Doctoral Research Fellowship in Multi-Omics at Centre for Precision Psychiatry

About the position

We have an available position as a doctoral research fellow (SKO 1017) at the University of Oslo, 3-years engagement, affiliated with the Centre for Precision Psychiatry, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo and the Department of Medical Genetics, Oslo University Hospital.

The Centre runs a series of multidisciplinary studies involving hospital departments and several research groups at the University of Oslo, building on advanced statistical methods for analysis of large-scale human genetic, proteomic, metabolomic, and neuroimaging data. The Centre has access to large databases of biomarkers, clinical and cognitive variables, genotyping and sequencing data, and MRI brain imaging data. In addition, we actively collaborate with large international consortia, particularly the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC), ENIGMA, and the European Alzheimer’s Disease DNA BioBank (EADB) and have access to data from Norwegian population cohorts (e.g., DemGene, HUNT, HUSK, the Tromsø Study, MoBa), as well as the UK Biobank, Estonian Biobank and ADNI.

For more information, please visit: https://www.ous-research.no/djurovic/

Project description

The available position is part of the Back2Future project, entitled Multimodal metabolic markers for mechanisms and predictive trajectories of Alzheimer’s disease, funded by the Research Council of Norway's TOPPFORSK programme and led by Professor Srdjan Djurovic. The project aims to identify heritable, early metabolic and protein biomarkers in blood that can predict the risk of Alzheimer's disease decades before symptoms appear, by combining metabolomics and proteomics with genetics, brain MRI, cognition and health registry data from large Norwegian and Nordic cohorts.

To achieve this goal, the researcher hired for this doctoral research fellowship position will work with the project's datasets, analytical methodology, and computational tools, including state-of-the-art data storage and research infrastructure hosted at the Services for Sensitive Data (TSD).

The PhD fellow will work with large-scale analytical tools to integrate multi-omics with brain imaging data to identify early biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease risk and contribute to development of a personalized prediction algorithm.

The duration of appointment is 3 years and is available from January 2027, with possibility of a flexible start date.

Main responsibilities

• Develop a research plan within the scope of this project for a PhD research program
• Participate in literature searching, data analysis and interpretation
• Write research articles to be published in peer-reviewed academic journals

The candidate will work both independently and as part of a team, under supervision of the group leader, and will be encouraged to take an active part in the Centre’s daily activities, depending on needs, interests, and qualifications.

The purpose of the fellowship is research training leading to the successful completion of a PhD degree. The research fellow must fulfill the requirements of and take part in the approved PhD program at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Oslo and is expected to complete the project within the set fellowship period.

The applicant must, in collaboration with her/his supervisor, within three months after employment, work out a complete project description to be attached to the application for admission to the doctoral program. For more information: Doctoral degree: PhD in medicine and health sciences - Faculty of Medicine

Qualifications

Required skills

• A master’s degree in a relevant discipline (e.g., molecular biology, genetics, biostatistics, medicine, psychology, or an equivalent field)
• Strong English and academic writing skills
• Familiarity with programming/scripting languages (e.g., R, Python, and/or Matlab) and big data analysis
• Demonstrated ability to work independently and in a structured manner, and capable of effective collaboration with others

Preferred skills

• Experience in relevant research, brain and metabolic disorders, multi-omics, and population studies (registry and/or biobank data).
• Experience with machine learning, AI tools and AI-supported coding

Personal skills

• Highly organized, self-driven, and goal-oriented, with strong productivity and attention to detail
• Excellent collaboration and communication skills, with a demonstrated ability to work effectively in multidisciplinary research teams

Employment in the position is based on a comprehensive assessment of all qualification requirements applicable to the position, including personal qualifications.

We need different perspectives in our work

UiO is an open and internationally oriented comprehensive university that strives to be an inclusive and diverse workplace and academic environment. You can read more about UiO’s work on equality, inclusion, and diversity at uio.no.

We fulfill our mission most effectively when we draw upon our variety of experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives. We are looking for great colleagues—could you be the next one?

We will provide appropriate accommodations should you need them. Relevant adjustments may include modifications to working hours, task adaptations, digital, technical, or physical adjustments, or other practical measures.

If you have an immigrant background, a disability, or CV gaps, we encourage you to indicate this in the job application portal. We always invite at least one qualified candidate from each group for an interview. In this context, disability is defined as an applicant who identifies as having a disability that requires workplace or employment-related accommodations. For more details about the requirements, please refer to the Employer portal (Norwegian).

The selections made in the job application portal are used for anonymized statistics that all state employers include in their annual reports. More information about gender equality initiatives at UiO can be found here.

We hope you will apply for the position with us.

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 code 1017 in salary range NOK 580 000 - 630 000, 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.

Application

Your application should include:

• Your application should include:
• Application letter including motivation for applying for the position, and a short plan for project design can be included.
• CV (summarizing education, relevant work experience etc.)
• List of publications and academic work that the applicant wishes to be considered by the evaluation committee.
• Certified copies of the original Bachelor and Master’s diplomas, transcripts of records.
• Contact information for 2-3 references.

Your CV must be entered in Jobbnorge’s CV form and cannot be submitted only as an attachment. This requirement is intended to ensure correct documentation and record-keeping in accordance with the Public Administration Act, Section 15.

Application with attachments must be submitted via our recruitment system Jobbnorge, click "Apply for this job".

When applying for the position, we ask you to retrieve your education results from Vitnemålsportalen.no. If your education results are not available through Vitnemålsportalen, we ask you to upload copies of your transcripts or grades. Please note that all documentation must be in English or a Scandinavian language.

General information

Please note that we are unable to add documentation after the application deadline. As the deadline applies equally to all applicants, this policy ensures equal treatment throughout the recruitment process. If you experience difficulties uploading documents in Jobbnorge, please contact their customer service: Phone: +47 75 54 22 20 or Email: support@grade.com The primary method of communication throughout the process will be e-mails and messages through the recruitment system Jobbnorge. When you receive a notification of a message in Jobbnorge, please log in to read it, as it may be important. The best qualified candidates will invited for interviews.

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 cannot, you will hear from us. Please refer to Regulations for the Act on universities and colleges chapter 3 (Norwegian), Guidelines concerning appointment to recruitment positions at UiO and Regulations for the degree of Philosophiae Doctor (PhD) at the University of Oslo.

The University of Oslo has a transfer agreement with all employees to secure the rights to all research results and related intellectual property.