About the position

Position as Postdoctoral Research Fellow available in Machine Learning is available in the Department of Informatics and the Norwegian Centre of Excellence Integreat. 

Starting date as soon as possible and upon individual agreement.

The appointment is a fulltime position and is for a period of three years (10% of which is devoted to other career promoting work, usually in the form of teaching activities). 

An extension of the appointment by up to twelve months may be considered, which will be devoted to career-enhancing compulsory work duties, e.g. teaching. This will be dependent on the qualifications of the applicant and the specific teaching needs of the department.

No one can be appointed for more than one Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at the University of Oslo.

Project description

This PDF position is focused on ML in realistic settings referring to statistical and system characteristics in the real world contrary to an ideal learning setting. The candidate will contribute to understanding how neural networks extract the most relevant information of the data to make a prediction using advanced mathematical tools. This insight opens the door for enjoying the real world. The candidate further develops efficient and robust algorithms for realistic settings in terms of data and computing resources and collaborates to address major challenges in important applications including marine domain and neuroscience. The candidate is expected to assist in supervising students at both master's and PhD levels.

This project is funded by a prestigious FRIPRO Grant for Early Career Scientists and is built on our ongoing Integreat project “Embedded Sufficient Statistics”.

This position is placed at Integreat - Norwegian Centre for Knowledge-driven Machine Learning is a Centre of Excellence, funded by the Research Council of Norway. Researchers at Integreat develop theories, methods, models, and algorithms that integrate general and domain-specific knowledge with data. By combining the mathematical and computational cultures, and the methodologies of statistics, logic and machine learning in unique ways, Integreat's machine learning will solve fundamental problems in science, technology, health and society, and contribute to make Norway a world leading country in AI.

As an Integreat PDF, you will join a vibrant community of scientists, from young talents to established researchers, across machine learning, statistics, logic, language technology, and ethics. 

You will be also part of the Digital Signal Processing and Image Analysis (DSB) group in the Department of Informatics at UiO.

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:

• Applicants must hold a degree equivalent to a Norwegian doctoral degree in computer science, statistics, mathematics, data science, or related fields. Doctoral dissertation must be submitted for evaluation by the closing date. Only applicants with an approved doctoral thesis and public defence are eligible for appointment.
• Solid background in machine learning and scientific profile relevant to the project described above. 
• Proficiency in scientific programming (Python) and deep learning frameworks. 
• Fluent oral and written communication skills in English.

Desired qualifications:

• Expertise in broader topics in computer science, information theory, statistics, or mathematics.
• Publications in top conferences/journals.
• Experience in teaching and student supervision.

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:

• Good communication and collaboration skills
• Being highly motivated, open-minded, creative, and curious
• Ability to work both independently and as part of a team
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills 
• Ability to work precise in a structured manner and swiftly adapts to new tasks
• Positive attitude and the ability to handle hectic periods

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.
• Postdoctoral development programmes.
• 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 Postdoctoral Fellow, position code 1352 in salary range NOK 595 000 - 690 000, 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
• A complete list of publications and up to “two” highlighted papers 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.

General information

The best qualified candidates will invited for interviews.

Please see the guidelines and regulations for appointments to Postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Oslo.

If an applicant has applied for and been granted funding for a fulltime research stay abroad while being employed as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow, the employment will be prolonged with the equivalent time as the research stay, but for no longer than of twelve months ( thus extending the employment to a maximum of four years)

No one can be appointed twice as a Postdoctoral fellow financed with funds from The Research Council of Norway (NFR).

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.

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

For further information please contact:

Ali Ramezani-Kebrya (Associate Professor), ali@uio.no

For further information please contact:

• Arnoldo Frigessi (Integreat Centre Director), frigessi@uio.no

For questions regarding Jobbnorge, please contact:

• Therese Ringvold (HR Adviser), therese.ringvold@mn.uio.no