The position

A position as Postdoctoral Fellow is available at the Department of Psychology with the research group of cognitive neuroscience.

This Postdoctoral position is a fixed term position of a duration of three years. Appointment to the position of Postdoctoral Research Fellow is mainly intended to provide qualification for work in top academic positions.

UiT The Arctic University of Norway

The Faculty of Health Sciences at UiT The Arctic University of Norway represents a newly created entity gathering almost all possible health study programs. This facilitates an unique interdisciplinarity and innovation in health education and research.

We work closely with the services in the North to solve tomorrow's challenges.

Read more about us at uit.no/helsefak

It is a prerequisite that the applicant be able to carry out the project over the full course of the employment period. No person may hold more than one fixed-term position as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the same institution.

The project’s field of research

The Department of Psychology at UiT has nearly 100 employees in total. The department is organized in ten research groups, covering all major fields of psychology. The Research Group of Cognitive Neuroscience consists of ten members (6 in permanent positions and 4 PhD candidates), and focuses on the neural mechanisms underlying cognitive functioning.

While a basic-science approach is the basis of our work, we are also interested in the translation of basic findings into clinical applications (e.g., Alzheimer’s disease, depression, ADHD). Our lab applies different neuroimaging and psychophysiological methods, among others, EEG, fMRI, tDCS, TMS, eye-movement recordings, startle-reflex and skin conductance measures.

The research group is involved in projects across a large range of topics, such as the neural basis of mind wandering, value-based decision-making, pain perception, placebo effects and fear conditioning.

Responsibilities

The post-doc will work in the project “Influencing mind-wandering/attentional control with non-invasive brain stimulation", which has the goal to study the behavioural and neural effects of non-invasive brain stimulation protocols (repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation, rTMS, and transcranial direct current stimulation, tDCS) to reduce the frequency of mind-wandering episodes and improve cognitive performance in humans. We plan to delineate the neural characteristics of spontaneous attentional lapses, and target brain networks underlying poor executive control using our novel experimental setup in healthy individuals and adults with symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

The candidate will be required to contribute to study preparation, participant recruitment, data collection and analysis (behavioural measures from clinical/neuropsychological tests and cognitive tasks, structural and functional MRI, delivering brain stimulation with tDCS and rTMS) and preparation of manuscripts. Because the project encompasses both experimental and clinical aspects, candidates from a wide variety of different backgrounds can be relevant for the position. This includes, but is not limited to, experimental psychologists, clinical psychologists or cognitive neuroscientists.

Place of work is Tromsø.

Contact

For further information about the position and UiT contact:

Associate professor Gábor Csifcsák

• phone: +47 91534675
• email: gabor.csifcsak@uit.no (academic questions)

Head of department Ingunn Skre

• phone: +47 7764 5446,
• email: ingunn.skre@uit.no (general and academic questions)

Head of office Trine Krane

• phone: +47 7764 5949
• email: trine.d.krane@uit.no (practical and administrative questions)

Qualifications

To be awarded the position of Postdoctoral Research Fellow, a Norwegian doctorate degree is required, or a corresponding international doctorate degree which is recognised as being equal to the Norwegian doctorate degree.

If you’re at the final stages of your PhD, you are also qualified to apply. Qualification as PhD is required before commencement in the position. You should have defended your dissertation before the preferred start-up date of the position. If you are in the process of completing your PhD, you must document that you have submitted your PhD thesis by the application deadline and attach a statement from your supervisor concerning termination of your PhD studies.

We seek candidates who have a strong academic record and enthusiasm in conducting research involving psychiatric patients, neuroimagingand non-invasive brain stimulation.

Experience with structural/functional MRI data and/or with non-invasive brain stimulation techniques such as any form of transcranial electricalstimulation (tDCS/tACS/tRNS) or transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS/TBS) will count in favour of the candidate. Previous clinical/experimental work involving patients with psychiatric/neurological conditions is an advantage. Good skills in programming (Matlab,Python or R) and statistical analysis are also desirable.

Applicants must be fluent in English in both spoken and written form, whereas good skills in Norwegian is favourable. If the applicant is not fluent in Norwegian or another Scandinavian language at the time of application, (s)he must be willing to learn Norwegian within two years ofemployment.

During the assessment, importance shall be attached to personal suitability, motivation for the position and potential for research. Good communication skills, resourcefulness, flexibility and willingness to collaborate with members of the research team are required for this position.

At UiT we put emphasis on the quality, relevance and significance of the research work and not on where the work is published, in accordance with the principles of The San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA).

Application

Your application must include:

• Cover letter including a short description of interests and reasons for applying for the position
• CV containing a complete overview of education, experience, professional work and contact details of 3 reference persons
• Diplomas and transcripts from Bachelor’s, Master’s and PhD degrees
• list of academic works
• Up to 10 academic works. The doctoral thesis is here counted as one work.
• Description of the attached works, and a short description of other works to show breadth of output.
• Documentation of the level of language proficiency in English and in Norwegian

Documentation has to be in English or a Scandinavian language. We only accept applications through Jobbnorge.

Assessment

The applicants will be assessed by an expert committee. The committee’s mandate is to undertake an assessment of the applicants’ qualifications based on the application documents and the text of the announcement.

The applicants who are assessed as best qualified will be called to an interview. The interview shall, among other things, aim to clarify the applicant’s personal suitability for the position and motivations.

UiT is seeking to increase the proportion of women in its academic positions. If two or more applicants are found to be generally equally qualified, the university will prioritise a female over a male candidate.

We offer

• Working in an innovative, well-equipped and scientifically stimulating environment with dedicated colleagues
• An excellent national and international network including leading groups in the area of non-invasive brain stimulation
• Good career opportunities
• A large degree of independence in work
• Flexible working hours and a state collective pay agreement
• Pension scheme through the state pension fund

Working and payment conditions

Working hours will be set aside for research, research-related activities and research administration.

The successful candidate must also be willing to get involved in the ongoing development of their department and the university as a whole. A detailed development plan will be prepared within three months after the appointment contract is signed.

The appointment is for a period of 3 years. The remuneration for this position is in accordance with the State salary scale code 1352. A compulsory contribution of 2% to the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund will be deducted.

General information

The appointment is made in accordance with State regulations and guidelines at UiT. At our website, you will find more information for applicants.

More practical information for working and living in Norway can be found here: Welcome to UiT!

The objective of the appointment as a Postdoctoral Fellow is to qualify for work in senior academic positions, and no one may be appointed to more than one fixed term period at the same institution.

UiT’s HR policy objectives emphasises diversity, and encourages all qualified applicants to apply regardless of gender, functional ability and national or ethnic background. UiT is an will make the necessary adaptations in order to facilitate for employees with reduced functional ability.

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.

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