation, co-design methods, and implementation research) to examine students’ learning experiences and learning outcomes.

The PhD project will be conducted within an interdisciplinary research environment spanning social pharmacy, health professions education, and human-computer interaction

 

Principal supervisor
Professor (PhD in Social Pharmacy) Lotte Stig Nørgaard, Department of Pharmacy
 

 

Co-supervisors

Associate Professor (PhD and Docent in Social Pharmacy) Karin Svensberg, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Uppsala

Associate Professor (PhD in Computer Science) Tariq Osman Andersen, Department of Computer Science, University of Copenhagen

Associate Professor (PhD in Engineering Education) Frederik Voetman Christiansen, Department of Science Education, University of Copenhagen

 

Start
1 September 2026

 

Duration
3 years as a PhD student

 

Our group

The successful applicant will be part of the Social and Pharmacy group (SCP), the vision of which is to contribute to a better life with medicines through the newest knowledge about users, organizations and society and how these interact to shape medicines use in society. SCP’s research is mainly located within the three broad topic areas: Clinical Pharmacy, Medicines Use, and Pharmaceutical Policy. The group consists of 3 professors, 2 associate professors, 2 PhD students, a research assistant and 3 external associate professors.

 

The PhD student will also be fully embedded in the Center for Pharmaceutical Data Science Education (CPDSE; https://www.cpdse.dk), a cross-university KU-SDU network with more than 60 active members across seven departments. CPDSE’s mission is to educate and train the future pharmaceutical workforce by integrating data science into pharmaceutical education at all levels. The center develops research-based teaching that bridges pharmaceutical sciences and data science across bachelor’s, master’s, PhD, and continuing education programs.

 

Our department

The mission of Department of Pharmacy is to advance the pharmaceutical sciences by performing drug-related research and research-based teaching in topics including pharmaceutical technology and formulation, drug delivery, advanced drug analysis, and clinical and social pharmacy.

 

Information about the Department can be found at https://pharmacy.ku.dk/

 

Job description
Your key tasks as a PhD student at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences are:

• Carrying through an independent research project under supervision
• Completing PhD courses or other equivalent education corresponding to approximately 30 ECTS points
• Participating in active research environments including a stay at another research team, preferably abroad
• Obtaining experience with teaching or other types of dissemination related to your PhD project
• Teaching graduate students in pharmaceutical sciences (a total of 300 hours)
• Writing a PhD thesis on the grounds of your project

 

Key criteria for the assessment of applicants

Applicants must have qualifications corresponding to a master’s degree related to the subject area of the project, e.g. pharmacy, public health science, or other health related education. Please note that your master’s degree must be equivalent to a Danish master’s degree (two years).

 

Other important criteria are:

• Professional qualifications relevant to the PhD project (such experience in communication research/health professional education, educational research, AI/ML methods, data analysis, digital learning design, and ability to work in an interdisciplinary research environment)
• Relevant work experience
• Previous publications
• The grade point average achieved
• Language skills

 

Place of employment

The place of employment is at the Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen. We offer creative and stimulating working conditions in a dynamic and international and interdisciplinary research environment spanning social pharmacy, data science, education, and clinical practice

 

Terms of employment

The average weekly working hours are 37 hours per week.

The position is a fixed-term position limited to a period of 3 years.

The employment is conditioned upon the applicant’s successful enrolment as a PhD student at the Graduate School at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen. This requires submission and acceptance of an application for the specific project to the Graduate School of Health and Medical Sciences.

The PhD study must be completed in accordance with The Ministerial Order on the PhD programme (2025) and the Faculty’s rules on achieving the degree.

The PhD student is expected to be affiliated to the graduate programme in pharmaceutical sciences, Drug Research Academy.

Salary, pension, and terms of employment are in accordance with the agreement between the Ministry of Finance and The Danish Confederation of Professional Associations on Academics in the State. Depending on seniority, the monthly salary starts at approximately    29.700 DKK/Roughly 4,000 EUR (November 2025 level) plus pension.

 

Application procedure

Your application, in English, must be submitted electronically by clicking “Apply now” below and must include the following documents in PDF format:

 

1. Motivated letter of application (max. one page)

 

2. CV incl. education, experience, language skills and other skills relevant for the position

 

3. Certified copy of original Master of Science diploma and transcript of records in the original language, including an authorized English translation if issued in other language than English or Danish. If not completed, a certified/signed copy of a recent transcript of records or a written statement from the institution or supervisor is accepted. As a prerequisite for a PhD fellowship employment, your master’s degree must be equivalent to a Danish master’s degree. We encourage you to read more in the assessment database: https://ufm.dk/en/education/recognition-and-transparency/find-assessments/assessment-database. Please note that we might ask you to obtain an assessment of your education performed by the Ministry of Higher Education and Science. Applicants with a Master´s degree from abroad should also enclose a short description of the grading scale used
 

4. Publication list (if possible)
 

5. Other information to consider: References and recommendations (if possible)

 

The deadline for applications is 1 May 2025, 23.59pm CET

We reserve the right not to consider material received after the deadline, and not to consider applications that do not live up to the abovementioned requirements.

 

The further process

After the expiry of the deadline for applications, the authorized recruitment manager selects applicants for assessment on the advice of the hiring committee. All applicants are then immediately notified whether their application has been passed for assessment by an unbiased assessor.

 

The assessor makes a non-prioritized assessment of the academic qualifications and experience with respect to the above-mentioned area of research, techniques, skills and other requirements listed in the advertisement.

Once the assessment work has been completed each applicant can comment on the part of the assessment that relates to the applicant.

 

The applicant will be assessed according to the Ministerial Order no. 242 of 13 March 2012 on the Appointment of Academic Staff at Universities.

 

Interviews are expected to be held in week 22. 

 

You can read about the recruitment process at https://employment.ku.dk/faculty/recruitment-process/

 

Questions

For further information, applicants may contact the principal supervisor, Professor Lotte Stig Nørgaard, e-mail:  lotte.norgaard@sund.ku.dk, phone: +45 3533 6101 or PhD coordinator Marianne W. Jørgensen, e-mail: marianne.joergensen@sund.ku.dk, phone: +45 3533 6449.

 

General information about PhD studies at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences is available at the Graduate School’s website: https://healthsciences.ku.dk/phd/guidelines/

 

For more information on working and living in Denmark visit http://ism.ku.dk (International staff mobility) and https://www.workindenmark.dk

 

The University of Copenhagen wishes to reflect the diversity of society and encourage all qualified candidates to apply regardless of personal background.