PhD Position

3-year 100% PhD position is available at the Department of Pediatric Research, OUS Rikshospitalet for a highly motivated and skilled PhD student on a project funded by South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority. The position is available from 23rd November 2026.

Neonatal cholestasis is a condition with impaired bile flow causing accumulation of bile acids and bilirubin, liver damage and debilitating pruritus. Reduction in bile to the intestine results in malabsorption, reduced weight gain, vitamin deficiency and changes in microbiota. Both genetic and environmental factors can result in cholestasis.

About the Department / Research Group

Professor Runar Almaas (Pediatric hepatology) at PFI, OUS is leading the project. The PhD candidate will be supervised by him and by Co-supervisor Barbora Smolkova (PhD) and senior researcher Gareth Sullivan. The group is using induced pluripotent stem cells for making liver organoids and a major part of the work will be related to this model.

Duties and responsabilities

What Tasks and Responsibilities Are Associated with the Position?

To reveal mechanisms of cholestasis and pruritus and to investigate novel potential treatments we are using liver organoids derived from disease-specific induced pluripotent stem cells. iPSC-derived liver organoids are a unique model that can mimic key features of the human liver and can be used to study liver development and disease. In these project liver organoids will be used for studying protein trafficking, effect of modulating factors and potential drugs.

Qualifications

• Master degree (or equivalent) in medicine, biomedicine, biotechnology, or molecular biology
• Good practical skills in various extraction, quantification, and analysis of nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) and proteins including qRT-PCR, ddPCR, and Western blotting are advantages
  
• Skills and prior experience in cell cultivation and handling is an advantage
  experience in other relevant molecular biology techniques including gene editing using CRISPR/Cas9 technology, next-generation sequencing, etc is an advantage
  
• Experience in scientific writing / presentation is an advantage
  
• Good written and oral communication skills in English

Practical Information

We request that relevant documentation be attached to the application. Please note that all documents should be in English or a Scandinavian language.

Personal qualities

• We are looking for a highly dedicated, reliable and highly motivated candidate with great working capacity
  
• We expect scientific curiosity and understanding about the nature of scientific thinking
  
• You have a strong interest in completing your tasks in structured way.
  
• You are able to design, plan, perform, and analyze experiments in an innovative way
  
• The candidate is expected to work together with engineers and other scientists in a team. Ability to work independently, but with good communication skills is preferred.

We can offer

• 100% position for three years granted
  
• Ambitious project and interesting scientific topic.
  
• An emerging and rapidly developing area of research
  
• Training in advanced methods and models.
  
• Encouraged supervision and cooperation team
  
• A friendly and international environment
  
• A favorable pension arrangement and attractive welfare arrangements
  
• In accordance with the OUS’s equal opportunities policy, we invite applications from all interested individuals regardless of gender or ethnicity

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