Postdoctoral Research Fellow position in AI driven protein design and experimental validation
Deadline: 10.03.2026
Publisert
The University of Oslo is Norway’s oldest and highest rated institution of research and education with 26 500 students and 7 200 employees. Its broad range of academic disciplines and internationally esteemed research communities make UiO an important contributor to society.
Department of Biosciences (IBV) is one of nine departments at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences. Research in the department is organised in five sections covering topics within biochemistry, molecular biology, physiology, cell biology, genetics, aquatic biology, toxicology, ecology, and evolutionary biology.
The Department also operates Finse research station, the Biological research station in Drøbak and UiO's research vessel. Education across these topics is offered for around 300 bachelor, 170 master, and 75 PhD students. With 48 permanent professors/associate professors, post-docs, researchers, technical, and administrative personnel, the Department has a total staff of 260 from more than 30 different countries. The Department aims to maintain high international standards within both research and teaching. The new bachelor program in bioscience is the first of its kind to include programming and computational modelling as core elements.
About the position
We invite applications for a Postdoctoral Research Fellow position in AI driven protein design and experimental validation available at the Department of Biosciences.
Starting date no later than 20.04.2026.
The appointment is a full-time position and is for a period of three years (10% of which is devoted to other career-promoting work, usually in the form of teaching activities).
No one can be appointed for more than one Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at the University of Oslo.
Place of work is Department of Biosciences at Blindern, Oslo.
Project description
The project will be at the Center for integrative neuroplasticity (CINPLA), an interdisciplinary research group spanning neuroscience, physics and computational science. CINPLA addresses fundamental questions related to learning and neural network dynamics in the healthy and diseased brain and in artificial intelligence systems. This project is focusing on developing novel gene therapy treatment strategies for brain diseases. Gene therapy offers novel opportunities to cure currently un-treatable diseases. However, inefficient gene delivery to the brain and reliable methods to design and modify potential therapeutic proteins represent fundamental hurdles to progress. There is a need for novel AI-driven methods for capsid- and protein design and in silico validation intimately connected to experimental validation. In this project, you will develop machine learning methods and apply them in an interdisciplinary environment spanning physics, neuroscience and computational science. You will be expected to participate in both computational and experimental activities.
This postdoctoral research project will focus on reinforcement learning methods for generating complex structures for generation of virus capsids and therapeutic proteins for gene therapy. The project will involve both physics-based forward modeling of protein structures and reinforcement learning methods for optimizing the structures. The outcome from the models will be tested in experimental setups requiring deep understanding of protein chemistry and molecular biology.
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.
These activities raise dual-use perspectives in the methods developed and potential misuse. The project will therefore be developed in collaboration with the Norwegian Defense Research Establishment (FFI).
What skills are important in this role?
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 physics, molecular biology or biochemistry. Doctoral dissertation must be submitted for evaluation by the closing date. Only applicants with an approved doctoral thesis and public defence are eligible for appointment
Documented track record on developing and applying approaches to study and evaluate protein function in cellular systems.
Fluent oral and written communication skills in English
Relevant experience in molecular cell biology and protein biochemistry
It is a requirement for the position that the candidate is granted a national security clearance, level H
Desired qualifications:
Experience in working in an interdisciplinary working environment
Experience from project leadership and teamwork
Published research in pee-reviewed journals
All candidates and projects will have to undergo a check versus national export, sanctions and security regulations. Candidates may be excluded based on these checks. Primary checkpoints are the Export Control regulation, the Sanctions regulation, and the national security regulation.
What are we looking for in you?
We are seeking a highly motivated, enthusiastic and hard-working candidate with the ambition to gain new insights and publish papers in leading, international journals. Applicants must show good interpersonal skills and be willing to work in close collaboration with the project PIs and other members of the project team, as well as have the ability to work independently.
Employment in the position is based on a comprehensive assessment of all qualification requirements applicable to the position, including personal skills.
We can offer you
Exciting and meaningful tasks in an organization with an important societal mission, contributing to knowledge development, education, and enlightenment that promote sustainable, fair, and knowledge-based societal development
Committed colleagues in a good working environment
Membership in the Statens Pensjonskasse, which is one of Norway's best pension schemes with beneficial mortgages and good insurance schemes
Salary in position as Postdoctoral Fellow, position code 1352 in salary range NOK 595 000 - 690 000, depending on competence and experience. From the salary, 2 percent is deducted in statutory contributions to the State Pension Fund
We need different perspectives in our work
UiO is an open and internationally oriented comprehensive university that strives to be an inclusive and diverse workplace and academic environment. You can read more about UiO’s work on equality, inclusion, and diversity at uio.no.
We fulfill our mission most effectively when we draw upon our variety of experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives. We are looking for great colleagues, could you be the next one?
We will do our best to accommodate your needs. Relevant adjustments may include modifications to working hours, task adaptations, digital, technical, or physical adjustments, or other practical measures.
If you have an immigrant background, a disability, or CV gaps (Norwegian), we encourage you to indicate this in the job application portal. We always invite at least one qualified candidate from each group for an interview. In this context, disability is defined as an applicant who identifies as having a disability that requires workplace or employment-related accommodations. For more details about the requirements, please refer to the Employer portal (Norwegian).
The selections made in the job application portal are used for anonymized statistics that all state employers include in their annual reports. More information about gender equality initiatives at UiO can be found here. We hope you will apply for the position with us.
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
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)
Application with attachments must be submitted via our recruitment system Jobbnorge, click "Apply for this job".
When applying for the position, we ask you to retrieve your education results from Vitnemålsportalen.no. If your education results are not available through Vitnemålsportalen, we ask you to upload copies of your transcripts or grades. Please note that all documentation must be in English or a Scandinavian language.
General information
The best qualified candidates will be invited for interviews.
Please see the guidelines and regulations for appointments to Postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Oslo.
If an applicant has applied for and been granted funding for a fulltime research stay abroad while being employed as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow, the employment will be 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)
No one can be appointed twice as a Postdoctoral fellow financed with funds from The Research Council of Norway (NFR).
Applicant lists can be published in accordance with Norwegian Freedom of Information Act § 25. When you apply for a position with us, your name will appear on the public applicant list. It is possible to request to be excluded from this list. You must justify why you want an exemption from publication and we will then decide whether we can grant your request. If we can't, you will hear from us.
