Join us
Join the lab
Welcome. I am building a research group at the Norwegian Centre for Molecular Biosciences and Medicine in Oslo. We ask whether the sensitive periods of brain development are stretches of time or short-lived states of individual cells, and we study it in human tissue grown in the dish. If that question pulls at you, you are in the right place.
Where things stand
The group is new and there are no funded positions advertised right now. People at every stage are still welcome to write, because several routes below work through your own funding, a degree programme or an exchange agreement rather than a post of mine. Any opening will be announced on this page and on Jobbnorge.
What you can expect from the lab
The science sets the culture here as much as any policy does.
A systems approach
We look at single cells inside developing tissue, not at averages across a dish, and ask how many cell types and states respond to one exposure.
Questions about the fundamentals
What is a sensitive period, at the resolution of one cell? We would rather settle that than assume the answer.
Computation next to the bench
Every project pairs wet-lab work with modelling and sequencing analysis. You will not be handed one half of a project.
Relevance to real decisions
The point is better evidence for decisions about medicines and pollutants during pregnancy, and we work entirely in human tissue.
Open, careful science
Rigour, reproducibility and accessibility come first. Protocols, code and data are shared, and decision criteria are written down before the results arrive.
What we owe each other
Mentoring runs both ways. This is what I commit to, what I ask in return, and what I hope everyone gives each other.
What you can expect from me
- Regular one-to-one and group meetings on progress, problems and where you want to go.
- Mentoring shaped around your own career goals, not only my project.
- Help getting what you need: training, resources, funding and fellowship applications.
- A safe, inclusive and productive place to work.
- Backing inside the university and the wider community when you need it.
- Timely feedback on manuscripts, talks and applications.
What I expect from you
- Honest, careful science. No shortcuts with data.
- Taking part in lab meetings, journal clubs and collaborations.
- An organised, up-to-date lab notebook and data storage.
- Care for shared equipment, shared spaces and other people's time.
- Asking for help early, and giving constructive feedback to colleagues.
- A reasonable working week with room for life outside the lab. Students work flexibly around their courses.
What we expect from each other
- A collaborative place where knowledge and resources are shared.
- Honest and constructive feedback in discussion and in peer review.
- Respect for different backgrounds, experience and viewpoints.
- A commitment to a fair and inclusive lab culture.
Expectations at each stage
Open the stage that fits you. Each one has a focus, what is expected, and the usual way in. All of them can start with an email.
MSc students
Focus: running an experiment properly, from design to defence
Expectations
- Own a defined project, with a written plan agreed in the first month.
- Finish the safety, ethics and cell-culture training before you start at the bench.
- Keep a dated electronic lab notebook that someone else could follow.
- Present your progress at group meetings and raise problems early, not at the end.
- Write the thesis in drafts and share them in time for real feedback.
- Support your project partner. Students often start in pairs.
The usual way in
You are enrolled in a relevant master's programme at the University of Oslo, or one that can accept a project hosted here. Write to me with your programme, the thesis size (set by the programme, often 30 or 60 ECTS) and what interests you. The formal supervisor of record sits in your department, so I agree the arrangement with them before any project is promised.
Erasmus+ students and trainees
Focus: a clear placement with something you can take home
Expectations
- Arrive with your home institution's agreement in place, such as the learning or training agreement.
- Agree a project and a deliverable in your first week.
- Complete safety training before any bench work.
- Document as you go: protocols, data and a handover note, so the work can continue after you leave.
- Join group meetings, and tell me early if the plan or your own goals change.
The usual way in
Erasmus+ study or traineeship mobility is arranged through your home university's international office, which also handles the grant. Placements typically last from two months to a year. Write to me first, with your coordinator's contact and the dates you have in mind.
PhD candidates
Focus: deep expertise, critical thinking and ownership of a project
Expectations
- Take primary responsibility for a project and push it forward.
- Develop hypotheses, design experiments and analyse data with care, writing down your decision criteria in advance where you can.
- Present regularly at group meetings and at external conferences.
- Publish your own work and contribute to collaborative papers.
- Mentor MSc and Erasmus students working near your project.
- Look for professional development and funding opportunities.
- Complete the courses and milestones of the doctoral programme.
The usual way in
Funded doctoral positions at the University of Oslo are advertised on Jobbnorge and the UiO vacancies page, and I will list any opening here too. They normally run three years of research, or four with teaching or other duties, and require admission to a doctoral programme. If you hold your own scholarship from home, write to me anyway. Formal supervision of a doctoral degree runs through the host department, and I will say plainly what that arrangement is before we commit.
Postdoctoral researchers
Focus: scientific leadership, new ideas and preparing for independence
Expectations
- Lead a project from the first plan to the published paper.
- Develop new methods or ideas that fit the lab's questions, and a line of your own that can leave with you.
- Write manuscripts and fellowship applications, and co-supervise students.
- Present at international meetings and build your own network.
- Take on peer review, with my support for the first ones.
- Act as a role model for junior colleagues in integrity, mentoring and respect.
The usual way in
The programme is planned around two postdoctoral posts: one at the bench (human organoids and genome engineering) and one computational (single-cell analysis and statistical modelling). Until they are funded, the realistic route is your own fellowship, for example a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship, an EMBO fellowship or a Research Council of Norway mobility grant. I will help you shape the application, and every grant I hold myself came from one I applied for.
Visiting and exchange researchers
Focus: a defined collaboration for a defined period
Expectations
- Agree the question, the deliverable and the dates before you arrive.
- Bring your own funding and the agreement with your home institution.
- Teach us something: a seminar or a hands-on session on a method you know well.
- Agree in writing how data and materials will be shared.
- Keep records in a form that stays in the lab when you leave.
The usual way in
Sabbatical funding, Erasmus+ staff or doctoral mobility, and national mobility grants all work. Visits can run from a few weeks to a year. Send me a short note on what you want to work on and what you would bring. Visits that fill one of the gaps listed on the research page are the ones I most want to hear about.
Technicians and research assistants
Focus: research proficiency, growing independence and career development
Expectations
- Run experiments with growing autonomy and the confidence to troubleshoot.
- Keep detailed, reproducible records in an electronic lab notebook.
- Keep the lab running: cell banks and stocks, equipment, safety and waste.
- Contribute to lab meetings and ask for feedback on where you want to go next.
- Help train students on the protocols you know best.
The usual way in
Technician posts are advertised on Jobbnorge once they are funded. A bachelor's degree or equivalent in biomedical laboratory science (bioingeniør), biotechnology or biology fits well, and hands-on cell culture experience counts for a lot. Experience with human stem cells is valued but is not required.
Interested in joining?
No funded positions are open at the moment, but I am glad to hear from anyone at any stage who wants to work in a rigorous, collaborative group.
Send me
- A short statement of interest and your career goals.
- Your CV.
- Contact details for one or two referees.
- Optional: a writing sample or a summary of your previous research.
- For Erasmus+ students and visitors: your home institution, your coordinator's contact and your preferred dates.
Please put your stage in the subject line. I read every message addressed to this work and reply to it. If there is a fit, we start with a video call.
Working in Oslo
- English is the working language. Norwegian is useful but not required.
- Employed staff get Norwegian public-sector terms: a set salary scale, pension and parental leave.
- Citizens of the EEA can work in Norway without a permit. Others need a residence permit, and the university's HR team guides you once there is an offer.
- Housing in Oslo is expensive and competitive, so start looking early. Students can apply through SiO, the student welfare organisation.
- If you need any adjustment to apply or to work here, tell me and we will arrange what we can.
I welcome applications from people of every background. Work with human cells follows Norwegian ethics and biobank rules, and training is part of your first weeks.
Not ready to apply?
Read the research plan and the roadmap, then write to me with the one thing you would do differently. Good questions are the best application.