The Department of Computer Science at UiT – The Arctic University of Norway (UiT) has a Postdoctoral position vacant. The position is for a fixed term period of three years.

The position is organized under the Biological Data Processing Systems Lab (BDPS) at the Department of Computer Science and is connected to the interdisciplinary strategic initiative Population Studies in the High North at UiT The Arctic University of Norway.

Further information about the position is available by contacting: Professor Lars Ailo Bongo, Phone +47 920 155 08, E-mail: lars.ailo.bongo@uit.no.

For administrative questions, please contact the Department’s administration; phone +47 7764 4036, email: administrasjon.ifi@nt.uit.no.

The position’s affiliation

UiT The Arctic University of Norway is the largest research and educational institution in northern Norway with about 15,800 students and 3,400 employees. UiT is a founding member of the University of the Arctic, an international network of study and research institutions of the circumpolar region. Two hundred international agreements secure an active academic exchange of students and staff with partner institutions worldwide.

The Department of Computer Science provides a strong international research environment with 13 tenured faculty members, 4 adjunct professors, 4 post doctors and researchers, 7 technical/ administrative staff members and about 20 PhD students. The goal of the Department is to advance the research and teaching of computer science as a discipline, to demonstrate leadership within our areas of interest, and to contribute to society through our education, research and dissemination. More information available at https://uit.no/informatikk.

Research at the Department of Computer Science is both systems-level software research and systems-level software development. We are concerned primarily with technical aspects of computer science systems research of mobile, distributed and parallel systems and applications. The research covers experimental development, application, analysis and testing of models, architectures, and mechanisms for mobile, embedded, distributed and/or parallel applications. Scaling, performance, handling of large feature-rich datasets, heterogeneity, energy-efficiency, autonomy, and componentization are examples of concerns that we address. Application areas include health, arctic climate, and energy. A more extensive description of our research groups is available at http://uit.no/informatikk/forskning/.

The research goal of the BDPS is to build and experimentally evaluate infrastructure systems that support the methods under development by our biomedical collaborators. We are designing and implementing systems for big data management and processing, machine learning, interactive analysis, and interpretation. We are primarily interested in improving the scalability and usability of bioinformatics analysis methods and frameworks. We combine experimental computer science with real problems, applications, and data obtained from our biology collaborators.

The strategic initiative Population Studies in the High North

The strategic initiative Population Studies in the High North (BiN) will push the edge of research on new technologies for secure data collection, analysis and management in the context of large population studies. Novel technological development is therefore an important area in the initiative. The Technology work package shall therefore contribute to the other areas by researching and developing the needed new methods and systems for data collection, management, analysis, and interpretation for future population studies. The developed methods contribute to the work in the other work packages: Lifestyle and health, Social inequality in health, Child and adolescence health, Environmental poisons, and Other data sources in the North.

The focus for this position is the development of new statistical and machine learning methods for integrated analyses of various data types in population studies. Initially we will focus on integrating heart and lung sound with spirometry data. But it is also possible to integrate other molecular, image, instrument, and questionnaire data collected in the population studies comprising the strategic initiative. The work will be done in collaboration with the other tasks in the Technology work package, so the methods should be implemented on state-of-the-art data analytics systems, and used as demonstrator for the systems developed in the work package. In addition, an interdisciplinary approach should be used, with a tight collaboration with the epidemiologists and other researchers in BiN.

Qualification requirements

The successful candidate will have a publication record that documents solid knowledge in computer science and machine learning, and strong interdisciplinary research skills. We are looking for candidates who have demonstrated increased scientific maturity in their selection of issues, application of methods, and documentation of results. Research results should be backed by thorough experiments and analysis. For this position it is considered an advantage with previous research collaborations in epidemiology, biostatistics methods expertise, experience working with molecular and other biomedical datasets, experience working with social network data, and being fluent in Norwegian or another Scandinavian language.

An appointment as post doctor requires a Norwegian doctoral degree in the subject area concerned, or a corresponding foreign doctoral degree recognized as equivalent to a Norwegian doctoral degree.

Applicants should have a good command in English.

Emphasis shall be attached to personal suitability, and the suitability of the project proposal for the Technology Work Package in BiN.

Working conditions

The working hours shall primarily be utilized for research, research-related activities and research administration. The post doctor is expected to participate professionally within the department with occasional advice of students; presentations for faculty and students, laboratory assignments etc., totaling up to 20 % of the position. The position will not include regular teaching assignments.

The successful applicant must be willing to engage himself/herself in the ongoing development of computer science as a discipline, the department, and of the university as a whole.

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.

Assessment

An expert committee will assess the applicants. The committee’s mandate is to undertake an assessment of the applicants’ qualifications based on the material presented by the applicants, and the detailed description drawn up for the position.

The applicants who are assessed as the best qualified might be called to an interview. The interview shall among other things aim to clarify the applicant’s personal suitability for the position. A trial lecture may also be held.

UiT wishes to increase the proportion of females in research positions. In the event that two or more applicants are found to be approximately equally qualified, female applicants will be given priority.

Application

The application must be submitted electronically via the application form available on www.jobbnorge.no and shall include:

• Letter of application
• Diplomas
• CV with:
  • A complete overview of education, supervised professional training and professional experience
• The applicant must submit in the portal up to ten scientific publications that are central to his/her production. The applicant’s doctoral thesis is regarded in this context as one work.
• In addition, the applicant shall provide a description of his/her production stating which works he/she considers the most important and which shall therefore be the main emphasis of the assessment. A brief description of the other listed works shall also be included to demonstrate breadth of production. These descriptions shall be an attachment to the application.
• Project proposal with a progress plan (3 to 5 pages)
• Form for documentation of teaching qualifications.
• Names and e-mail address of references
• List of scientific publications, including information about author(s), the publication’s title, the journal’s name and volume or the publisher’s name, year of publication, and number of pages.

All documentation that is to be evaluated must be translated into English or a Scandinavian language.

Applicants shall also refer to “Supplementary regulations for appointment and promotion to teaching and research positions at the University of Tromsø” and “Regulations concerning appointment and promotion to teaching and research posts”(Norwegian only).

Questions concerning the organisation of the working environment, such as the physical state of the place of employment, health service, possibility for flexible working hours, part time, etc. may be directed to the telephone reference in this announcement.

UiT has HR policy objectives that emphasize diversity, and therefore encourages qualified applicants to apply regardless of their age, gender, functional ability and national or ethnic background.

The university is an IW (Inclusive Workplace) enterprise, and will therefore emphasize making the necessary adaptations to the working conditions for employees with reduced functional ability.

Personal data given in an application or CV will be processed in accordance with the Act relating to the processing of personal data (the Personal Data Act). In accordance with Section 25 subsection 2 of the Freedom of Information Act, the applicant may request not to be registered on the public list of applicants. However, the University may nevertheless decide that the name of the applicant will be made public. The applicant will receive advance notification in the event of such publication.

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