Faculty of Health Sciences

Oslo Metropolitan University is Norway's third largest university with almost 22,000 students and over 2,500 employees. We have campuses in central Oslo and at Romerike. OsloMet educates students and conducts research that contributes to the sustainability of the Norwegian welfare state and the metropolitan region.

The Faculty of Health Sciences consists of five departments and offers study programmes on all levels, including PhD. The faculty has about 6000 students and nearly 600 members of staff.

MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship - Intelligent Musculoskeletal Health 

Center for Intelligent Musculoskeletal Health, Department of Physiotherapy, Faulty of Health Sciences  

Center for Intelligent Musculoskeletal health (CIM) was recently approved as one of five excellent academic environments at OsloMet. Researchers currently affiliated with the Musculoskeletal research group and OsloMet Artificial Intelligence Lab at the Faculty of Technology, Art and Design, as well as national and international partners, will collaborate in transdisciplinary research activities at the new center. In the Musculoskeletal research group, we conduct high-quality research on musculoskeletal health in a life course perspective, embracing adolescents, young adults, adults, and older people. The research involves several stakeholders, including user representatives, clinicians and researchers from health service, work and health education settings. The Musculoskeletal research group has a broad national and international network, and through the establishment of the CIM the research will be strengthened to also include other disciplines such as machine learning, advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology, and innovation actors.  

Call for Expression of Interest for a joint application under the EU Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship funding programme 

We hereby invite top-class researchers of any nationalityafter having obtained a PhD degree and up to eight years of research experience after PhD, for conducting high-quality research on musculoskeletal issues, to apply for an EU-funded Marie Skłodowska Curie Action Postdoctoral Fellowship (call MSCA-PF-2021) to conduct research at OsloMet - Oslo Metropolitan University at the Center for Intelligent Musculoskeletal health for a period of two years.  

Area of research 

Musculoskeletal disorders are the second common cause of disability worldwide, and with the ageing population these disorders represent one of the largest future challenges for health and society welfare. Therefore, the CIM at OsloMet will bring together experts in complementary fields in order to develop, evaluate, and implement effective innovative and practical solutions to challenges faced by stakeholders involved in the musculoskeletal field. We will  explore different technological methods within AI (in particular machine learning) in order to enhance current understanding of development and risk of persistent disorders. Our ambition is to develop innovative and effective personalized interventions that can be implemented in clinical, work and health education settings. The candidates are encouraged to employ different high-quality methods to conduct research based on large data sets, applying both traditional statistical methods and machine learning approaches. The candidates may address research questions to certain subdomains of musculoskeletal research, such as questions on underlying mechanisms of persistent disorders, and the impact of phenotypes on prognosis and treatment outcomes. The proposals may contain ideas for developing and testing tools, processes, and interventions at both an individual and society level.   

Successful candidates will take part in the interdisciplinary scientific team around CIM, where Professor Margreth Grotle, leader of CIM, together with PIs and scientific staff at the CIM, will join a mentoring function for the candidate  Researcher in the CIM team have long experience of conducting musculoskeletal pain research by using different designs and methods, in particular spinal and shoulder disorders, but also osteoarthritis and rheumatic rehabilitation. For more information Musk Health

Tasks and responsibilities 

The successful candidate will primarily work on the Marie Curie funded project, but will be integrated in the CIM unit, taking part in regular meetings and discussion groups; also the candidate will specifically be introduced with the CIM team’s national and international network of researchers on musculoskeletal health. 

Expected qualification of candidates 

Candidates must have a PhD in health science, engineering or other technology subjects, psychology, or economy as the minimum requirement.  We are primarily looking for experienced researchers who wish to use this period as an opportunity to further develop their research, and to develop longer term research collaborations with OsloMet and other institutions conducting research in the field. The candidates must be eligible for a Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship (PhD successfully defended and a maximum of 8 years full-time equivalent experience in research). 

We are looking for applicants who have 

  • Knowledge of musculoskeletal health research (epidemiology, trials, registry data, surveys) or applying machine learning approaches to large data sets within health and social welfare  
  • An excellent track record in research and publications, necessary for being able to develop a competitive Marie Curie Fellowship application 
  • An open and cooperation-oriented nature, with strong abilities for independent academic work

Application process 

With this call for Expression of Interest, we invite postdoctoral researchers to apply; they must submit their CV, including publications list and a one-page description of the research project idea, that together with a virtual interview will be the basis for assessing and selecting two candidates with whom we will collaborate for developing competitive MSCA-PF grant applications.  

If you would like to apply for the position you must do so electronically through our recruitment system. 

Assessment and selection of candidates 

Candidates will be pre-selected based on an internal evaluation and the availability of suitable supervision. A maximum of five candidates will be invited for a virtual interview and a maximum of two candidates will be invited to submit a proposal to the EU funded MSCA-PF programme. Candidates will be informed of the results of the pre-selection to apply by 25 March 2021. The deadline for submitting the MSCA-FP proposal is 15 September 2021. 

Selected candidates will be invited and must participate in the MSCA-FP masterclass, a two-day online workshop organized by OsloMet on the first week of May 2021, exact date to be confirmed. In this first phase, the cooperation will be carried out remotely, with regular communication via email and online meeting platforms. If applicants are successful in their MSCA grant application, the place of work will be at the CIM unit at the Department of Physiotherapy, Faculty of Health Science at the OsloMet main campus, located in the center of Oslo.

The postdoctoral position 

Successful applicants who obtain a MSCA-PF grant will be offered a position at OsloMet to be hired as postdoc researchers in conditions as explained below.   

Starting Date 

The EU informs the evaluation results on the MSCA-PF-2021 applications in February 2022. Successful applicants who receive the MSCA-PF grant are expected to be available to start in their postdoctoral position at OsloMet within the following two months of the evaluation results and no later than summer of 2022 

It is important for OsloMet to reflect the population of our region, and all qualified candidates are welcome to apply. We make active endeavours to further develop OsloMet as an inclusive workplace and to adapt the workplace if required. If there are periods where you have not been in work, under education or in training, you are also welcome to apply.  

We offer 

Initially, we offer assistance in developing competitive Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship proposals. Then, to successful applicants to the Marie Curie program, we offer: 

  • An exciting opportunity at Norway’s third largest and most urban university 
  • Participation in a dynamic professional environment and unique academic community 
  • Flexible working conditions 
  • An inclusive and friendly work environment 
  • Unique academic network the possibility for the right candidate(s) to pursue his/her academic goals under the auspices of Professor Margreth Grotle 
  • Beneficial welfare schemes and a wide range of sports and cultural offers
  • Free Norwegian language classes to employees and their partners/spouses
  • Work-place in downtown Oslo with multiple cultural offers 
  • On-boarding assistance and other services 

OsloMet has implemented the Charter & Code for researchers and been granted the HR Excellence in Research (HRS4) by the EU Commission and is part of the EU network for mobility of Researchers EURAXESS. Practical information about relocation to OsloMet to at EURAXESS Norway. 

Remuneration and employment 

The competitive fellowship opportunities are 100% funded and include living and mobility allowances.  

  • Type of employment: Temporary position 
  • Contract type: Full time 
  • Annual Salary: Approx. EUR 60,000 
  • Starting day of employment: Expected starting date 1 April 2022 
  • Number of positions: 2 
  • Working hours: 37.5 hours/week 

Other information 

For more information about the position, feel free to contact:    

  • Karoline Aursland, R&D and External Funding Support, Karoline.Aursland@oslomet.no
  • Florissa Abreu, R&D and External Funding Support, Florissa.Abreu@Oslomet.no
  • Margreth Grotle, Professor, Margreth.Grotle@oslomet.no  

We only process applications sent via our electronic recruitment system and all documents must be uploaded for your application to be processed. The documents must be in English. Translations must be authorised. OsloMet performs document checks in order to give you as a candidate a proper evaluation and ensure fair competition.  

OsloMet has adhered to the principles in the DORA declaration and obliged the institution to follow the recommendations in this declaration. 

   

Deadline for application:       January 31, 2021

Ref.:    20/12124

 

 

 

Type of employment Temporary position (shorter than 10 days)
Contract type Full time
First day of employment Expected starting date 1 April 2022
Salary Annual Salary: Approx. EUR 60,000
Number of positions 2
Full-time equivalent 100%
City Oslo
County Oslo
Country Norway
Reference number 20/12124
Published 19.Mar.2021
Last application date 22.Mar.2021 11:59 PM CET

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