Postdoctoral research fellowship at NORMENT/Centre for Precision Psychiatry

Job description

At NORMENT/Centre for Precision Psychiatry, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, there is a postdoc position available. The Centre runs a series of multidisciplinary studies involving psychiatric hospital departments in Oslo and several research groups at the University of Oslo. The main goal is to develop tools and knowledge for precision medicine in psychiatry, building on advanced statistical methods for analysis of large-scale human genetic data, and better understanding how biological, psychological, and environmental factors contribute to severe mental disorders and their treatment and outcome. The Centre has access to a large database (NORMENT 2050) of pharmacological, clinical, and cognitive variables, genotyping and sequencing data, and MRI brain imaging data on patients with severe mental disorders. In addition, we actively collaborate with large international consortia, particularly Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) and the ENIGMA consortium. The Centre also has access to the data from the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort study (MoBa), the UK Biobank, and the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study.

For more information here.

More about the position

The current position is central to develop the Centre’s analytical methodology and computational tools, including state-of-the-art data storage and research infrastructure, hosted at the USIT TSD service. The main role of the postdoc will be to organize phenotype database of several studies using REDCap, and to integrate existing dataset with ongoing data collection. Additionally, the postdoc will participate in method development of analytical tools and collaborate with clinicians and biologists in applied projects. The postdoc will also be involved in improving and maintaining high performance computing infrastructure, storage, and the database, used by 100+ researchers and collaborators at NORMENT/Centre for Precision Psychiatry

The analytical tools and infrastructure will facilitate the analysis of clinical, biological, genetic and neuroimaging data, as well as organizing access to large external datasets. The position will be integrated with the TSD expertise at USIT and Sigma2, involving coordination tasks between TSD and the research groups at the Centre.

The postdoc will be working closely with the TSD solutions, including telemetry and monitoring tools, big data analytics, and for the custom software and database solutions deployed within TSD projects. The postdoc will participate in trainings and knowledge sharing sessions for TSD users at the Centre

The position is funded for three years and is available from January 01, 2024.

Qualification requirements

• Applicants should have a PhD degree in informatics, computer science, engineering, or equivalent
• A strong command of oral and written English is required
• The applicants should have extensive experience managing large datasets in a research setting, using databases or tools such as REDCap
• Additionally, the applicants are expected to have experience with administration of Linux systems (RHEL, CentOS, or similar), excellent skills in programming and scripting languages (bash/Python) and containers (Docker/Singularity/Podman), and good knowledge of database development (SQL, PostgreSQL) and web development (HTML, CSS).
• The ideal candidate should be also familiar with IT operations, quality control, HPC system administration including SLURM/SGE queuing systems, and research software infrastructure such as R environment and packages)
• Overall background in applied mathematics and statistics will also be an advantage

Personal skills

We seek a motivated candidate with excellent problem-solving and communication skills, technical background, and specific competences in Linux systems and HPC, python/bash scripting, database, and web development.

We offer

• salary NOK 557 100- 624 500 per annum depending on qualifications in position as Postdoctoral Research Fellow (position code 1352)
• a professionally stimulating working environment
• 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 including motivation for applying for the position
• CV (summarizing education, relevant work experience etc.)
• Contact details of 2-3 references

The application with attachments must be delivered in our electronic recruiting system. Foreign applicants are advised to attach an explanation of their University's grading system. Please note that all documents should be in English.

In assessing the applications, special emphasis will be placed on the documented, academic qualifications as well as the candidates motivation and personal suitability. Interviews with the best qualified candidates will be arranged.

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.

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

For more information about the position:

• Professor Ole Andreassen, phone +47 99038893, o.a.andreassen@medisin.uio.no,
• Database manager Thomas Bjella, phone +47 98657965, t.d.bjella@medisin.uio.no

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