Job description

One PhD Research Fellowship in blockchain technologies is available at the Department of Informatics at the University of Oslo. The position is in the context of the newly funded project called SmartMed: Secure and accountable sharing of medical records using smart contracts and blockchain.

The fellowship period is up to 4 years, with 3 years devoted to research education. The position entails a compulsory work load of 25% that consists of teaching and supervision duties and research assistance.

There is a potential for the research to be conducted in collaboration with Cornell University, which is one of leading research centers in the world in the area of blockchain.

More about the position

Increasing amounts of health data are recorded in health registries, with the strategic initiatives of data sharing and fusion across different registries in Norway. This forms an excellent opportunity for world-class medical research as few countries have such a high-quality infrastructure. However, it also constitutes a very high privacy risk should a security breach occur.

Publicized incidents of leaked medical records pose a major challenge for the digital trust in eHealth where storing, accessing and exchanging sensitive patient-related data must comply with several regulations, while remaining accessible to authorized health practitioners. Governmental legislations regarding data privacy, such as the EU's GDPR, present an additional source of concern for healthcare registries which are now faced with severe legal and financial consequences in case data confidentiality is breached.

Our principal approach is to facilitate solutions for health registries by using Smart Contracts and the emerging Blockchain Paradigm. From the data safety, authenticity, and nonrepudiation standpoint, blockchain is a perfect fit for sharing medical records since it provides an easily accessible, immutable, and transparent history of all contract-related data, adequate for building applications with trust and accountability.

Use of smart contracts brings a number of additional advantages for sharing medical data by healthcare registries: consent management, fine-grain privacy control, transparency, and reduced bureaucracy and expenses.

SmartMed is proposed in cooperation with the Cancer Registry of Norway (CRN), which will validate technological advances. CRN presently contains health information on over 1,4 million cancer patients. Managing and using the data for medical research in a secure way as to minimize any privacy concerns is paramount. Improving privacy control and transparency will bolster public's trust in the use of CRN data for vital research on preventive medicine.

We are seeking students who are interested in designing, developing, and evaluating techniques related to the above.

Additional information can be found here.

Qualification requirements

The Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences has a strategic ambition of being a leading research faculty. 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.

• applicants must hold a Master’s degree or equivalent in Computer Science
• foreign completed degree (M.Sc.-level) corresponding to a minimum of four years in the Norwegian educational system
• applicants must also be able to demonstrate interest in scientific research.
• the evaluation considers many aspects of excellence, as well as the personal drive and organizational skills.
• the ideal candidate for the position will have strong background in distributed computing.

Grade requirements:

The norm is as follows:

• the average grade point for courses included in the Bachelor’s degree must be C or better in the Norwegian educational system
• the average grade point for courses included in the Master’s degree must be B or better in the Norwegian educational system
• the Master’s thesis must have the grade B or better in the Norwegian educational system
• Fluent oral and written communication skills in English

http://www.mn.uio.no/english/research/phd/application/application.html

The purpose of the fellowship is research training leading to the successful completion of a PhD degree.

The fellowship requires admission to the PhD programme at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences. The application to the PhD programme must be submitted to the department no later than two months after taking up the position. For more information see:

http://www.uio.no/english/research/phd/

http://www.mn.uio.no/english/research/phd/

We offer

• a strong research environment. Our students have won best paper and best demo awards at several conferences. Our alumni are employed by IBM Research, Microsoft, Spotify, and highly reputable academic institutions in Europe.
• the group of Networks and Distributed Systems offers a work environment that is well equipped with the newest hard- and software technology. The research group has tight bonds with Simula Research Laboratory. Furthermore, we have well-established links to national and international research institutions. We conduct collaborative research projects that are funded by Norwegian research funds, and the European Community.
• highly relevant for the prioritized initiatives at the department such as the Strategic Research Initiative for Concurrent Security and Robustness of Networked Systems (Conserns).
• opportunities for research stays with our renowned collaborators worldwide, including Cornell and University of Toronto.
• salary NOK 479 600 – 523 200 per annum depending on qualifications in a position as PhD Research fellow, (position code 1017)
• attractive welfare benefits and a generous pension agreement, in addition to Oslo’s family-friendly environment with its rich opportunities for culture and outdoor activities

How to apply

The application must include

• cover letter statement of motivation and research interests
• CV (summarizing education, positions and academic work - scientific publications)
• copies of educational certificates, transcripts of records and letters of recommendation
• documentation of english proficiency
• list of publications and academic work that the applicant wishes to be considered by the evaluation committee
• list of reference persons: 2-3 references (name, relation to candidate, e-mail and phone number)

The application with attachments must be delivered in our electronic recruiting system, please follow the link “Apply for this job”. Foreign applicants are advised to attach an explanation of their University's grading system. Please note that all documents should be in English (or a Scandinavian language).

Applicants will be called in for an interview.

Formal regulations

Please see the guidelines and regulations for appointments to Research Fellowships at the University of Oslo.

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

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.

The University of Oslo aims to achieve a balanced gender composition in the workforce and to recruit people with ethnic minority backgrounds.

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

Contact information

• Professor Roman Vitenberg, email: romanvi@ifi.uio.no

For technical questions regarding the application system, please contact HR Adviser Torunnn Standal Guttormsen, phone:+47 22854272, email:t.s.guttormsen@mn.uio.no

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