University of Oslo

The University of Oslo is Norway’s oldest and highest ranked educational and research institution, with 28 000 students and 7000 employees. With its broad range of academic disciplines and internationally recognised research communities, UiO is an important contributor to society. The Institute of Basic Medical Sciences overall objective is to promote basic medical knowledge in order to understand normal processes, provide insight into mechanisms that cause illness, and promote good health.

The Institute is responsible for teaching in basic medical sciences for the programmes of professional study in medicine and the Master's programme in clinical nutrition. The Institute has more than 300 employees and is located in Domus Medica.

Job description

Applications are invited for a 2 year position as Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the newly established Centre of Excellence “Hybrid Technology Hub”, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Oslo. The overall project of the Hybrid Technology Hub is to develop a “organ on a chip” platform that reproduces core energy metabolism within regulating organs in the human body and which will allow real time data acquisition upon exposure to therapeutic tools.

Diabetes is caused by a deficiency or diminished effectiveness of endogenous insulin. Pancreatic islets are vascularized mini organs that effectively uptake glucose and secrete insulin into the bloodstream. Our main aim in this project is to utilize native pancreatic islets to modelling the endocrine system on chip with microfluidic properties and biochemical functionality. Ultimately, we will develop organ on a chip system with stem cells derived islet organoids but this will need to mimick the native islets. Thus, in order to test the platform itself we will use native or spheroid generated islets. The candidate will work in close interaction with the other post-doctoral and PhD fellows funded by the “Hybrid Technology Hub” and Oslo Life Science Convergence environments “Organ on a chip and nano-devices” at the University of Oslo and Oslo University Hospital.

The main purpose of the fellowship is to qualify researchers for work in higher academic positions within their disciplines.

Qualification requirements

• Applicants must hold a degree equivalent to a Norwegian doctoral degree with strong research background relevant to the specified fields.
• Excellent presentation, oral and written communication skills in English.
• Prior experience in isolation of human pancreatic islets (and research within islet biology) is required.
• Documented track record of research, evidenced by successful publishing scientific journals.

Personal skills

• Proven ability to work and collaborate within a multidisciplinary environment.
• Scientific creativity and ability to drive own research ideas to a successful conclusion.

We offer

• salary NOK 515 200 - 576 100 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
• access to the Postdoctoral career development programme at the Faculty of Medicine

How to apply

The application must include

• cover letter (statement of motivation, summarizing scientific work and research interest)
• CV (summarizing education, positions and other qualifying activity)
• copies of educational certificates (academic transcripts only)
• a complete list of publications
• list of reference persons: 2-3 references (name, relation to candidate, e-mail and phone 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 candidates motivation and personal suitability.

Formal regulations

Please see the guidelines and regulations for appointments to Postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Oslo.

No one can be appointed twice as a Postdoc financed with funds from The Research Council of Norway (NFR).

No one can be appointed for more than one specified period at the same institution. 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.

The University of Oslo has an agreement for all employees, aiming to secure rights to research results etc.

The University of Oslo aims to achieve a balanced gender composition in the workforce and to recruit people with ethnic minority backgrounds.

Contact information

• Dr. Hanne Scholz, Oslo University Hospital, Phone: +47 975 14 215, e-mail: hanne.scholz@medisin.uio.no

Homepage: University of Oslo

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