Postdoctoral Research Fellow in AI Methods for Creative Applications

About the position

Position as Postdoctoral Research Fellow available at Department of Informatics, University of Oslo.
Expected start date 01.09.2026 (flexible).

The fellowship period is three years. An extension of the appointment by up to twelve months may be considered. This will be devoted to career-enhancing compulsory work duties, e.g. teaching or supervision. 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.

Place of work is Department of Informatics at Blindern, Oslo.

Project description

The position is part of MishMash Centre for AI and Creativity, which is a Norwegian AI centre funded by the Research Council of Norway (2025-2030). It comprises more than 200 faculty members from many higher education institutions in Norway, in collaboration with numerous public and private sector partners. The primary objective of MishMash is to create, explore, and reflect on AI for, through, and in creative practices. MishMash researchers will investigate AI’s impact on creative processes, develop innovative CoCreative AI systems and educational strategies, and address AI’s ethical, cultural, legal, and societal implications in creative domains. See mishmash.no for more information.

How can we design and implement real‐time AI systems for immersive, dynamic, and ethical human‐machine collaborations in artistic performances? MishMash Work Package 1 will address this challenge by emphasising AI systems that facilitate continuous interactions between humans and machine agents, potentially including multiple and embodied AI agents. Countering the current trends of very large models with hard-to-control outputs, we will focus on balancing data-based approaches with artists’ knowledge and search-based methods to achieve personalised and novel outputs.

This position will have a particular focus on developing fundamental AI algorithms and methods that can be used in systems for real-time creative and artistic settings. The candidate will be part of a team that creates algorithms, software, and potentially hardware and explores them in artistic contexts.

This postdoc position will be part of WP1 of MishMash. The appointed candidate is expected to collaborate across the MishMash network, and participate in all relevant MishMash activities.

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.

• Applicants must hold a degree equivalent to a Norwegian doctoral degree in informatics, computer science, music technology, or other relevant fields. The applicant is required to document that the degree corresponds to the profile of the post. 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
• Strong programming and artificial intelligence/machine learning skills
• Interest in creative or artistic applications. Documentary evidence would be beneficial
• The candidate’s research proposal must be closely connected to the call and the research described in MishMash WP1
• Excellent skills in written and oral English

• Experience with using AI for creative or artistic purposes
• PhD thesis relevant to the research described in MishMash WP1
• Experience with AI methods/algorithms such as evolutionary and quality-diversity search, generative ML models, hybrid models, bio-inspired approaches, multi-agent systems
• Experience with real-time or embedded systems, prototyping, open source development 

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?

• Strong ability to work purposefully, systematically, and independently
• The applicant's estimated academic and personal ability to complete the project within the time frame
• Very good collaboration skills and a strong interest to work in a multidisciplinary team

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
• An exciting  professionally stimulating working environment, including all the benefits of being part of a large Norwegian AI Centre and its many events, workshops, and career development opportunities
• 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

• Cover letter (statement of motivation, summarizing scientific work and research interest)
• Research proposal stating research questions and methodological approaches as well as a detailed and feasible progress plan (maximum 14.000 characters)
• 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)

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.