Researcher

About the position

The Institute of Clinical Medicine at the University of Oslo (UiO) invites applications for a temporary Researcher position in the NFR FRIPRO funded project FEMALE: Phenotyping fetal microchimeric cells in the mother: revealing potential fetal contributions to long-term female health.

The project has been awarded NOK 12 million in FRIPRO funding.

The successful candidate will have their work base at Rikshospitalet, with the Research Institute of Internal Medicine, Division of Surgery and Specialized Medicine (Prof. Bente Halvorsen`n research group) .

Preferred start date is January 1st 2027 until the end of june 2029

Project description

During pregnancy, a small number of fetal cells can pass into the mother’s bloodstream. The FEMALE project investigates what happens to this cell transfer when the placenta does not function optimally, and how fetal cell transfer may influence the mother’s health later in life. In particular, the project asks whether fetal cells transferred to the mother may help explain why pre-eclampsia is associated with increased long-term cardiovascular risk. The overarching goal is to provide the first detailed characterization of fetal cells in maternal circulation and improve our understanding of mechanisms underlying female-specific disease development.

The research is anchored in a research group at the Women’s Division, UiO, and builds on the group’s prior FRIPRO-funded work in microchimerism (including the earlier project BRIDGE), with a strong emphasis on human pregnancy and pregnancy complications.

Responsibilities

The successful candidate will contribute to achieving the scientific objectives of the FEMALE project, including:

• Planning and conducting research activities aimed at identifying and characterizing fetal microchimeric cells in maternal blood and

relating findings to pregnancy complications and long-term maternal health outcomes.

• Contributing to rigorous methodological development and quality assurance for research on extremely rare cell populations

(microchimerism).

• Data analysis and interpretation in collaboration with the project team.
• Writing scientific manuscripts and presenting results at scientific meetings.
• Collaborating across disciplines and contributing to the project’s overall progress and reporting.

Qualifications

Qualification requirements

• Appointment to the position of researcher in position code 1109 requires a doctoral degree (or equivalent) in a relevant field (e.g., medicine, biology, molecular/cellular biology, immunology, genetics, or related disciplines).
• Experience in pregnancy research, placental biology, pre-eclampsia, and how complications affect long-term maternal health.
• Extensive knowledge in human cardiovascular disease biology, focusing on how epigenetic factors drive disease progression.
• Experience with research on rare cell populations and methodological development where specificity, sensitivity, and false positive control are critical.
• A broad methodological background including experience with flow cytometry, single cell sequencing and fluorescence in situ

hybridization.

• Documented experience with high-quality biomedical research and scientific writing/publications.
• Excellent communication skills in English (written and spoken).

Desired qualifications

• Should be able to communicate scientifically to colleagues both in Norwegian and English
• Experience as a formal supervisor for a PhD-candidate.
• Strong analytical skills and the ability to work independently and collaboratively in a research team.
• Documented experience with high-quality biomedical research and scientific writing/publications.

Personal qualities

We are looking for a candidate who is:

• Highly motivated, structured, and able to drive tasks forward
• Curious and solution-oriented, with strong attention to detail
• A constructive team player who thrives in interdisciplinary collaboration

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 can offer you

• 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 colleagues in a good working environment.
• A unique opportunity to contribute to a FRIPRO-funded research project addressing fundamental questions in women’s health and

pregnancy biology.

• A stimulating research environment at UiO, with close links to clinical research and access to strong academic networks.
• 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 Researcher, position code 1109 in salary range NOK from 660 000 to 780 000, 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
• CV
• A complete list of publications
• Transcripts and certificates
• 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) and Rules for the use of research posts SKO 1108, 1109, 1110 and 1183 at UiO.

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

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 Institute of Clinical Medicine (Klinmed) is one of three institutes under the Faculty. Klinmed is responsible for the Faculty's educational and research activities at Oslo University Hospital and Akershus University Hospital. With about 900 employees spread over approximately 425 man-labour years, Klinmed is the university's largest institute. Our activities follow the clinical activity at the hospitals and are spread across a number of geographical areas.