PhD position in Clinical Natural Language Processing

At the Faculty of Medicine, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aalborg University, a full time PhD stipend in Clinical Natural

Language Processing is available for appointment from December 1st. 2026, or soon hereafter. The stipend is available within the

doctoral program “Biomedical Engineering and Neuroscience”, and the duration of the position is three years. Project During

patient care, hospital nurses write clinical notes daily, and these are essential for documenting the provided care, supporting

decision-making, care planning, and communication. Beyond their primary use, these notes may be used to analyze and learn from the

delivered care and outcomes. Here, AI, particularly NLP, has great potential to extract, structure, and analyze clinically

relevant information from these unstructured narratives. The project aims at enabling AI-assisted clinical decision support and

documentation grounded in clinical practice and evidence. Your work tasks This PhD project sits at the intersection of AI and

healthcare, exploring how AI can assist clinical practice to improve efficiency, quality, and outcomes. A special focus is natural

language processing (NLP) for health data, including large language models (LLMs) and agent-based frameworks. The project aims to

develop novel AI-based solutions for supporting nursing documentation, care planning, and clinical decision-making, with a

particular focus on identifying and preventing missed nursing care (omitted or delayed essential tasks). The first focus will be

on developing an interactive LLM-based agent framework with retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) capabilities for managing

relevant information from electronic health records (EHRs), clinical guidelines, and medical literature. The second focus will be

on enabling the system to synthesize evidence and translate it into actionable insights, including potential instances of missed

nursing care, while ensuring traceability and interpretability. The third focus will be on enabling the system to support nurses

in planning and decision making at the point of care. This project may also explore human-in-the-loop (HITL) and virtual human

twin (VHT) approaches. You will be based in the Clinical AI Group at the Center for Clinical Data Science (CLINDA), Aalborg

University and Aalborg University hospital. You will collaborate closely with the Clinical Nursing Research Unit at Aalborg

University as well as clinical departments at hospitals of the North Denmark Region, primarily using data from the NordEPJ EHR

system. Your competencies We are looking for a candidate who has many of the following qualifications:

• A background in

computer science or a related field, with an interest in AI, machine learning, and NLP.

• Experience or education in health

data science or a health-related field is a plus.

• Strong programming skills in Python with the ability to implement and

prototype research ideas.

• A mathematical foundation to support the design and analysis of algorithms.
• Curiosity,

motivation, and strong communication skills.

• An open and collaborative mindset, with an interest in working with

health-domain experts to ensure that research addresses real-world needs.

• Fluency in English, written and spoken (required).
• As the project involves working with Danish clinical texts, proficiency in Danish or another Scandinavian language, or a

willingness to learn Danish, is a plus. Qualification requirements PhD stipends are allocated to individuals who hold a Master's

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    The student will be anchored at the

Center for Clinical Data Science (CLINDA). CLINDA aims to conduct independent research in the development, application, and

implementation of data infrastructures for AI-based decision support tools and is rapidly growing with currently more than 20

people. This center provides an excellent environment to conduct innovative research with fellow PhD students, post-docs, and more

senior researchers, and also promote social interactions. 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. Read more about the Department of Clinical Medicine here. 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 (bachelor's and master's degree diploma, including grades) - The MSc thesis (if completed at

the time of application) - A list of max 3 references that can be contacted - Other relevant documents 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. 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. Application process Selected candidates will be invited for an interview. A second interview will be organized shortly

after, if needed, with a focus on completed projects and technical competencies. 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 and the Ministerial Order on Job Structure for Academic Staff at

Universities. Furthermore, your terms of employment and salary are in accordance with the collective agreement between the Danish

Confederation of Professional Associations and the state (AC collective agreement). You can find information about the salary and

salary structure for the position in the Salary Overview for Recruitment - Scientific positions (VIP). Please refer to the

introductory section of the page and the section entitled “PhD Fellow”. There is a mutual probationary period of 3 months for the

position.