Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Medical Applications of Radionuclides - Nuclear Chemistry

About the position

We invite applications for a Postdoctoral Research Fellow position, available at the Department of Chemistry, University of Oslo. The position is funded by UiO as part of the Norwegian Nuclear Research Centre (NNRC). 

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 the Department of Chemistry at Blindern, Oslo.

Project description

Description of project

One of the research focuses of the Nuclear Chemistry group is the application of radionuclides for medical applications. This includes studies of novel production pathways for medically relevant radionuclides. Such radionuclides are used for a range of current cancer procedures, where the decay radiation is used for diagnostic and/or treatment purposes. Unlike external beam therapy, which is used to irradiate a tumor in a predetermined site in the patient, the biomolecules employed by targeted radionuclide therapy are attracted towards cancerous cells throughout the body. This enables the simultaneous treatment of unidentified, secondary malignant growths.

In particular, this projected is focused on emerging alpha-emitting radionuclides for targeted alpha therapy (TAT): an exciting new treatment modality for cancer. The Postdoc fellow will be part of a project to re-establish the production of the alpha emitter 211At at the Oslo Cyclotron Laboratory (OCL) at UiO.

This research topic has a clear societal impact and is part of the Norwegian Nuclear Research Centre (NNRC), which is focused on strengthening Norway's research capacity and competence in nuclear science. This project will be conducted in collaboration with NNRC industry partners: Bayer and Norsk medisinsk syklotronsenter. Other important collaborators will be IFE (Institutt for energiteknikk) and the University of California—Berkeley, which is an academic partner within the NNRC and a long-standing collaborator of UiO.

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:

• PhD degree in Chemistry or Physics or Engineering or equivalent, with specialization in nuclear science and its application for medical physics. 
• Experience with one or both of the following: the production pathways for medically relevant radionuclides; the use of decay radiation for diagnosis or treatment. 
• A solid background in scientific computing, including proficiency in Python programming.
• Fluent oral and written communication skills in English.

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

Desired qualifications:

In addition, one or more of the following qualifications are considered desirable and will be used in the ranking of the candidates:

• A solid background in scientific computing, including proficiency in
  Python programming.
• Experience with gamma-ray detectors
• Experience with radionuclide production
• Experience with radiochemical separation.
• Experience with radiochemical labelling.
• Experience with analytical chemistry techniques, e.g. HPLC, ICP-MS.
• Experience with using nuclear-reaction codes which are commonly used to predict the reaction cross sections for medical isotope production, e.g. TALYS, TENDL, CoH, ALICE and EMPIRE.
• Experience with the processing and handling of 211At
• Teaching experience

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:

We are looking for a candidate with a passion for Nuclear Chemistry. The successful candidate will be dedicated to the highest standards of research ethics. Moreover, we seek candidates who wish to be good ambassadors for the Department of Chemistry with a willingness to promote science. Good communication and collaboration skills, a generally positive attitude, and the ability to handle hectic periods will be considered positively.

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 (statement of motivation, summarizing scientific work and research interest)
• The cover letter and CV should make it very clear how your skillset and experience matches the requirements for the position
• 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 be 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.