About the position
A 3-year Postdoctoral Fellow position in psychology is available at the Department of Psychology, University of Oslo.
The Postdoctoral Fellow will be part of the interdisciplinary Convergence Environment NeuroPathways: A Multidisciplinary Convergence Approach to Understanding and Supporting Neurodevelopmental Variability, funded through the University of Oslo. The project integrates genetics, psychology, pharmacology, and educational sciences to advance understanding of neurodevelopmental variability and improve evidence-based and inclusive support strategies across the life course.
The position is full-time for a duration of three years and includes 10% career-promoting work, which may consist of teaching, dissemination, and contributions to NeuroPathways’ interdisciplinary and convergence activities.
Starting date no later than 01.10.2026.
About the Department of Psychology
The Department of Psychology at the University of Oslo hosts internationally recognized research environments spanning statistical genetics, developmental psychology, clinical psychology, social psychology, and cognitive neuroscience. The department offers a dynamic and inclusive research culture with strong emphasis on methodological rigor, interdisciplinary collaboration, and societal relevance.
Postdoctoral fellows at the Department receive mentorship and are encouraged to develop strong international research profiles through collaboration, conference participation, and research stays abroad.
About the NeuroPathways Convergence Environment and the postdoc project
Convergence Environments are interdisciplinary research groups that aim to solve grand challenges related to health and environment. They are funded by UiO's interdisciplinary strategic area UiO:Life Science.
Neurodevelopmental conditions such as ADHD and autism are being diagnosed more than ever — but why, and with what consequences? NeuroPathways is an interdisciplinary Convergence Environment that brings together psychology, genetics, pharmacology, education, and clinical research to address questions about neurodevelopmental variability that cannot be answered within disciplinary silos. The NeuroPathways research environment bridges biomedical and social science perspectives to examine how genetic predispositions and environments — from clinics to classrooms — jointly shape developmental outcomes, using Norway’s exceptional registry and cohort data to study why diagnoses are rising, who receives assessment and support, which supports work best for whom, and how support systems can become more equitable and inclusive.
The postdoc position is part of the overall project’s Work Package on Neuropsychosocial Pathways, a collaboration between the PROMENTA Center and the Clinical Section at the Department of Psychology. This work package aims to understand how personal, social, geographical, and clinic factors together influence the likelihood of neurodevelopmental diagnoses, access to services, use of medications, and long-term outcomes. The candidate will work with diverse data, including Norwegian national registries and the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child cohort (MoBa), a pregnancy cohort including more than 100,000 children and their families with genetic data and follow-up into adulthood. Rich data will also be available from two ongoing randomized controlled trials at Lovisenberg and Innlandet hospitals.
The postdoc fellow will be embedded in the interdisciplinary NeuroPathways Convergence Environment, which includes strong links to the PsychGen Centre at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and Lovisenberg Diaconal Hospital, and the national FRAMBU center for rare diagnoses. The candidate will develop their postdoctoral project in collaboration with work the package leaders, Professors Alexandra Havdahl and Krister Fjermestad. Prof Astrid Sandsør at Centre for Research on Equality in Education – CREATE) will serve as mentor of the candidate. An additional core team comprising Dr. Rosa Cheesman (Department of Psychology, University of Oslo), Dr Nicolai Borgen (CREATE) and Prof. Hedvig Nordeng (Department of Pharmacy) will be collaborators in the team supporting and promoting the candidate.
The postdoc fellow will collaborate closely with researchers across the NeuroPathways Team, including experts in psychology and genetics, education and inequality, pharmacoepidemiology, and clinical psychology. The postdoc fellow will work with advanced quantitative methods, contribute to joint publications within NeuroPathways, and participate in interdisciplinary seminars and training activities.
The career-promoting work will involve supervision, dissemination activities, development of educational material, support for other researchers, organization of scientific activities, and administrative responsibilities within the NeuroPathways convergence environment.
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.
Your main tasks will be
- Develop and preregister analysis plans
- Prepare data for analyses
- Contribute to work on user participation within the NeuroPathways project
- Perform statistical analyses, potentially including methods such as structural equation modelling
- Write at least 4 scientific articles as first author
- Communicate results in various national and international scientific journals and popular science forums
- Present at international conferences (some travel is expected)
- Contribute to joint publications within NeuroPathways
- Participate in interdisciplinary seminars and training activities
Qualifications
Qualification requirements
- PhD in a relevant field (e.g., psychology, epidemiology, genetics, statistics or medicine). Doctoral dissertation must be submitted for evaluation by the closing date. Appointment is dependent on the public defense of the doctoral thesis being approved.
- Strong publication record in international peer-reviewed journals, including as first author
- Strong statistical and quantitative skills, ideally including experience with large data sources
- Demonstrable expertise in the use of R statistical software for data management and statistical analysis
- Experience in using genetic epidemiological methods
- Excellent oral and written communication skills in English
- Strong interest in and motivation for the project
- Strong interest in working collaboratively and in accordance with the practices and principles of open and reproducible science
Desired qualifications
- Experience working with large longitudinal cohort data and/or data from national registries
- Experience with clinical intervention trials
- Interest and experience with user participation in research
- Interest and experience with open science practices (e.g., pre-registered analytic plans, open sharing of analytic code, or involvement with registered reports)
- Experience using structural equation modelling to investigate patterns of covariation in observational data
- Experience presenting research internationally (at conferences or as a visiting researcher)
Personal skills
We are looking for a motivated and engaged postdoc fellow with strong potential for high-quality research. Personal suitability will be emphasized and assessed based on the following qualities:
- Ability to work independently as well as collaboratively in interdisciplinary research teams
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
- Ability to give and receive constructive scientific feedback
- Structured, reliable, and results-oriented working style
- Good communication and collaboration skills
- Innovative and enterprising
- Positive attitude
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 do our best to accommodate your needs. 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.
- Opportunity to work with world-class research data
- Inclusion in the NeuroPathways Convergence Environment’s professional and social activities and broad network of early career researchers (doctoral and postdoctoral fellows)
- Dedicated colleagues in a friendly and international research 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 610 000 - to 690 000, 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:
- Application letter (max. 2 pages) describing motivation for applying, previous research experience, research interests, and how your qualifications match the position
- CV with complete overview of education, work experience, and other qualifying activities
- Publication list, including Master’s and PhD thesis and any other academic work (including journal publications, preprints, talks, or posters)
- Up to three academic works
- Transcripts and educational certificates, including confirmation of completed (or submitted) PhD
- Contact information for 2–3 references (name, title, email, phone number, and relationship to the applicant). The Master’s supervisor should be one of the references.
Application with attachments must be submitted via our recruitment system Jobbnorge, click "Apply for the position".
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
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) and Guidelines concerning appointment to post doctoral and research posts at UiO.
The University of Oslo has a transfer agreement with all employees that is intended to secure the rights to all research results etc.
Om arbeidsgiveren:
The University of Oslo is Norway’s oldest and highest ranked educational and research institution, with 26 500 students and 7 200 employees. With its broad range of academic disciplines and internationally recognised research communities, UiO is an important contributor to society.
The Department of Psychology is one of seven units of the Faculty of Social Sciences, and has 75 permanent and 70 temporary members of scientific staff. Degrees are offered at bachelor and master level, plus a clinical training programme, and the PhD programme has 140 students.
