Postdoctoral Research Fellow in machine learning for gene therapy

About the position 

A three-year position as Postdoctoral Research Fellow in machine learning for gene therapy is available at the Department of Biosciences and the Department of Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Oslo.

Starting date no later than May 1st 2025.

A fourth year may be considered with a workload of 25 % that normally consists of teaching. This is dependent upon the qualification of the applicant and the current needs of the department.

No one can be appointed for more than one Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at the University of Oslo.

Job description / project description / development plan 

The candidate for this position will work in the research group of Profs. Anders Malthe-Sørenssen and Marianne Fyhn at the Center for Neural Plasticity (Centre for Integrative Neuroplasticity - Department of Biosciences) at the Departments of Biosciences and the Department of Physics on the MindTech project funded by the Norwegian Research Council.

The goal of the MindTech project is to develop a transformative platform technology to develop gene therapies for central nervous system diseases by combining gene engineering and generative machine learning modeling to design gene therapy constructs and validate the constructs in vitro and in vivo. The candidate will work in a highly interdisciplinary environment that combines approaches from computational physics, machine learning, neuroscience, and gene technology.

The postdoc is expected to contribute to develop machine learning models for the construction of constructs and capsids using combinations of discriminative and generative methods, methods for protein structure prediction and docking simulations. The successful candidate should be able to develop new models that combine aspects from physics, computer science, AI and neuroscience. Approaches from mechanistic interpretability of neural networks will be used to understand and explain successful machine learning methods. The postdoc will work in close collaboration with the experimental team.

Postdoctoral fellows who are appointed for a period of four years are expected to acquire basic pedagogical competency in the course of their fellowship period within the duty component of 25 %.

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.

Qualification requirements 

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.

• A degree equivalent to a Norwegian doctoral degree in computational neuroscience, machine learning or AI or equivalent fields. 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 experience with relevant machine learning methods and topological methods for analysis of large data sets
• Experience in working with experimental data, preferably from neuroscience experiments
• An interest in interdisciplinary research
• Fluent oral and written communication skills in English 

Personal skills

• Strong collaborative and communication skills
• High personal motivation for research
• A commitment to work towards the research project’s common goals
• Ability to be focused, work independently and collaborate

We offer

• 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.
• A pleasant and stimulating work environment.
• Good welfare schemes.
• Opportunity of up to 1.5 hours a week of exercise during working hours.
• A workplace with good development and career opportunities. 
• 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 from 579 700 - 657 300, depending on competence and experience. From the salary, 2 percent is deducted in statutory contributions to the State Pension Fund.

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

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.

We hope that you will apply for the position. 

More information about gender equality initiatives at UiO can be found here.

Application

• 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 the position".

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). Applications with documents missing will not be considered further. Original documentation may be requested.

The best qualified candidates will be invited for interviews. 

General information

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

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

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. 

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).

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 Regulations for the Act on universities and colleges chapter 3 (Norwegian) and Guidelines concerning appointment to post doctoral and research posts at UiO (Norwegian).

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