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Postdoctoral Fellowship - "Intergenerational transmission of personality pathology"

Deadline: 15.08.2022

Universitetet i Oslo

The University of Oslo is Norway’s oldest and highest ranked educational and research institution, with 28 000 students and 7000 employees. With its broad range of academic disciplines and internationally recognised research communities, UiO is an important contributor to society.


The Department of Psychology is one of seven units of the Faculty of Social Sciences, and has 75 permanent and 70 temporary members of scientific staff. Degrees are offered at bachelor and master level, plus a clinical training programme, and the PhD programme has 140 students.

Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Psychology, PROMENTA research Center

Job description

A 3-4 year Postdoctoral fellowship in psychology is available at the Department of Psychology, University of Oslo.

The Postdoctoral fellow will use genetically informative data to investigate how personality pathology and clinical disorders are transmitted within families, and to assess psychosocial outcomes of personality pathology. The project will make use of data from two prior waves of interviews of twins from the 1967-79 cohort, as well as a new data from an extended twin sample, planned to be collected spring 2023.

The position will offer opportunities to develop high-quality research competence, and to work with leading experts in the field. The fellow is expected to develop strong skills in advanced statistical methods and finalize three articles within the project period. Associate Professor Nikolai Czajkowski leads the project in collaboration with researchers at the PROMENTA Research Center.

PROMENTA carries out interdisciplinary research on mental health and well-being in a holistic perspective - from genetics and biology to local communities and policy. We are concerned with examining determinants of good and poor mental health, understanding how social inequalities emerge, and designing and evaluating effective interventions to promote well-being.

We strive to provide our candidates with opportunities to develop high-quality research competence, across disciplines, working alongside leading experts in our fields. While working for us, you will be part of a dynamic and interdisciplinary work environment, with ample opportunities for scientific and social input throughout the academic year.

The PROMENTA Research Center with more than 50 scientific staff is funded by the Research Council of Norway, and hosted by the Department of Psychology, University of Oslo (UiO).

More about the position

The Postdoctoral position is linked to the project “Causes, consequences, and life-course trajectories of personality pathology - a longitudinal extended children-of-twins study” funded by a grant from the Norwegian Research Council. The aim of the project is to study the etiology of personality pathology over a 25 year period from early to middle adulthood, to determine how risk of personality pathology is transmitted within families, and assess long-term outcomes.

The appointment is a fulltime position for a period of three years. A fourth year can be considered with the addition of 25% teaching duties, usually in the form of teaching activities, depending on the competence of the applicant and the needs of the department. The fellowship is planned to begin January 1st 2023.

Postdoctoral fellows who are appointed for a period of four years are expected to acquire basic pedagogical competency in the course of their fellowship period within the duty component of 25%.

For more information about the position and for a detailed project description, please contact Associate Professor. Nikolai Czajkowski (email: n.o.czajkowski@psykologi.uio.no, phone: +47- 22845163).

Qualification requirements

  • A PhD degree or similar in psychology, medicine, other social science disciplines or related fields.
  • Doctoral dissertation must be submitted for evaluation by the closing date. Appointment is dependent on the public defense of the doctoral thesis being approved.
  • Strong skills in quantitative data analysis, and experience with the software platforms R or Python.
  • Excellent English skills, orally and in writing.
  • A strong interest in understanding the etiology of psychopathology.
  • Ambition for high-quality research within the project, as evidenced by the publication list and the required letter of application, explaining the motivation for applying and how own qualifications are suitable for the announced position.
  • Personal suitability, motivation and willingness to collaborate with academics from diverse backgrounds.

Preferred additional qualifications

  • Experience with research on personality, personality disorders, or psychopathology.
  • Familiarity with quantitative genetic designs and analyses, such twin and adoption studies, as well as experience with statistical modelling using the R package OpenMx.
  • Experience with analysing data from Norwegian health and population registries.
  • Research experience or training in analysing longitudinal data.
  • An ability to work independently.

We offer

  • Salary NOK 573 900 - 661 400 per annum depending on qualifications in position as Postdoctoral Research Fellow (position code 1352).
  • A professionally stimulating work environment and collaboration with a newly established research center (PROMENTA) at the Department of Psychology.
  • Opportunities for extensive collaboration with our national and international collaborators.
  • Attractive pension and social welfare benefits.
  • 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, summarizing scientific work and research interest and how own qualifications match the announced position), max. 3 pages.
  • CV (summarizing education, positions, pedagogical experience, administrative experience and other qualifying activity) and a complete list of publications.
  • Copies of educational certificates (academic transcripts only) including a confirmation of submitted thesis.
  • Copies of thesis/publications/academic work that the applicant wishes to be considered by the evaluation committee.
  • Names and contact details of two-three references (name, relation, e-mail, and phone number).

The application with attachments must be delivered in our electronic recruiting system. International 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).

In assessing the applications, special emphasis will be placed on the documented, academic qualifications, the project description (whenever this is required in the call for applicants), and the quality of the project as well as the candidates motivation and personal suitability.

Interviews with the best qualified candidates will be arranged.

It is expected that the successful candidate will be able to complete the project in the course of the period of employment.

Formal regulations

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

No one can be appointed for more than one Postdoctoral Fellow period at the University of Oslo.

This is a project funded by the research council of Norway and applicants with a previous postdoctoral fellowship funded by the research council cannot be appointed for this position.

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.

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.

Contact information

  • Project manager Nikolai Czajkowski, e-mail: n.o.czajkowski@psykologi.uio.no
  • Head of office Joakim Dyrnes, e-mail: joakim.dyrnes@psykologi.uio.no

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