Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Biophysical Chemistry

About the position

We invite applications for a Postdoctoral Research Fellow position, available at the Department of Chemistry.

Starting date no later than October 1, 2026.

The fellowship period is three years. A fourth year may be considered with a work-load of 25 % which is devoted to other career promoting work, usually in the form of teaching, supervision duties, and/or research assistance. This is dependent upon the qualification of the applicant and the current needs of the department.

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

Postdoctoral fellows who are appointed for a period of four years are expected to acquire basic pedagogical competency in the course of their fellowship period within the duty component of 25 %.

Place of work is Department of Chemistry at Blindern/Gaustad, Oslo. 

Starting in Summer 2026, the Department of Chemistry will relocate to the brand new Life Science Building – a state-of-the-art research facility designed to maximize productivity and comfort of our employees. The building is well connected to the rest of the campus and public transport.

Project description

This position is a part of the convergence environment PERMEATE- Peptides for Membrane Targeting and Synergistic Drug Delivery. Convergence environments are interdisciplinary research groups that will aim to solve grand challenges related to health and environment. They are funded by UiO's interdisciplinary strategic area UiO:Life Science. The project will focus on overcoming cell membrane barriers using peptides to facilitate the targeted delivery of therapeutic molecules, leveraging a multidisciplinary approach that combines expertise from computational sciences and chemistry to pharmacy and medicine.

The convergence environment will include three PhD positions and one postdoc position.

The Postdoctoral position within PERMEATE

We are seeking a dedicated Postdoctoral research fellow (PD) for PERMEATE who will work on peptide-membrane interactions, and in particular, towards characterizing and understanding the dynamical and structural effects of various peptides on both simplified and complex membrane systems. The project will entail a combination of computational and experimental work, both directly and in collaboration with the PhD students, focusing on design and physio-chemical characterization of lipid membranes and their interactions with peptides. This primarily includes small angle X-ray and neutron scattering (SAXS/SANS) along with theoretical model analysis including the use of multi-scale and artificial intelligence models. The PD will work closely with both the PhD candidates and PIs within the convergence environment and help coordinate the separate aims and planed work packages.  

Given the specific nature of the project, the close collaboration within the convergence environment and the aim of bridging experiment and theory, we are seeking a PD with significant experimental and theoretical experience in working with lipid membranes and their interactions with surface-active and antimicrobial peptides. Therefore, a strong background in SAXS and/or SANS investigations of membrane-peptide systems, including a comprehensive understanding of the theoretical scattering framework and practical and experience with modeling and analysis is required.

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.

What skills are important in this role?

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.

Required qualifications:

• Applicants must hold a degree equivalent to a Norwegian doctoral degree in (Bio)physical Chemistry or closely related fields. Doctoral dissertation must be submitted for evaluation by the closing date. Only applicants with an approved doctoral thesis and public defense are eligible for appointment
• Applicants must have hands-on experience with small angle scattering, including knowledge within advanced modelling/analysis methodology
• Applicants must have hands-on experience working with model lipid membranes
• Applicants must be proficient with computer programing
• Fluent oral and written communication skills in English
• For 4-year position: sufficient oral and written communication skills in a Scandinavian language to contribute to teaching at the department’s bachelor courses

Desired qualifications:

• Experience in developing and modifying theoretical models of scattering data, including analytical (form- and structure factor) models, discrete numerical models and model-independent analysis techniques, including implementation of these, is highly desired
• A strong interest in theoretical and computational work, like molecular dynamics and numerical methods will be given weight
• Experience with other structural characterization techniques like dynamic light scattering (DLS) is beneficial
• Having experience from large scale research facilities like synchrotrons and neutron facilities is an advantage
• Experience with teaching university level courses is also an advantage 

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:

• 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
• Good communication and collaboration skills
• Positive attitude and the ability to handle hectic periods
• Ability to receive and give feedback in a positive and professional and constructive manner

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 595 000 - 690 000, depending on competence and experience. From the salary, 2 percent is deducted in statutory contributions to the State Pension Fund

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.

How to apply

The application must include:

• Cover letter specific to the project (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
• Names and contact details of 2-3 references (name, relation to candidate, e-mail and telephone number)
• For a potential fourth year employment, include a description of which undergraduate courses you can teach, or have experience in teaching, and which subjects/courses you would like to teach. This should include a description your prior experience with career promoting work

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

The best qualified candidates will invited for interviews.

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