University of Oslo

The University of Oslo is Norway’s oldest and highest rated institution of research and education with 28 000 students and 7000 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. Education across these topics is offered for around 380 bachelor, 170 master, and 75 PhD students.

With 52 permanent professors/associate professors, post-docs, researchers, technical, and administrative personnel, the Department has a total staff of 340 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.

Job description

Applications are invited for a permanent position as associate professor of bioinformatics at the Department of Biosciences and the new Centre for Bioinformatics at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at the University of Oslo.

The Centre for Bioinformatics was established in 2018 and will initially have six permanent scientific positions including the one herein advertised, of which four are already filled. Additionally, the centre will have four adjunct professors, a service staff (mainly externally funded) and about 10 PhD/post doc positions. The Centre is a partnership between Department of Informatics, Department of Biosciences, Department of Chemistry, and the School of Pharmacy, and will have a hub-node structure connecting central bioinformatics user environments at UiO and in the Oslo region. The hub will initially be hosted by the Department of Informatics, but will move to the new UiO Life Science Building when this is finalized.

The bioinformatics node at the Department of Biosciences has activities in all five sections including the Norwegian Sequencing Centre (NSC) and the ancient DNA facility.

Bioinformatics-relevant research approaches in the sections includes comparative genomics, population genomics, phylogenomics, metagenomics, transcriptomics, epigenomics, proteomics, molecular ecology, evolutionary biology, and several types of modelling at the cell, organism and ecosystem levels.

The successful applicant should be on an upward trajectory and is expected to have strong background in bioinformatics and the potential to execute research projects at a high international level. His/her research is expected to be performed in synergy with one or more of the five sections of the Department. The successful applicant is also expected to engage in bioinformatics research in the Centre and its hub at the Department of Informatics as well as in teaching and supervision at both master's and PhD levels. The Department of Biosciences will specify the teaching duties for the position in dialogue with the Centre for bioinformatics. It is expected that the successful applicant can contribute to teaching in the new bachelor program in bioscience which includes programming and computational modelling as core elements.

Qualification requirements

When evaluating applicants, weight will put on documented experience and qualifications in the following areas:

• Scientific expertise revealed by a track record of high impact publications especially during the last five years - documenting qualification as an associate professor.
• Documented experience and qualifications in teaching, pedagogics and supervision of PhD and master students.
• Ability to attract external funding; experience from participation and coordination of research projects.
• Deep knowledge of bioinformatics and broad knowledge of biology
• To qualify for appointment the applicant must have completed a PhD in bioinformatics or in the biosciences with an extensive bioinformatics component
• Personal qualities, such as ability to collaborate, communication skills, and scientific leadership will be emphasized

Academic qualifications will be ascribed more weight than other qualifications. Cf. the "Rules for appointments to professorships and associate professorships",

We offer

• salary NOK 607 700 – 802 600 per annum depending on qualifications in position as Associate professor (position code 1011)
• 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
• the opportunity to apply for promotion to full professorship at a later stage

How to apply

The application must include:

• Cover letter (statement of motivation, summarizing scientific work and research interest)
• Summary of up to 3 selected scientific publications the applicant wishes to include in the evaluation describing their significance and impact
• Research plan including possible synergies with the Department’s sections with a emphasis on BMB (up to 5 pages)
• Portfolio organized in the following order:
  • CV (including complete list of education, PhD diploma, positions, pedagogical experience, administrative experience, project acquisition and coordination experience, and other qualifying activities)
  • List of scientific publications
  • Documentation of teaching qualifications, experience, and teaching philosophy
  • Documentation of external fund raising
  • Other qualifications, including administrative experience, the applicant wishes to have included in the evaluation
• List of reference persons: 3 references (name, relation to candidate, e-mail and phone number)

The application with attachments must be delivered in our electronic recruiting system. Please note that all documents should be in English (or a Scandinavian language).

As a general rule an interview will be used in the appointment process, and it may be appropriate to require trial lectures. The basis for assessment will be the scholarly production of the applicant, other qualifications, pedagogical or educational, the applicant’s qualifications within leadership and administration as well as the general personal suitability. In ranking the competent applicants, the full range of qualifications will be considered and explicitly assessed.

Formal regulations

The successful candidate who at the time of appointment cannot document basic teaching qualifications will be required to obtain such qualifications within a two-year period.

The successful candidate must demonstrate mastery of both English and one of the Scandinavian languages as working languages. If an appointee is not fluent in a Scandinavian language, the appointee will be expected within a two-year period to learn sufficient Norwegian to be able to participate actively in all functions the position may involve.

Please see the rules for Appointments to Professorships and Associate Professorships and Rules for the assessment and weighting of pedagogical competence.

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

• Head of Department, Rein Aasland, email:rein.aasland@ibv.uio.no, telephone:+47 22844563
• Professor Eivind Hovig, Department of Informatics and leader of the Centre for bioinformatics, email:ehovig@ifi.uio.no

For technical questions regarding the recruitment system, HR Adviser Torunnn Standal Guttormsen, email:t.s.guttormsen@mn.uio.no, telephone: +47 22854272

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