About the position

A position as Researcher in Natural Language Processing (NLP) is available in the Language Technology Group (LTG) within the Section for Machine Learning at the Department of Informatics.

The appointment is for a fulltime position and for a period of 2.5 years (30 months). Starting date no later than 01.01.2026.

Job description

The position forms part of a cross-disciplinary research project focusing on generative approaches to event extraction within the socio-political domain.

We seek a highly motivated researcher with a strong track record in NLP. The ideal candidate should be able to demonstrate broad knowledge of deep neural architectures as applied to core NLP tasks. The position presupposes a PhD degree or equivalent in Natural Language Processing, or in Computer Science with a clearly NLP-based thesis.

LTG is an international and diverse group, where current prominent research activities include event extraction, sentiment analysis, and training and benchmarking of language models. The research profile of the group is heavily machine-learning oriented and the group has access to excellent HPC infrastructure.

For more information about the Language Technology Group (LTG) at IFI, please see here.

What skills are important in this role?

The Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences has a strategic ambition to be among Europe's leading communities for research, education and innovation. Candidates for these fellowships will be selected in accordance with this, and expected to be in the upper segment of their class with respect to academic credentials.

Qualification requirements:

• The candidate must have a PhD degree (or other corresponding education equivalent to a Norwegian doctoral degree) in Natural Language Processing, or in Computer Science with a clearly NLP-based dissertation
• The doctoral dissertation must have been submitted for evaluation by the closing date. Only applicants with an approved doctoral thesis and public de-fense are eligible for appointment
• Candidates must be fluent in English
• The successful candidate must have a strong research output in the field, with publications in top-tier NLP venues
• The candidate must be able to demonstrate broad knowledge of core NLP tasks
• The candidate must have comprehensive knowledge of contemporary neural machine learning techniques and architectures in NLP, both in terms of theoretical understanding and practical experience, including fine-tuning of Large Language Models (LLMs)
• Strong programming skills and implementation experience are required

Desired qualifications:

• Experience with high-performance computing (HPC) environments is a plus
• Previous modeling experience for relevant tasks (e.g. event extraction or other structured information extraction tasks) will be an advantage, although not a requirement

All candidates and projects will have to undergo a check versus national export, sanctions and security regulations. Candidates may be excluded based on these checks. Primary checkpoints are the Export Control regulation, the Sanctions regulation, and the national security regulation.

What are we looking for in you?

Personal skills:

• We seek candidates that are highly motivated, open-minded, and scientifically curious
• Candidates should have the ability to work independently, as well as in a team environment
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities are important
• Candidates should have strong written and verbal communication skills

Employment in the position is based on a comprehensive assessment of all qualification requirements applicable to the position, including personal skills.

We can offer you

• Exciting and meaningful tasks in an organization with an important societal mission, contributing to knowledge development, education, and enlightenment that promote sustainable, fair, and knowledge-based societal development.
• Committed colleagues in a good working 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 600 000 - to 725 000, depending on competence and experience. From the salary, 2 percent is deducted in statutory contributions to the State Pension Fund

Inclusive work life and diversity at UiO

Inclusion and diversity are a strength. The University of Oslo has a personnel policy objective of achieving a balanced gender composition. Furthermore, we want employees with diverse professional expertise, life experience and perspectives.

If there are qualified applicants with disabilities, employment gaps or immigrant background, we will invite at least one applicant from each of these categories to an interview.

We hope that you will apply for the position.

More information about gender equality initiatives at UiO can be found here.

How to apply

The application must include:

• Cover letter (statement of motivation, summarizing scientific work and research interest)
• CV (summarizing education, positions, pedagogical experience, administrative experience and other qualifying activity)
• Copies of educational certificates, academic transcript of records
• Letters of recommendation
• A complete list of publications and up to 5 academic works that the applicant wishes to be considered by the evaluation committee
• Names and contact details of 2-3 references (name, relation to candidate, e-mail and telephone number)

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 or a Scandinavian language.

Formal regulations

The best qualified candidates will be invited for interviews.

According to the Norwegian Freedom and 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.

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

The University of Oslo has an agreement for all employees, aiming to secure rights to research results a.o.

Apply for the position

Questions about the position

• Erik Velldal (Professor), erikv@ifi.uio.no
• Lilja Øvrelid (Professor), liljao@ifi.uio.no
• For questions regardin Jobbnorge, contact Therese Ringvold - HR Adviser at the Faculty, therese.ringvold@mn.uio.no