Postdoctoral Research Fellow position in Cosmology

About the position 

A position as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow is available at the Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics.

Starting date as soon as possible, and no later than October 2026.

The appointment is a full-time position. The position is funded by an RCN FRIPRO project called “COMAP: Mapping the teenage universe with carbon monoxide” (PI: Ingunn Wehus), with a duration of three years. A part of this time is devoted to required duties, which may include teaching activities. 

No one can be appointed for more than one Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at the University of Oslo.

More about the position / Project description

The successful candidate will join the CMB&CO group at ITA, currently composed of two professors, five researchers, three postdoctoral fellows, four PhD students and three master’s students. We have a collaborative work environment with active mentoring, frequent group meetings and a social atmosphere, and value a gender balanced and inclusive environment. The candidate will take part in the larger Cosmoglobe project aiming to do joint end-to-end analysis of a wide range of cosmological datasets, including archival data such as AKARI, DIRBE, FIRAS and Planck, ongoing projects like COMAP, PASIPHAE, Simons Observatory, SPHEREx and SPIDER, as well as future experiments like LiteBIRD and FOSSIL. We have a large international network of collaborators, and as a postdoctoral fellow you will have many opportunities to travel and collaborate with researchers at other institutions.

The main topic of this position is the Carbon monOxide Mapping Array Project (COMAP) line intensity mapping (LIM) experiment, aiming to map the large-scale distribution of star-forming carbon monoxide around Cosmic Noon (targeting redshifts between z~2–3) and the Epoch of Reionization (z~6–8). Currently, the experiment is in the COMAP-Pathfinder phase, which targets the CO1-0 line, and soon a first extension called COMAP-Wide will perform a wide-field CO-HI crosscorrelation survey together with the LOFAR 21 cm survey targeting z~6. COMAP is the leading CO-LIM experiment, and has already published several state-of-the-art constraints on the CO power spectrum of the early universe. Its nominal sensitivity is close to the predicted signal range for a broad range of currently popular models, suggesting that a first cosmic CO detection could be imminent. COMAP is led by Caltech, and is supported by an international collaboration that includes University of Oslo, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Cornell University, Southern Methodist University, University of Manchester, CITA and others. The Oslo team is responsible for developing, maintaining and running the primary COMAP analysis pipeline, including the analysis of raw time-ordered data, mapmaking, and power spectrum estimation. The candidate will work on all aspects of the data analysis of the COMAP-Pathfinder and upcoming COMAP-Wide projects. The candidate is also encouraged to work on other experiments within the Cosmoglobe network to broaden their scientific skills and network. 

The position is supervised by Prof. Ingunn Wehus (i.k.wehus@astro.uio.no) and Dr. Nils-Ole Stutzer (n.o.stutzer@astro.uio.no). 

As the position will require a significant amount of programming, we request a self-written code sample to be submitted with the application. 

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.

Qualifications

The Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences has a strategic ambition to be among Europe’s leading communities for research, education and innovation. Candidates for this fellowship will be selected in accordance with this, and expected to be in the upper segment of their class with respect to academic credentials. 

You will be working on problem solving, programming, data modeling and analysis, scientific writing, and public presentation. 

Required qualifications:

• Applicants must hold a degree equivalent to a Norwegian doctoral degree in astrophysics, physics, or a related field. Only applicants with an approved doctoral thesis and public defense at the employment date are eligible for appointment. 
• Fluent oral and written communication skills in English.

Desired qualifications:

Specific technologies that are commonly used in the group include Python, high-performance computing, MPI, OpenMP, Commander, Git, and LaTeX. Familiarity with some of these concepts will be an asset, but is not required at the time of application.

All candidates and projects will have to undergo a check versus national export, sanctions and security regulations. Candidates may be excluded based on these checks. Primary checkpoints are the Export Control regulation, the Sanctions regulation, and the national security regulation.

Personal skills

• Enjoys working both independently and as part of an interdisciplinary team, contributing to a positive and inclusive research environment
• Approaches challenges with creativity, structure, and a focus on meaningful outcomes
• Good communication and collaboration skills
• Strong quantitative and analytical skills
• Ability to create and contribute to a well-functioning, inclusive and productive research environment

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 (Norwegian), 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 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 Postdoctoral Fellow, position code 1352 in salary range NOK from 595 000 - 660 000, 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:

• Cover letter (statement of motivation, summarizing scientific work and research interest) 
• CV (summarizing education, positions, pedagogical experience, administrative experience and other qualifying activities) 
• Copies of educational certificates, academic transcript of records 
• A complete list of publications and up to 5 academic works that the applicant wishes to be considered by the evaluation committee 
• A code sample, for instance, in the form of a GitHub repository. This should be related to your most recent academic work. 
• Names and contact details of 2-3 references (name, institution, e-mail). 
• Please arrange for reference letters to be sent directly to Ingunn Wehus (i.k.wehus@astro.uio.no) by the application deadline.

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.

Contact persons 

For general information, please contact Prof. David F. Mota (chair of cosmology and extragalactic astrophysics section, email: d.f.mota@astro.uio.no

For project-specific information, please contact the project supervisors: Ingunn Wehus (i.k.wehus@astro.uio.no) or Nils-Ole Stutzer (n.o.stutzer@astro.uio.no).

For questions regarding the recruitment system, please contact HR Adviser Karoline Hanssen, email: karoline.hanssen@mn.uio.no