About the position 

A position as PhD Research Fellow in Experimental Nuclear physics and Reactor Simulations is available at the Department of Physics. The PhD Research Fellow will be part of the Norwegian Nuclear Research Centre (NNRC).

NNRC is a cross-disciplinary collaboration between Norway’s leading institutions within nuclear physics and nuclear chemistry research: University of Oslo (UiO), Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), and Institute for Energy Technology (IFE). The Centre addresses major research questions within the nuclear field spanning topics from nuclear properties and medical isotope production, to reactor simulations and environmental radiochemistry.

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

Starting date preferably before October 1, 2025.

The fellowship period is 3 years. A fourth year may be considered with a workload of 25 % that normally consists of teaching. This is dependent upon the qualification of the applicant 
and the current needs of the department.

Job description / project description

The Nuclear Physics group at UiO is involved in several Research Themes (RT) within the Norwegian Nuclear Research Centre (NNRC), from fundamental research within Nuclear Properties (RT1) and Nuclear Fission (RT2), to more applied research within Nuclear Simulations (RT3) and Radionuclide Production and Speciation (RT4). This PhD Research Fellow will mostly contribute to RT3: Nuclear Simulations and RT2: Nuclear Fission.

The project will include reactor simulations of future reactor systems with a focus on systems relevant for Norway (SMR on land or on ships). The project will also address the nuclear data needs for simulations of advanced reactors, and contribute to the production of these data. The PhD candidate will participate in the planning and running of experiments and be in charge of analyzing data from experiments at the Oslo Cyclotron Laboratory using the OSCAR detector array and/or complementary experiments run abroad at for example at ILL, Grenoble, France. 

This research will be part of a larger international collaboration and also be a part of the Norwegian Nuclear Research Centre. The candidate is expected to contribute to and partake in activities organised by the Centre.

Qualification requirements

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.

• Master’s degree in physics or nuclear engineering or equivalent, with specialization in 
  nuclear physics or reactor physics
• Foreign completed degree (M.Sc.-level) corresponding to a minimum of four years in 
  the Norwegian educational system
• A solid background in scientific computing, for example Python 

Candidates without a Master’s degree have until 1 September 2025 to complete the final exam.

Desired requirements:
In addition, several qualifications are considered strongly desirable and will be used in the ranking of the candidates:

• Experience with reactor simulations in for example OpenMC
• Experience with data analysis techniques 
• Familiarity with data analysis tools such as ROOT
• Knowledge of reactor physics and nuclear structure from Master-level courses,
• Experience with using nuclear reaction codes like TALYS
• Teaching experience

Grade requirements:
The norm is as follows:

• The average grade point for courses included in the Bachelor’s degree must be C or bet-ter in the Norwegian educational system
• The average grade point for courses included in the Master’s degree must be B or better in the Norwegian educational system
• The Master’s thesis must have the grade B or better in the Norwegian educational system

Language requirements:

• Fluent oral and written communication skills in English
• English requirements for applicants from outside of EU/EEA/EFTA countries and exemptions from the requirements:
  https://www.mn.uio.no/english/research/phd/regulations/regulations.html#toc8

For candidates who would like to apply for a fourth year including teaching, good knowledge of Norwegian or another Scandinavian language is strongly preferred.

The purpose of the fellowship is research training leading to the successful completion of a PhD degree. The fellowship requires admission to the PhD programme at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences. The application to the PhD programme must be submitted to the department no later than two months after taking up the position. For more information see: http://www.mn.uio.no/english/research/phd/

Personal skills

• Good communication skills
• Ability to work in an international research environment
• Ability to work independently

We offer

• Vibrant international academic environment
• Oslo’s family-friendly surroundings with their rich opportunities for culture and outdoor activities
• Good welfare schemes.
• Career 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 PhD Research Fellow, position code 1017, in salary range NOK from 536 200 - 575 400, depending on competence and experience. From the salary, 2 percent is deducted in statutory contributions to the State Pension Fund.

Read more about the benefits of working in the public sector at Employer Portal.

Inclusive worklife and diversity at UiO

Inclusion and diversity are a strength. The University of Oslo has a personnel policy objective of achieving a balanced gender composition. Furthermore, we want employees with diverse professional expertise, life experience and perspectives.

If there are qualified applicants with disabilities, employment gaps or immigrant background, we will invite at least one applicant from each of these categories to an interview.

We hope that you will apply for the position. 

More information about gender equality initiatives at UiO can be found here.

Application

Your application should include:

• Cover letter – statement of motivation and research interests
• CV (summarizing education, previous positions and academic work)
• Copies of the original Bachelor’s and Master’s degree diplomas
• Transcripts of records
• Documentation of English proficiency
• List of any publications and academic work 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)
• Applicants who are interested in teaching need to add to this application a description of their motivation for and (if any) experience with teaching.

Application with attachments must be submitted via our recruitment system Jobbnorge, click "Apply for the position".

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. 

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.

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.

Please refer to Regulations for the Act on universities and colleges chapter 3 (Norwegian),  Guidelines concerning appointment to post doctoral and research posts at UiO (Norwegian) and Regulations for the degree of Philosophiae Doctor (PhD) at the University of Oslo.

The University of Oslo has a transfer agreement with all employees that is intended to secure the rights to all research results etc.