Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Cognitive Neuroscience
Deadline: 04.03.2026
Publisert
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.
About the position
A 3-year postdoctoral fellowship in cognitive neuroscience is available at the Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, in the research Group for Cognitive Neurophysiology (PI: Jørgen Sugar). The position is part of the ERC Starting Grant “Total Recall” which received funding from the Norwegian Research Council.
The main purpose of postdoctoral research fellowship is to qualify researchers for work in top academic positions within their disciplines.
About our research and the project
We study memory processes and how memory dysfunction arises in disease. This project aims to advance our understanding of neural codes for time and their relation to memory deficits in patients.
The project combines intracranial electrophysiological recordings in humans with behavioral experiments and has three primary objectives:
Establish single‑neuron tetrode recordings in humans.
Investigate how time and sequence are represented in the human brain and how these representations support episodic memory.
Identify neural activity patterns that underlie physiological and pathological forgetting in patients
The successful candidate will join a cross‑disciplinary team of physiologists, clinicians, and informaticians. The core group currently includes an engineer and MSc and PhD students. Applicants should note related openings associated with this project: PhD fellowships in Informatics (PI: Adín Ramírez Rivera) and in the Group for Cognitive Neuroscience (PI: Jørgen Sugar). In addition, there will be two positions announced in summer 2027. The successful candidate is expected to actively collaborate with and contribute to the broader project team and contribute with training and supervision of ongoing tasks.
The successful candidate will have access to a well-equipped laboratory and the Universities’ core infrastructures, including high-performance computing. In addition, we have productive collaborations with the Norwegian Epilepsy Association, the Neurosurgical Department at Oslo University Hospital, as well as the Department of Informatics and Institute of Psychology at the University of Oslo and UCSD (PI: Bradley Voytek). The research fellow will also be part of the wider neuroscience community at the University of Oslo that spans molecular, cellular, and systems-level approaches.
Starting date not earlier than 1 July 2026.
Qualification requirements
A PhD degree within neuroscience, psychology, medicine, machine learning or biology or equivalent. Doctoral dissertation must be submitted for evaluation by the closing date. Appointment is dependent on the public defense of the doctoral thesis being approved.
Experience with analysis of time-series of neural data
Proficiency in programming custom analysis pipelines (e.g. Python, MatLab or similar)
Excellent written and oral communication skills in English.
In addition, documented experience in one or more of the following is advantageous:
Designing and running cognitive experiments in humans
Intracranial measurements of single neuron activity and/or local field potentials
Experience with analysis of time-series of electrophysiological data
Deep learning frameworks (e.g. PyTorch, TensorFlow)
Personal skills
Enthusiasm and motivation for experimental work
Curiosity and perseverance and problem-solving abilities
Ability to work independently and collaboratively within interdisciplinary teams
Good organization skills and ability to train and supervise
Strong communication skills to scientific colleagues, clinical staff and patients.
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.
We offer
A pleasant and stimulating work environment.
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.
Access to the Postdoctoral program for career development at the Medical Faculty.
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 Postdoctoral Research Fellow, position code 1352 in salary range NOK from 595 000 to 650 000, 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
A brief account (maximum one page, as a separate file) of the applicant's research interests and motivation for applying for the position.
CV summarizing education, positions and relevant work experience
List of academic publications (please do NOT append the publications)
Copies of educational certificates and transcript records. Foreign applicants must attach an explanation of the grading system in their university.
List of 2-3 references stating relation to the candidate, with contact information
Application material should be in English
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 should be in English.
General information
Short listed applicants will be contacted for an on-site or online interview, including a research seminar.
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.
