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Associate Director - Centre for Molecular Medicine Norway (Nordic EMBL Partnership)

Deadline: 13.11.2022

Universitetet i Oslo

The University of Oslo is Norway’s oldest and highest ranked educational and research institution, with 28 000 students and 7 500 employees. With its broad range of academic disciplines and internationally recognised research communities, UiO is an important contributor to society.


Centre for Molecular Medicine Norway (NCMM) was established in 2008 and is the Norwegian node in the Nordic EMBL Partnership for Molecular Medicine. NCMM is a joint venture between the University of Oslo, Health Region South-East and the Research Council of Norway. The Centre has 11 research groups, and the overall objective to conduct cutting edge research in molecular medicine and biotechnology as well as facilitate translation of discoveries in basic medical research into clinical practice.

Job description

NCMM is a part of UiO's interdisciplinary focus on life sciences. The institute enjoys strong links to other life science activities at UiO, including the Oslo Centre for Bioinformatics, with its strong research groups within machine learning and AI, the Oslo Centre for Biostatistics and Epidemiology (OCBE) that covers all aspects of biostatistics, and various other research groups strongly involved in life science research. NCMM also benefits from UiO’s secure HPC services for sensitive data and ELIXIR life science infrastructure support. In addition, there are close ties to Oslo University Hospital, a large university hospital that hosts some of the strongest research environments in Norway within health and the life sciences.

The overall objective of NCMM is to conduct cutting-edge research in molecular medicine and facilitate translation of discoveries in basic medical research into clinical practice. NCMM focuses particularly on disease mechanisms, develops and adapts technologies for personalized medical applications, and has unraveled new diagnostic methods and drug targets. NCMM currently hosts 10 research groups where outstanding early-stage Group Leaders have been identified in international calls and selected using quality criteria and methods of assessment as for recruitment to EMBL Group Leader positions.

Research groups within NCMM are studying cancer, immune diseases, and neurological diseases under the umbrella of precision medicine. These studies are underpinned by the application of computational biology methods and technology platforms, including high-throughput sequencing, to interrogate disease genomes, chromatin architecture and transcriptomes, functional genomics including genome-editing strategies to perturb and reprogram experimental cell, animal and computational models, as well as chemical biology platforms aiming at the identification of disorder mechanisms and novel therapeutics. Please refer to the NCMM website for more information, including research profiles of existing NCMM groups.

To improve NCMM's capabilities in collaborating with the health sector and hospitals, NCMM is strengthening its computational biology expertise and is now seeking an outstanding candidate for the position of:

Associate Director and Group Leader, combined with adjunct Professor II/ Associate Professor in computational biology

Applications are invited for the open position as NCMM Associate Director. The successful candidate is expected to initiate an independent research program within computational biology with a clear relevance to molecular medicine and disease mechanisms and with translational opportunities. The research should consolidate existing research within the Centre by providing natural interfaces for collaboration. In addition to running an active research program as PI, the Associate Director is expected to build stronger networks to the computational biology and bioinformatics research environments locally, nationally, and internationally, and, together with the Director, play a key role in the successful day-to-day operation of NCMM. The time dedicated to Centre activities should be apx. 40% of a whole position.

The successful candidate should also contribute to developing NCMM's research strategies, scientific excellence, and cutting-edge infrastructures at the Centre. The position requires networking, scientific leadership, and mentoring experience. The ideal candidate has an international network of collaborators and has a proven track-record in raising research funding. Relatively broad scientific interests, from basic sciences to research motivated in the clinics, are an advantage. Previous experience in research policy development and administration will also be evaluated positively.

The Associate Director position will be combined with a part-time Professor II/Associate Professor position (20%) at the Centre for Bioinformatics in the Institute of Informatics at the University of Oslo. The professorial duties include contributions towards bioinformatics/computational biology, activities within translationally inspired computational methods development and teaching, and with an aim to forge stronger links between the two units. In addition, to facilitate translation and collaboration, NCMM offers all group leaders opportunity to have adjunct researcher appointments in university hospital departments. We expect multi-disciplinary research collaborations within NCMM, with the internationally recognized biomedical research environment in Norway as well as within theNordic EMBL Partnership.

NCMM provides an attractive sustainable support package for the Associate Director of apx. 1.8 million EUR over the first five-year period. It classically includes salaries of the group leader, a postdoctoral fellow, a doctoral student as well as a technician (total 3-4 positions), consumables and modern laboratory facilities. The candidate is expected to complement this budget through other national or international grants and/or through industrial collaborations. NCMM scientists will be supported by excellent in-house research infrastructures and have access to the local research community’s infrastructures, ranging from technology platforms and state-of-the art computing environment at University of Oslo and Oslo University Hospital, to national infrastructures and international capabilities provided by EMBL. Translational research in molecular medicine is currently being strengthened in Norway and there is a strong desire to closely integrate and coordinate basic and clinical research activities.

  • Qualification requirements include a PhD, an MD/PhD or an equivalent degree, appropriate postdoctoral training, experience in supervision, scientific leadership, a track record of high impact publications in computational biology, and a track record of attracting significant independent funding. Clinician scientists with clinical specialization would also be encouraged to apply. In addition, considerable weight will be put on the research plan proposed by the candidate and on how this will integrate and synergize with the activity of other NCMM investigators and potential collaborators in the Oslo region. The Associate Director position is intended for an independent investigator in the midst of an academic career and with some seniority, typically 8-12 years past the Ph.D.
  • Applications should include a cover letter summarizing the applicant’s career, past research accomplishments, future plans and fit with the NCMM research profile (max 1-2 pages), a CV, a list of publications (with 5 most significant publications indicated), a research plan (max 5 pages) with a summary of expected translational, medical, or public health impact, and names of three references. University of Oslo is an equal opportunity employer and female and minority candidates are encouraged to apply. Staff that the applicant would like to bring to NCMM as part of their group should be named in the application.
  • The top candidates will be invited to present their research in a talk and interview, and can be asked to provide a more detailed research plan as well as letters of reference. An International Search Committee will evaluate the candidates and their research proposals. Identification of and meetings with potential local collaborators will also be organized by NCMM. The first candidate may be nominated in end 2022/early 2023 with an anticipated starting date early-to-mid 2023.
  • The successful candidate for the position will be offered a permanent position. The position is included in the Norwegian health insurance and retirement pension schemes and will be placed as SKO (Position Code) 1109 Research Scientist or SKO 1183 Research Scientist with Professor competence, with a salary range depending on qualifications from step (ltr.) 75 (NOK 728,100) to 87 (NOK 1024,200). Assistance and financial support are provided for international or national relocation as necessary.

Formal regulations

According to the Norwegian Freedom of Information Act (Offentleglova) information about the applicant may be included in the public applicant list, also in cases where the applicant has requested non-disclosure.

The University of Oslo has an intellectual property agreement that applies to all employees, with the aim of securing rights to research results.

Contact information

For further information visit our website.

Inquiries about the position can be directed to NCMM Director, Professor Janna Saarela.

Inquiries regarding technical aspects of the application can be directed to HR adviser Nina Modahl.

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