About the position 

At the Centre for Precision Psychiatry, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, there is a doctoral research fellowship position available. The Centre runs a series of multidisciplinary studies involving hospital departments in Oslo and several research groups at the University of Oslo. The main goal is to develop tools and knowledge for precision medicine in psychiatry, building on advanced statistical methods for analysis of large-scale human genetic and neuroimaging data, to better understand how biological, psychological, and environmental factors contribute to severe mental and neuropsychiatric disorders, their treatment, and outcomes. 

The Centre has access to a large database of biomarkers, clinical, and cognitive variables, genotyping and sequencing data, and MRI brain imaging data on patients with neuropsychiatric and severe mental disorders. In addition, we actively collaborate with large international consortia, particularly the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC), the ENIGMA consortium, and the European Alzheimer's Disease DNA BioBank (EADB). The Centre also has access to the data from a broad range of national and international studies, including the Norwegian population cohorts (e.g., MoBa), the UK Biobank, and the ABCD and ADNI studies. 

For more information: Precision psychiatry

Project description

The current position is part of the ResiliDem project which aims to identify resilience factors contributing to Alzheimer's Disease and related dementia, by integrating genetic variants with environmental and lifestyle factors to elucidate their roles in the development of these diseases. 

To achieve this goal, the researcher hired for this PhD position will work with the Centre’s datasets, analytical methodology, and computational tools, including state-of-the-art data storage and research infrastructure, hosted at the university’s IT department through the Services for sensitive data (TSD) 

You will work with 

The PhD fellow will work with large scale analytical tools to identify genetic variants of dementia and potential overlap with other disorders and diseases, as well as interplay with lifestyle and environmental factors. 

The candidate is expected to develop a research proposal within the scope of this project for a PhD research program, and to participate in literature searching, data analysis and interpretation and to write up research articles to be published in peer-reviewed academic journals. The candidate is also expected to work efficiently both independently and as part of a team under supervision of the group leader, and to take an active part in the daily activities at the Center, depending on interests and qualifications.

The purpose of the fellowship is research training leading to the successful completion of a PhD degree. The research fellow must fulfill the requirements of and take part in the approved PhD program at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Oslo and is expected to complete the project within the set fellowship period. The applicant must, in collaboration with her/his supervisor, within three months after employment, work out a complete project description to be attached to the application for admission to the doctoral program. For more information, please see our website Doctoral degree: PhD in medicine and health sciences - Faculty of Medicine. 

Selection criteria 

Qualification requirements

• A master’s degree in a relevant discipline (e.g., statistics, mathematics, informatics, genetics, medicine, psychology, or an equivalent field).
• Strong expertise in statistical genetics, bioinformatics, or computational biology.
• Proficiency in programming and scripting languages (e.g., Python, R, Matlab).
• Experience with data processing, large-scale genomic and neuroimaging data, and statistical analysis, including relevant software.
• Good written and oral proficiency in English.

It is an advantage if you have 

• Experience in relevant research projects, particularly focused on dementia or population studies.
• Proficiency in relevant computational tools and statistical methods.
• Experience with machine learning in large datasets.
• Interest and motivation to work in a multidisciplinary team.
• Ability to work independently and in a structured manner, while also being capable of effective collaboration with others.

Personal skills 

We are looking for a motivated candidate with excellent problem-solving and communication skills, ability to work in multidisciplinary teams, who is highly motivated for frontline research.

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

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 Doctoral Research Fellow, position code 1017 in salary range NOK from 540 500 to 594 500, depending on competence and experience. From the salary, 2 percent is deducted in statutory contributions to the State Pension Fund.

The position is funded for three years and is available as soon as possible.

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

Inclusive worklife 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.

Application

Your application should include:

• Application letter including motivation for applying for the position.
• CV.
• A complete list of publications.
• Project description.
• Transcripts and certificates.
• Contact information for 2-3 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 or a Scandinavian language.

General information

The best qualified candidates will 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 can't, you will hear from us.

Please refer to Regulations for the Act on universities and colleges chapter 3 (Norwegian), Guidelines concerning appointment to post doctoral and research posts at UiO (Norwegian) and Regulations for the degree of Philosophiae Doctor (PhD) at the University of Oslo.

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

Questions about the position

• Shahram Bahrami (Researcher), +47 41187403, shahram.bahrami@medisin.uio.no
• Ole Andreassen (Professor), +47 99038893, o.a.andreassen@medisin.uio.no
• Aina Sandvik (HR-adviser), a.k.sandvik@medisin.uio.no