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 Institute of Basic Medical Sciences overall objective is to promote basic medical knowledge in order to understand normal processes, provide insight into mechanisms that cause illness, and promote good health. The Institute is responsible for teaching in basic medical sciences for the programmes of professional study in medicine and the Master's programme in clinical nutrition. The Institute has more than 300 employees and is located in Domus Medica.
Job description
A three-year PhD fellowship in Neuroscience is available in the group of Dr. Matthijs Dorst, with co-supervision by Associate Professor Koen Vervaeke. The lab is located at the Division of Physiology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences (IMB), at the University of Oslo. The position is funded for a period of 3 years and available from the 1st of March, 2026.
The IMB has a strategic ambition of being a leading research institute. Candidates will be selected in accordance with this, and expected to be in the upper segment of their class with respect to academic credentials.
More about the position
The research fellow must take part in the Faculty’s approved PhD program and is expected to complete the project within the set fellowship period. The main purpose of the fellowship is research training leading to the successful completion of a PhD degree.
Description of the project and the job
The position is funded by the National Research Council of Norway to study the role of striatal interneurons in action selection. The basal ganglia play a critical role in decision making. Our aim is to investigate this decision-making process, using a combination of in vivo voltage imaging, behavior, opto- and chemogenetic manipulation, and ex vivo patch-clamp electrophysiology. The candidate will train mice in various decision-making tasks and record the activity of different interneuron populations using voltage imaging. By opto- or chemogenetically altering this activity at the moment an action is selected, the candidate will determine how interneuron activity shapes decision making.
The candidate will perform microsurgeries in mice to gain optical access to the striatum, train mice in behavioral tasks, perform voltage imaging recordings, and analyze data by writing analysis scripts in e.g. Matlab. The candidate is expected to present their research at national and international conferences
Qualification requirements
Applicants must hold a Master’s degree (120 ECTS) or an equivalent qualification in Neuroscience, Computer Science, Math, Physics, or Engineering. A minimum grade B (ECTS grading scale) or equivalent is required. The Master’s degree must include a thesis of at least 30 ECTS.
Fluent oral and written communication skills in English.
Documented programming skills in a relevant language (e.g. Matlab, LabVIEW, Java, C++, IgorPro).
Must be comfortable working with rodents.
Desirable qualifications
Experience with rodent surgery is highly desirable. Competence in handling rodents should be demonstrated through a Felasa- or equivalent animal-handling certificate.
Basic neurophysiology skills, including experience with patch-clamp electrophysiology, in vivo imaging, optogenetics, and animal behavior.
Familiarity with fundamental neuroscience concepts.
Personal skills
Must be able to work well in an international, collaborative environment.
We need different perspectives in our work
UiO is an open and internationally oriented comprehensive university that strives to be an inclusive and diverse workplace and academic environment. You can read more about UiO’s work on equality, inclusion, and diversity at uio.no.
We fulfill our mission most effectively when we draw upon our variety of experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives. We are looking for great colleagues—could you be the next one?
We will do our best to accommodate your needs. Relevant adjustments may include modifications to working hours, task adaptations, digital, technical, or physical adjustments, or other practical measures.
If you have an immigrant background, a disability, or CV gaps (Norwegian), we encourage you to indicate this in the job application portal. We always invite at least one qualified candidate from each group for an interview. In this context, disability is defined as an applicant who identifies as having a disability that requires workplace or employment-related accommodations. For more details about the requirements, please refer to the Employer portal (Norwegian).
The selections made in the job application portal are used for anonymized statistics that all state employers include in their annual reports.More information about gender equality initiatives at UiO can be found here.
We hope you will apply for the position with us.
Why should you choose us?
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.
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 550 800 to 600 000, 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
Your application should include:
Cover letter statement of motivation and research interests.
CV (summarizing education, positions and academic work).
Copies of educational certificates (academic transcripts only).
Documentation of English proficiency.
Contact information for 2-3 references whit name, relation to candidate, e-mail and phone 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.
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 cannot, you will hear from us.
