Job description

A three-year full-time PhD Research Fellow (position code 1017) in Systems Experimental Immunology is available at the Department of Immunology, Institute of Clinical Medicine, The Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo (UiO).

More about the position

The position is available from August 2021 with a flexible start between August and Dec 2021. The position will be located in the laboratory of Dr. Greiff (Lab for Computational and Systems Immunology). The announced position is funded by a grant (by the Research Council of Norway), which aims to investigate and develop novel methods for antibody design.

The candidate will develop and employ a variety of experimental and computational approaches to quantitatively characterize antibody repertoires in health and disease on the genomic and proteomic level, on the bulk and single-cell level. The candidate will be expected to closely collaborate with machine learning experts, statisticians, computational and experimental immunologists as well as clinicians.

The Greiff Lab focuses on the quantitative understanding of adaptive immune receptor (antibody and T-cell receptor) specificity using high-throughput experimental and computational immunology combined with machine learning. The long-term aim is to conceive in-silico novel immunodiagnostics and immunotherapeutics using the disease-diagnostic information and therapeutic potential that is directly encoded into adaptive immune receptors.

The advent of high-throughput sequencing has enabled an unprecedented accumulation of big immune repertoire sequencing data. However, as of yet, we lack the experimental and computational methods that help us decode the immune grammar that translates immune sequencing data to the prediction of antibody-antigen binding. We believe that learning to read and write the immune repertoire language is key for the development of entirely novel, nature-inspired precision medicine immunodiagnostics and immunotherapeutics. Recent publications by Dr. Greiff may be found on google scholar or on www.greifflab.org.

Dr. Greiff will be the main supervisor for the successful candidate.

The research fellow must take part in the Faculty’s approved Ph.D. program and is expected to complete the project and to follow the Ph.D. program at the Medical faculty in order to obtain a Ph.D. The main purpose of the fellowship is research training leading to the successful completion of a Ph.D. degree.

The applicant must, in collaboration with her/his supervisor, within 3 months after employment, have worked out a complete project description to be attached to the application for admission to the doctoral program. For more information, please see our website.

Qualification requirements

• Applicants must hold a Master’s degree in systems biology, biotechnology or a related field. Prior knowledge of immunology and specifically adaptive immunity is a requirement.
• Experience in experimental and computational immune receptor sequencing is a requirement.
• Experience in antibody proteomics is an advantage.
• The candidate should be motivated to advance both experimental and computational methods development.
• The candidate will work in a very ambitious interdisciplinary setting which will require high flexibility.
• Fluent oral and written communication skills in English.

The Faculty of Medicine 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.

We offer

• salary NOK 482 200 to NOK 526 000 per annum depending on qualifications in a position as PhD Research fellow, (position code 1017 ).
• An exciting research environment with opportunities for academic development.
• 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:

● Application letter describing the applicant’s qualifications and motivation for the position

● CV (summarizing education, positions, and academic work - scientific publications)

● Masters thesis

● Copies of educational certificates and transcript of records

● List of publications and academic work that the applicant wishes to be considered by the evaluation committee

● Letters of recommendation or names and contact details of 2–3 references (name, relation to candidate, e-mail, and telephone number)

The application with attachments must be delivered in our electronic recruiting system, please follow the links “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, who are invited for an interview, are asked to provide educational certificates, diploma or transcript of records.

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 of 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 appointment may be shortened/given a more limited scope within the framework of the applicable guidelines on account of any previous employment in academic positions.

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

Inclusion and diversity are a strength. The University of Oslo has a personnel policy objective of achieving a balanced gender composition. We also want to have employees with diverse expertise, combinations of subjects, life experience and perspectives. We will make adjustments for employees who require this.

If there are qualified applicants with special needs, gaps in their CVs or immigrant backgrounds, we will invite at least one applicant in each of these groups to an interview.

Contact information

● Associate Professor Victor Greiff, e-mail: victor.greiff@medisin.uio.no

● HR-adviser Karoline Berg-Eriksen, (questions regarding the online application form), e-mail: Karoline.berg-eriksen@medisin.uio.no

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