Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Pharmacoepidemiology

About the position

Position as Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Pharmacoepidemiology available at the Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Oslo, Norway. 

A 3-year position as Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Pharmacoepidemiology is available at the Department of Pharmacy, University of Oslo. The candidate will be part of the UiO:Life Science convergence environment “UiO:Real-World Evidence: Capitalizing on Norwegian Health Data for Rapid Generation of Real-World Evidence on Effectiveness and Safety of Pharmaceutical”, funded by UiO:Life Science. The appointment is a fulltime position for a period of three years, and includes 10% career-promoting work, which consists of teaching, dissemination, and contributions within the UiO:RWE convergence environment.

Starting date no later than 01.10.2026.

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

The place of work will be at the Department of Pharmacy’s premises on the Blindern campus. In 2026, the Department of Pharmacy will move into the new Life Sciences Building, which will offer modern teaching and research facilities.

About The UIO:RWE convergence environment

The postdoctoral position is one of four PhD and postdoctoral positions within the UIO:RWE Convergence environment at the University of Oslo. 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: www.uio.no/life-science

UiO:Real-World Evidence (UiO:RWE) aims to generate high-quality real-world evidence on the effectiveness and safety of pharmaceuticals. The initiative leverages Norway’s national health registries, advanced analytical methods, and clinical trial data to inform regulatory decisions, clinical practice, and public health.

Read more about UIO:RWE here:   
https://www.uio.no/english/research/strategic-research-areas/life-science/research/convergence-environments/uiorwe

About the project

This postdoctoral project aims to generate real-world evidence on drug and vaccine use patterns, effectiveness, and safety, with a particular focus on high-risk populations (e.g. preterm children, pregnant women, adults aged >65 years, and immunocompromised individuals). A central component of the project will be the implementation and use of data pipelines for national registry integration, enabling scalable and reproducible analyses across linked health and vaccination registries.

The postdoc will use linked national health and vaccination registries to emulate target trials and apply advanced causal inference methods to estimate real-world vaccine effectiveness—particularly in pregnant women and other vulnerable groups—across outcomes such as infection, reinfection, severe disease, and adverse pregnancy events. Subsequent studies will assess short-term and immune-mediated adverse events, followed by rare and long-term safety outcomes, including autoimmune conditions and adverse birth outcomes. Throughout, the postdoc will work closely with senior researchers and PhD candidates to guide method selection and ensure robust estimation of vaccine effectiveness and safety.

Other career-promoting work mainly includes supervision of master’s students and junior researchers in register-based epidemiology, health data analysis, and statistics, research assistance, liaison with registry owners, and dataset management within UiO:Real-World Evidence and the UiOLifeScience initiative at UIO. Moreover, it includes contributions to the National Research School in Epidemiology (EPINOR), in which the Department of Pharmacy is a partner institution.

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. Professional development plan for postdoctoral research fellows - The Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences

About the PharmaSafe research group

The candidate will become affiliated to the Pharmaco-Epidemiology and Drug Safety Research Group at the Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Oslo, which is led by professor Hedvig Nordeng, who will be main supervisor. The research group includes 4 full time researchers, 2 adjunct positions, 7 PhD-students and post doc’s as well as several guest researchers and masterstudents making up a group of over 20 individuals. The research group is multidisciplinary and has expertise within pharmacoepidemiology, biostatistics, genetics, psychiatry, pharmacotherapy and clinical pharmacy.

Read more here:
www.mn.uio.no/farmasi/english/research/groups/pharma-safe/index.html

Read more about the UiO:Life Science here:
www.uio.no/english/research/strategic-research-areas/life-science/

About the National Research School in Epidemiology (EPINOR)

Building competence, networks, and data-driven insights for future health research in Norway. EPINOR aims to strengthen doctoral training in epidemiology by providing PhD candidates with advanced methodological skills, promoting interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral collaboration, and stimulating innovative use of Norwegian health data. The research school is led by UiT, with the University of Oslo (UiO) as one of several partner institutions.

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.

Qualification requirements:

• Applicants must hold a degree equivalent to a Norwegian doctoral degree in epidemiology, medical statistics, or related fields. 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.
• Hands-on RWD/RWE experience with data sources such as large-scale health registry care data (e.g., Medical birth registries, Prescription registries).
• High skills in statistics and the application modern epidemiological methods, as well as causal inference methods
• High programming skills in R or STATA.
• Fluent oral and written communication skills in English.

Desired qualifications:

• High motivation for a research career, documented primarily via original publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals. 
• Familiarity with Common Data Models (e.g. OMOP) and in the Extract, Transform, and Load (ETL) process of data management.
• Experience working within (perinatal) pharmacoepidemiology and/or Nordic health care registry data.
• Oral and written communication skills in a Scandinavian language.

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:

• Strong analytic skills with great attention to detail 
• Ability to effectively communicate effectively with colleagues in any related disciplines 
• Ability to work independently as well as in multidisciplinary teams
• Ability to give and receive constructive scientific criticism
• Positive attitude and the ability to handle hectic periods

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 describing your motivation for applying for the position, summarizing previous research experience, research interests and how own qualifications match the announced position, max. 2 pages
• CV with complete overview of education, positions, pedagogical experience, administrative experience and other qualifying activity
• Copies of educational certificates, academic transcript of records
• Letters of recommendation(optional)
• 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)

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.