PhD-fellowship

About the position

A 3-year position as Ph.D. Research Fellow is available at the Center for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition (LCBC), at the Department of Psychology, University of Oslo. The position will fit a motivated candidate with interest in memory and task-based functional imaging (fMRI). The primary objective of the position is to uncover the neural mechanisms underlying age-related memory change.

The research centre

The goal of LCBC is to understand differences and changes in brain and cognition across the entire lifespan, and to identify how brain function and cognition can be optimized. LCBC is an active, multidisciplinary research center with around 25 full-time staff members, including four professors, two researchers, several postdoctoral fellows and PhD candidates, chief and senior data engineers, full- and part-time research assistants, administrative support, and several affiliated international researchers. 

LCBC has excellent research infrastructure, including access to a 3T Siemens Prisma MRI scanner, PET and EEG facilities, and comprehensive neuropsychological and somatic testing facilities. English is the main working language at the center.

LCBC has secured several large grants, including four European Research Council (ERC) grants, a Horizon 2020 and a Horizon Europe grant, and several grants from the Research Council of Norway, the National Health Association of Norway, and the University of Oslo. In 2015, the group was designated “world-leading” and is one of only five such groups at the University of Oslo. More information is available on the LCBC website: https://www.lcbc.uio.no.

Project description

The Ph.D. fellow will work primarily on existing experimental fMRI data collected in the project "Lifespan Memory Imaging", funded by the Research Council of Norway. Using longitudinal imaging of brain activity and task-based connectivity, the project aims to predict early who will show memory decline and who will maintain good function as they age. This unique longitudinal fMRI dataset of episodic memory includes encoding and retrieval scans at both baseline and follow-up 6-8 years later. The project also leverages multimodal imaging data, including DTI, PET and ASL, and longitudinal cognitive and neuropsychological assessments. The position will focus specifically on the fMRI data to identify neural mechanisms underlying individual differences in age-related memory changes.

Your tasks

• Process and analyze task-based fMRI data to estimate how memory processing changes throughout life.
• Integrate data from multiple sources, including longitudinal cognitive assessments and PET imaging, genetic information and other types of data.
• Write and publish scientific articles.
• Collaborate extensively with the PI/supervisor, as well as other researchers at the center and collaborators of the center, including scientists in psychology, statistics, and genetics.
• As the main purpose of the fellowship is research training leading to the successful completion of a Ph.D. degree, the research fellow must take part in the Faculty’s approved Ph.D. program.

Qualifications

• Applicants must either hold a Master’s degree (or equivalent) in psychology, medicine, cognitive science, neuroscience, or a closely related field with an average grade of A or B. 
• To be employed as a PhD Research Fellow, admission to a doctoral program is required. Read about admission and requirements to the Faculty's PhD program here: Applying for a PhD fellowship at the Faculty of Social Sciences.
• Strong interest in cognitive processes and underlying brain mechanisms.
• Applicants must have experience working with a high-level programming language such as MATLAB, Python, and/or R.
• Good written and oral proficiency in English. If the person appointed does not have skills in Norwegian, Swedish or Danish at level A2 at the time of employment, we will offer Norwegian language courses with the aim of achieving Norwegian language skills at least this level.

The following will be considered advantages

• Experience in using neuroimaging data to study brain function.
• Experience with longitudinal analyses.
• Experience with processing task-based fMRI data.
• Experience with fMRI analytic methods including network metrics.
• Experience with task-based connectivity methods (i.e. beta-series correlation or psychophysiological interaction [PPI]).
• Good understanding of quantitative methods.
• Experience with research in interdisciplinary environments.

Personal qualities

In the evaluation of applicants, emphasis will be placed on the following personal skills: 

• Candidate’s good co-operative skills, and the ability to successfully join in academic collaboration.
• Candidate’s professional and personal ability to work independently.

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.
• Committed, highly competent colleagues in a good working 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 Doctoral Research Fellow, position code 1017 in salary range NOK from 558 000 - to 625 000, 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:

• Letter of application, 1-2 pages, explaining the motivation for applying.
• CV summarizing education, positions, and academic work.
• Copies of educational certificates, publications/academic work (if any) that the applicant wishes to be considered by the evaluation committee.
• Names and contact details of at least two references (name, relation to candidate, e-mail, and telephone number).
• International applicants are advised to attach an explanation of their University’s grading system.

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.