Researcher in Diagnostics of Infection and Antimicrobial Resistance

About the position

The Department of Biotechnology at the Faculty of Applied Ecology, Agricultural Sciences, and Biotechnology (ALB) at the University of Inland Norway (INN) invites applications from exceptional candidates for a Researcher position. The position is expected to start in early 2026 and will last for two years, with a possibility of extension. The successful candidate will be based at the Department of Biotechnology, with their workplace located in Hamar. The candidate must work from the designated workplace in Hamar.

The appointed candidate will be working within a proliferating scientific environment comprising academic staff members, Ph.D. students, and research fellows with scientific expertise ranging from theoretical methods (machine learning, biostatistics, and bioinformatics) to experimental methods (genomics, molecular biology, clinical microbiology, microscopy, and spectroscopy).

The researcher will be working in the group of Professor Rafi Ahmad. The Ahmad group (https://www.inn.no/english/find-an-employee/rafi-ahmad.html) is also part of the Norwegian Network for One Health Resistome Surveillance (NORSE), a national network of 13 Norwegian institutions, and the National Centre of Expertise — Heidner Biocluster. 

About the Prosjekt

The WHO considers bacterial infection caused by antimicrobial resistance (AMR) a critical global threat to modern healthcare and societal well-being. It has been nearly 40 years since a new class of antibiotics was introduced to the market. This, along with the increased and often inappropriate use of existing drugs, means we are heading toward a world where antibiotics may no longer be effective. Remarkably, most prescriptions and antibiotic administration are still done without any information on the causative pathogens or their resistance profiles.

The selected candidate will work within the project “OH-AMR-Diag: Novel technological solutions for rapid detection and screening of AMR from a One-Health perspective, " funded by the Research Council of Norway program Collaborative and Knowledge-building for Society and Industry. Please find the project details here: https://www.inn.no/english/research/research-projects/OH-AMR-Diag/ 

The main objective of OH-AMR-Diag is to develop a proof of concept (PoC) decision-making diagnostic system for rapid, accurate, sensitive, and on-site detection of bacterial infection, pathogen ID, characterization of its resistance profile, and antibiotic susceptibility prediction from a One Health perspective. The project's long-term objective is to translate the OH-AMR-Diag system from the lab to tertiary care hospitals and farms for detection, screening, and therapeutic intervention. 

The main tasks of the Researcher will be to (a) develop and maintain bioinformatics pipelines for analyzing omics and photonics data; (b) develop and implement novel algorithms for analyzing omics and photonics data; (c) use machine learning and artificial intelligence methods in the analysis and correlation of data with the clinical phenotype information, and correlation of the generated data.

Please refer to our latest publications, which highlight our work. 

• https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-66865-8 
• https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-55635-z 
• https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2023.1154620  
• https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12859-025-06266-2 

Qualifications

The candidate must have a Ph.D. in biotechnology, bioinformatics, computational biology, genomics, or another relevant scientific discipline. PhD candidates who have submitted their thesis and are waiting for their PhD defense are also eligible to apply. Required qualifications:

• Prior experience with development of bioinformatics pipelines and packages/tools for analysis of next-generation sequencing data, including antimicrobial resistance. 
• Proven expertise with algorithm development is required, as evidenced by published research articles.
• Previous documented experience in the development of easy-to-use graphic user interface applications for biological data analysis. 
• Skilled in analyzing large-scale biological datasets, including both long-read nanopore sequencing and short-read Illumina data.
• Expert-level competence in all of these -  R, Python, and Rust.
• Hands-on experience with bash scripting, Linux systems, and pipeline development tools like Snakemake, Conda, and Docker.
• Good understanding of microbiology and AMR.

Desired qualifications: 

• Hands-on experience with the Oxford Nanopore sequencing workflow. 
• First-author publications in peer-reviewed international journals.
• Experience with analysis of RNA-seq data, including differential gene expression

 

The candidate must also demonstrate proficiency in spoken and written English. Additional consideration will be given to those with strong teamwork and communication skills and documented scientific publications or other writing experience.

 

The position and associated tasks must be carried out in accordance with the applicable laws and regulations for government employees, including also the Act on Control of the Export of Strategic Goods, Services and Technology, etc. Candidates who, after assessment of the application and attachments, come into conflict with the criteria in the latter act, will not be able to take up the position at University of Inland Norway. Necessary approvals must be maintained throughout the employment relationship.

We offer

• Collaborating within a multidisciplinary team comprising microbiologists, ML/AI specialists, bioinformaticians, medical professionals, and physicists.
• Access to cutting-edge computational infrastructure.
• Involvement in a stimulating and impactful project that contributes positively to society, offering opportunities for both personal and scientific growth.
• An intellectually stimulating work environment with dynamic colleagues focused on a critical and rapidly growing research field.
• A flexible and independent work setting where candidates have significant autonomy. Daily interaction with talented and motivated colleagues.
• Position is paid and placed in position code 1109 Researcher   in the Government Salary Scale
• Membership in the Norwegian Public Service Pension, with among other things, good pension and insurance schemes.

For more information about INN University as an employer, please see here.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0FVnszhpJY

How to apply

Regsiter your application and CV electronically via "Apply for this job" on the job portal Jobbnorge. 

Your application must include:

• CV (summary of education and work experience).
• Copies of academic certificates/transcripts.
• List at least two references with complete contact information.
• A complete list of scientific and other publications.

Relevant applications will be considered by an expert committee. Comprehensive CVs, certified copies of diplomas and certificates, publication lists and documents/works to be considered must be submitted as electronic attachments or links to the application.

If you have any questions regarding uploading of attachments or other technical matters regarding the application, Jobbnorge customer service can be contacted. 

Information about applicants may be made public even if the applicant has asked not to be named on the list of persons who have applied. The applicant must be notified if the request to be omitted is not met.

For more inforation about the position, please contact (Prof. Rafi Ahmad, Ph.D., tlf: +47 91329738 , epost: rafi.ahmad@inn.no). 

General information

INN believes that there is strength in inclusion and diversity. We desire employees with different competencies, professional combinations, life experiences and perspectives to contribute to an even better way of solving problems. We will facilitate for employees who need assitance to realise their goals. Relevant adaptations can be, for example, technical aids, adapting furniture or adjusting routines, work tasks and working hours.

If there are qualified applicants with disabilities, gaps in the CV or immigrant background, we shall call at least one applicant in each of these categories for an interview. In order to be considered as an applicant in these groups, the applicants must meet certain requirements. You can read more on this here: https://arbeidsgiver.difi.no/positivsaerbehandling.

We encourage applicants to tick in Jobbnorge if they have a disability, a gap in their CV or immigrant background. The ticks in the jobseeker portal form the basis for anonymised statistics that all state-owned enterprises report in their annual reports