Postdoctoral Research Fellow position in Cosmology

About the position

Position as Postdoctoral Research Fellow available at the Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics.

Starting date as soon as possible.

The appointment is a fulltime position and is for a period of three years (10% of which is devoted to other career promoting work, usually in the form of teaching activities). The position is funded by an ERC AdG project called Commander, with Prof. Hans Kristian Eriksen serving as PI.

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

Project description

The successful candidate will join the CMB&CO group at ITA, currently composed of two professors, five researchers, two postdoctoral fellows, four PhD candidates, and two master’s students. The candidate will be able to participate in the larger Cosmoglobe project (PI: Prof. Ingunn Wehus), including analysis of archival data such as AKARI and DIRBE, as well as ongoing projects (e.g., COMAP and PASIPHAE) and future projects, including the LiteBIRD satellite mission. The candidate will participate in research in an international context, representing Cosmoglobe and UiO at meetings and conferences.

The main goal of this position is to develop a massively parallel version of a computer code called Commander, and apply this to archival data from Planck HFI, new data from Simons Observatory, and simulated data from LiteBIRD, a planned next-generation CMB polarization satellite. Strong programming skills is an absolute prerequisite for this position, and candidates with experience in developing end-to-end analysis codes for real-world cosmological datasets including instrumental systematics mitigation will be preferred. Familiarity with the existing Commander codebase is considered a significant advantage.

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.

Qualification requirements

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 these fellowships will be selected in accordance with this, and expected to be in the upper segment of their class with respect to academic credentials.

Qualification requirements:

• Applicants must hold a degree equivalent to a Norwegian doctoral degree in astrophysics, physics, or a related field. Doctoral dissertation must be submitted for evaluation by the closing date. Only applicants with an approved doctoral thesis and public defence are eligible for appointment.
• Fluent oral and written communication skills in English.

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.

What are we looking for in you?

Personal skills:

• Good communication and collaboration skills
• Ability to work both independently and as part of a team
• Ability to work precise in a structured manner and swiftly adapts to new tasks
• Positive attitude and the ability to handle hectic periods
• Ability to work on problem solving, programming, data modeling and analysis, scientific writing, and public presentation
• Ability to work with specific technologies that are commonly used in the group include Python, Fortran, high-performance computing, MPI, OpenMP, Commander, Git, and Latex. Familiarity with these concepts will be an asset, but are not formally required at the time of application

Employment in the position is based on a comprehensive assessment of all qualification requirements applicable to the position, including personal skills.

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. 
• 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.
• Postdoctoral development programmes.
• 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  to 690 000, depending on competence and experience. From the salary, 2 percent is deducted in statutory contributions to the State Pension Fund. 

Inclusive work life and diversity at UiO

Inclusion and diversity are a strength. The University of Oslo has a personnel policy objective of achieving a balanced gender composition. Furthermore, we want employees with diverse professional expertise, life experience and perspectives.

If there are qualified applicants with disabilities, employment gaps or immigrant background, we will invite at least one applicant from each of these categories to an interview.

We hope that you will apply for the position.

More information about gender equality initiatives at UiO can be found here.  

How to apply

The application must include:

• Cover letter (statement of motivation, summarizing scientific work and research interest)
• CV (summarizing education, positions, pedagogical experience, administrative experience and other qualifying activity)
• 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, relation to candidate, e-mail and telephone number). Please arrange for letters to be sent directly to Prof. Hans Kristian Eriksen (h.k.k.eriksen@astro.uio.no).

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.

In assessing the applications, special emphasis will be placed on the documented, academic qualifications, as well as the candidate’s motivation and personal suitability. 

General information

The best qualified candidates will invited for interviews.

It is expected that the successful candidate will be able to complete the project in the course of the period of employment.

Please see the guidelines and regulations for appointments to Postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Oslo.

If an applicant has applied for and been granted funding for a fulltime research stay abroad while being employed as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow, the employment will be prolonged with the equivalent time as the research stay, but for no longer than of twelve months ( thus extending the employment to a maximum of four years)

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 can't, you will hear from us.

The 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.

University of Oslo has an agreement for all employees, aiming to secure rights to research results a.o.