Research Scientist / Software Developer in Computational Biology and Gene Regulation

The University of Oslo is Norway’s oldest and highest ranked educational and research institution, with 26 500 students and 7 200 employees. With its broad range of academic disciplines and internationally recognised research communities, UiO is an important contributor to society.

The Norwegian Centre for Molecular Biosciences and Medicine (NCMBM) is a national research centre dedicated to cutting-edge research at the intersection of molecular medicine, biosciences, and data science. The centre aims to advance understanding of fundamental biological processes and to provide new insights that enable future medical and biotechnological innovation.

NCMBM is part of the Nordic EMBL Partnership for Molecular Medicine, a collaborative network that brings together leading research centres across the Nordic countries and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL).

Established in 2008 (formerly as the Centre for Molecular Medicine Norway, NCMM), NCMBM is a joint initiative between the University of Oslo and Health Region South-East. The centre brings together research groups working across molecular and translational biosciences to drive discovery and strengthen the interface between basic and medical research.

Research Scientist/Software Developer in Computational Biology and Gene Regulation (2-year position)

About the position

A 2-year full-time Research Scientist / Software Developer position is available in the Computational Biology & Gene Regulation group led by Anthony Mathelier at the Norwegian Centre for Molecular Biosciences and Medicine (NCMBM), University of Oslo. NCMBM is a Nordic EMBL partner for molecular medicine.

This role combines research-oriented bioinformatics with scientific pipeline and software development. The selected candidate will contribute to analyses of large-scale genomics datasets and support the development and maintenance of open, community resources.

• Centre and group information: NCMBM; Computational Biology & Gene Regulation group
• Open resources developed/maintained by the group include JASPAR and UniBind (see also the group’s software/databases page here

Research environment

The group was established in 2016 and focuses on gene expression regulation and how it becomes disrupted in human disease, with a particular focus on breast cancer. The group develops and applies computational approaches to analyse multi-omics data, with a long-standing commitment to open-source software and open-access resources. Funding includes core support from NCMBM and grants from the Norwegian Cancer Society.

Key responsibilities

The successful candidate will join a multidisciplinary team and will typically:

• Contribute to ongoing research projects, with a specific focus on the analysis of cis-regulatory signatures in breast cancer from Cap Analysis of Gene Expression data
• Develop, deploy, and maintain reproducible bioinformatics pipelines for large-scale genomics dataset
• Participate in the maintenance, development, and upgrade of JASPAR
• Promote software best practices and contribute to open-source releases
• Collaborate with researchers across disciplines and career stages, and share knowledge within the team

Requirements

Essential requirements and skills

• A PhD in computational biology, bioinformatics, statistics, or computer science or a MSc (or equivalent) with at least 3 years of experience in bioinformatics/software development for omics analyses
• Proven ability to implement bioinformatics pipelines, tools, and/or resources
• Broad programming experience (e.g., Python, R, bash)
• Experience with git version control
• Experience working with genomics datasets (ideally CAGE, ChIP-seq, ATAC-seq)
• Strong collaboration skills and willingness to work as part of a team
• Proficiency in English

Advantageous skills

• Experience with workflow managers such as Snakemake or Nextflow
• Experience with MVC/web development frameworks (e.g., Django)
• Experience with relational databases (MySQL/MariaDB)
• Relevant publication record
• Knowledge of eukaryotic gene expression regulation and/or molecular biology

We offer 

• A pleasant and stimulating work environment 
• Good welfare schemes.
• Opportunity of up to 1.5 hours a week of exercise during working hours.
• A workplace with good development and career opportunities. 
• Membership in the Statens Pensjonskasse, which is one of Norway's best pension schemes with beneficial mortgages and good insurance schemes.
• Salary in position as Researcher, position code 1109 in salary range NOK from 595 000 - 750 000, depending on competence and experience. From the salary, 2 percent is deducted in statutory contributions to the State Pension Fund.

Read more about the benefits of working in the public sector at Employer Portal.

Application

Submit the following as a single PDF:

• cover letter outlining motivations, career goals, and relevant achievements
• CV
• Contact details for two to three references

Application with attachments must be submitted via our recruitment system Jobbnorge, click "Apply for the position".

When applying for the position, we ask you to retrieve your education results from Vitnemålsportalen.no. If your education results are not available through Vitnemålsportalen, we ask you to upload copies of your transcripts or grades. Please note that all documentation must be in English.

General information

The best qualified candidates will be invited for interviews.

Applicant lists can be published in accordance with Norwegian Freedom of Information Act § 25. When you apply for a position with us, your name will appear on the public applicant list. It is possible to request to be excluded from this list. You must justify why you want an exemption from publication and we will then decide whether we can grant your request. If we cannot, you will hear from us.

Please refer to Rules for the use of research posts SKO 1108, 1109, 1110 and 1183 at UiO.

The University of Oslo has a transfer agreement with all employees that is intended to secure the rights to all research results etc.

Apply for the position