Associate Professor at the Oslo Centre for Biostatistics and Epidemiology

Job description

One position as Associate Professor is available at the Oslo Centre for Biostatistics and Epidemiology (OCBE), Institute of Basic Medical Sciences (IMB), the Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo (UiO), Norway.

OCBE wishes to strengthen its capacity in machine learning and is looking for candidates with expertise and experience in statistical theory and methods with focus on machine learning, together with a strong interest in applications to medicine, including basic medical research, clinical medicine, epidemiology and/or public health. The post is with tenure and permanent.

Applicants must show promise to become leading academics. They must document an already solid publication record, some experience in research leadership and teaching, and experience with applying for research funding. Together with your colleagues at OCBE, you will shape research and teaching leadership in this fast-developing discipline.

The Oslo Centre for Biostatistics and Epidemiology (OCBE) is a joint department of the University of Oslo (UiO) and Oslo University Hospital (OUS). OCBE has expanded considerably during the last decade, becoming one of Europe's most active biostatistics and epidemiology groups. Currently, OCBE includes twelve tenured professors and associate professors, fifteen tenured researchers and senior researchers, and many postdoctoral fellows, PhD students and visiting scientists, making up a group of over 70 researchers. 

OCBE’s research is internationally recognized, in particular in the areas of time-to-event models and causal inference; epidemiology of lifestyle, chronic diseases and infectious diseases; methods for high-dimensional data and data integration, especially in molecular medicine; mathematical modelling of cancer; probabilistic modelling and Bayesian inference, stochastic algorithms and simulation-based inference; and statistical machine learning. OCBE has collaborations with leading biomedical research groups in Norway and internationally. OCBE has acquired major research funding from the Norwegian Research Council, the European Union (including an ERC Advanced Grant), the Nordic Research Council, the Norwegian Cancer Society and several other public and private agencies. 

OCBE is responsible for the biostatistics teaching in the professional study programme in Medicine, the Faculty's master programmes and the PhD training. OCBE also provides an extensive statistical advisory service for biomedical and clinical researchers at UiO and OUS - often an exciting source of data and challenges for our research.

OCBE has a central role in INTEGREAT, The Norwegian Centre for Knowledge-driven Machine Learning (ML), a center of excellence funded by the Research Council of Norway. The center is in operation from 2023 to 2033 and will fund more than 60 PhD and postdoc positions. INTEGREAT develops theories, methods, models and algorithms that integrate general and domain-specific knowledge with data, extending the data-centric paradigm of ML. Applicants for this position will be especially interested in pursuing their research within INTEGREAT, for example by taking a role as principal investigator in the center.

Role summary 

The successful candidate will initiate, perform and lead research, supervise PhD candidates, postdocs and researchers, participate in and further develop our teaching and statistical advising, and carry out administrative duties in accordance with the needs of OCBE and the Institute.

You will have full operational responsibility for your research and funding. You will apply for funding, develop and manage an independent scientific programme, preferably in collaboration with other colleagues at OCBE and INTEGREAT at UiO, in Norway and internationally. You will be proactive in making your research known to the public. When relevant, you should consider commercial exploitation of discoveries and other forms of societal impact. You will contribute to the strategic research leadership of OCBE. As an Associate Professor, you will have the opportunity to apply for promotion to full Professor at a later stage.

Teaching, statistical advising and student supervision will amount to approximately half of the workload. The role holder will be an excellent teacher who motivates students and leads them pedagogically. The UiO has programmes that recognise excellence in teaching. As statistical adviser, you will be able to recommend state-of-the-art approaches and tools to researchers in the biomedical field who require support. Some of the advising work will lead to co-authorship.

The location of OCBE and Integreat are on the campus of UiO in Oslo.

More about the position here. 

 

Qualification requirements

• Doctoral degree or equivalent qualifications in biostatistics, statistics, machine learning, mathematics, data science, computer science or other relevant field. 
• Expertise in statistical/ probabilistic machine learning, together with a strong interest in applications in medicine, including basic medical research, clinical medicine, epidemiology and/or public health.
• Applicants must show promise to become leading academics, with a strong research record, as judged by the strength of their 
• peer-reviewed scientific publications and must be an independent researcher in their field.
• Applicants must have some experience in supervision of students.
• Applicants must have some experience in leading research. Experience in managing a research group is an advantage but not necessary.
• Applicants must have some experience in applying for scientific funding.
• Applicants must provide a plan for research development and for acquiring external funding.
• Excellent communication skills in written and oral English are a prerequisite.

Additional desirable qualifications

• Experience with biostatistical advising and formal pedagogical competence will count positively. Applicants who do not have documented basic university pedagogical competence must acquire this within two years from appointment.
• Documentation of qualifications in public communication activities, management and administration will count positively.

Personal skills

• Strong interpersonal skills and the potential to create an attractive research environment will be emphasised.
• Ability to engage in active collaboration with student and colleagues, interdisciplinary and internationally.
• Strong administrative skills to manage projects and contribute to the common workload of OCBE.

We offer 

• Salary from kr. 750.000 – 900.000 NOK depending on competencies, in the position of Associate Professor (position code 1011). For exceptionally well-qualified applicants, a higher salary may be considered.
• Annual paid leave for 5 weeks, plus public holidays.
• A friendly professional and stimulating international working environment at OCBE and Integreat. 
• Access to a network of top-level national and international collaborators. 
• A reliable and generous pension agreement. 
• Good welfare schemes. 
• Full access to public health services through membership of the National Insurance Scheme. 
• Oslo`s family friendly environment with its rich opportunities for culture and outdoor activities.

 

Read more about the benefits of working in the public sector at Employer Portal.

Start date: To be agreed upon. 

How to apply 

The application must include:

• Application letter (a short and personal statement of motivation and research interests)
• CV (summarizing education, positions, academic work, scientific publications and other scientific output) 
• A complete list of peer-reviewed publications and other relevant scientific output (e.g. peer-reviewed software)
• List of references (at least three, with name, title, email and phone number) 
• A note (3-6 pages) describing the applicant’s vision for her/his research and scientific ambitions for the coming 3-5 years, with particular reference to research in Integreat.
• Documentation of pedagogical competence (if available) and lecturing experience, including a teaching portfolio 
• Documentation of statistical advising competence (if available) 
• Description of qualifications in dissemination, scientific leadership, management and administration
• Other qualifications and documentation

Application with attachments must be submitted via our online recruitment system. Please note that all documentation must be in English or a Scandinavian language.

Inclusive worklife and diversity at UiO

Inclusion and diversity are a strength. The University of Oslo has a personnel policy objective of achieving a balanced gender composition. Furthermore, we want employees with diverse professional expertise, life experience and perspectives.

If there are qualified applicants with disabilities, employment gaps or immigrant background, we will invite at least one applicant from each of these categories to an interview.

Application process 

The basis for the assessment of the applicant will include education and training, scientific production and quality, professional and academic experience, teaching experience and qualifications as well as the documented experience in administration and management. As part of the ranking of qualified applicants, the full scope of these qualifications will be explicitly assessed. Particular weight will be attached to qualifications that are central to the job description. Pedagogical and scientific qualifications will carry more weight than other qualifications. Originality and innovation will be given priority before volume, and recent publications will be weighted higher than older. In the final review and recommendation, emphasis will be laid on skills related to the job description, the evaluation done by the assessment committee, evaluation of personal suitability for the position based on interviews and references obtained, pedagogical qualifications and ability to disseminate scientific knowledge, plans for further research and ambitions for teaching and statistical advising.

Applicants who at the time of appointment cannot provide documentary evidence of basic university pedagogical competence, must acquire such competence within a period of two years. Applicants who are not competent in Norwegian, Swedish or Danish must acquire such competence within three years subsequent to their appointment and must be competent in English in the interim period. As a main rule, interviews will be held and references collected, and the applicants will normally be required to give a trial lecture. 

General information

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.

Please refer to the Rules for Appointments to Professorships and Associate Professorships at the University of Oslo, Rules for practicing the requirement for basic pedagogical competence at the University of Oslo and Guide for applicants for Professor and Associate professor positions - University of Oslo. 

The University of Oslo has a transfer agreement with all employees that is intended to secure the rights to all research results etc.

The University of Oslo wishes to appoint more women to permanent academic positions. The University of Oslo also wishes to appoint more people from ethnic minorities to permanent academic positions. Women and minorities are encouraged to apply.

If there are qualified applicants with disabilities, employment gaps or immigrant background, we will invite at least one applicant from each of these categories to an interview.