About the position

A position as Postdoctoral Research Fellow is available at the Department of Pharmacy at Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences.

The fellowship will be for a period of 2 years. Starting date as soon as possible.

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

Job/ project description

The position is part of the PharmacoEpidemiology and Drug Safety Research Group at the Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Oslo. The research group includes 3 full time researchers, 4 adjunct positions and over 10 PhD-students and postdoc’s making up a group of more than 20 individuals. The PharmaSafe Research group at UiO is internationally recognized, with interests spanning a broad range of areas including pharmacoepidemiology, medication safety and clinical pharmacy, with special focus on complex patient groups. The research group is multidisciplinary and has expertise within pharmacoepidemiology, biostatistics, genetics, psychiatry, pharmacotherapy and clinical pharmacy.

The postdoc candidate will be working within perinatal pharmacoepidemiology aiming to improve the knowledge about safety of medication in pregnancy. Relevant medications groups include medications against multiple sclerosis, migraine, antidepressants, gabapentinoids and COVID-19 vaccines. The epidemiological data consists of data from various secondary data sources such as prescription data, patient registries and medical birth registries from Norway and several other Nordic and European countries. Several state-of-the art study designs and advanced statistical and causal inference methods will be employed to enhance our ability to assess causation from observational data. Triangulation of methods that address different bias and confounding structures will help inference.

The postdoc candidate will be working within the IMI ConcePTION project, a collaborative European research project aimed at generating and disseminating evidence on the effects of medicines used in pregnancy and during lactation. Moreover, candidate will be involved in several ongoing COVID-19 projects. Read more about our COVID-19 projects here: PharmaSafe COVID-19 projects - Department of Pharmacy (uio.no)

The PharmaSafe research group

The main purpose of a postdoctoral fellowship is to provide the candidates with enhanced skills to pursue a scientific top position within or beyond academia. To promote a strategic career path, all postdoctoral research fellows are required to submit a professional development plan no later than one month after commencement of the postdoctoral period.

Qualification requirements

The Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences has a strategic ambition to be among Europe’s leading communities for research, education and innovation. 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.

Required qualifications:

• Applicants must hold a degree equivalent to a Norwegian doctoral degree in epidemiology, biostatistics or closely related field. Doctoral dissertation must be submitted for evaluation by the closing date. Only applicants with an approved doctoral thesis and public defense are eligible for appointment.
• Strong competence in modern epidemiological methods and biostatistics.
• Research experience within (pharmaco-)epidemiology and analysis of large-scale data sets, preferentially from the Nordic countries
• Good computational and coding skills (e.g. STATA or R).
• Fluent oral and written communication skills in English.

The following qualifications will count in the assessment of the applicants:

• Experience with causal inference methods
• Experience from perinatal pharmacoepidemiology
• High motivation for a research career, documented primarily via original publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals.

The position requires presence at work at the campus University of Oslo.

Personal skills

• Ability to work independently as well as in multidisciplinary teams
• Ability to give and receive constructive scientific criticism
• Resourceful, structured, and results-oriented

We offer

• Salary NOK 544 400 – 648 700 per year, depending on qualifications in position as Research Fellowship (position code 1352)
• A professionally stimulating working environment
• Postdoctoral development programmes
• Vibrant international academic environment
• Attractive 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, summarizing scientific work and research interest)
• CV (summarizing education, positions, pedagogical experience, administrative experience and other qualifying activity)
• Copies of educational certificates, academic transcript of records and letters of recommendation
• A complete list of publications and up to 5 academic works that the applicant wishes to be considered by the evaluation committee
• 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. 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).

In assessing the applications, special emphasis will be placed on the documented, academic qualifications, as well as the candidate’s motivation and personal suitability. 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.

If an applicant has applied for and been granted funding for a research stay abroad while being employed as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow, the employment will prolonged with the equivalent time as the research stay, but for no longer than of twelve months( thus extending the employment to a maximum of four years).

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. 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

For further information please contact:

• Professor Hedvig Nordeng, phone: +47 22856604, e-mail: [email protected]

For questions regarding the recruitment system please contact HR Adviser Torunn Standal Guttormsen, , e-mail: [email protected]

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