PhD Fellow position in Psychology

UiO/Anders Lien
23rd February 2026
Languages
English

• English

English

Join PROMENTA Research Center as a PhD Fellow, examining hormonal contraceptives' impact on mental health

PhD Fellow position in Psychology
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About the position

A 4-year PhD Fellow position in psychology is available at the PROMENTA Research Center, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo. The candidate will be part of the UiO:Life Science convergence environment “Hormonal contraceptives and mental health: A convergent, interdisciplinary approach [ContraMent]”, funded by UiO:Life Science.

The position is full-time for a duration of four years and includes 25% career promoting work related to supporting UiO:Life Science and convergence environment activities and teaching at the department.
 

About the ContraMent convergence environment and the project

Convergence environments are interdisciplinary research groups that aim to solve grand challenges related to health and environment. They are funded by UiO's interdisciplinary strategic area UiO:Life Science www.uio.no/life-science .

The ContraMent convergence environment aims to generate new interdisciplinary knowledge on how hormonal contraceptives (HCs) influences women’s mental health across the reproductive lifespan, in order to improve clinical decision-making and inform public health policy. The convergence environment includes four work packages, spanning pharmacoepidemiology, psychology, neuroscience, and clinical medicine, and is led by Professor Christian K. Tamnes.

This PhD project will be part of the psychology work package which through longitudinal cohort studies with registry linkages and advanced causal modelling techniques will examine the causal relationship between HC use and mental health problems, accounting for confounding factors. The project will use large-scale longitudinal survey data linked to national prescription registries and apply causal modelling frameworks to identify potential causal pathways linking HC use to mental health outcomes and indicators of wellbeing such as loneliness and self-esteem. The work package will have a particular focus on adolescence and young adulthood, as these developmental phases are characterized by increased risk for onset for mental health problem and periods when HC use is typically initiated.

The PhD fellow is expected to work with large-scale longitudinal data, perform statistical analyses, and write articles on HC use and its association to mental health and wellbeing outcomes that will be the basis of the PhD. The fellow is also expected to collaborate with researchers from other work packages in the convergence environment. The work package is led by Professor Tilmann von Soest at PROMENTA
 

About the PROMENTA Research Center

At PROMENTA, we study mental health and quality of life from a holistic perspective — from genetics and biology to local communities and policy. We aim to identify the factors that shape good and poor mental health, understand how social inequalities arise, and develop and evaluate effective interventions that promote wellbeing.

We ensure that our PhD fellows have the opportunity to develop high-quality research competence across disciplines, in collaboration with leading experts. With us, you will be part of a dynamic and interdisciplinary research environment, with ample opportunities for both scientific and social engagement throughout the academic year.

PROMENTA has more than 50 scientific staff and was established with funding from the Research Council of Norway and the Department of Psychology at the University of Oslo (UiO) in 2019. Learn more about working at PROMENTA here: https://www.sv.uio.no/promenta/english/ .

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 Qualifications 

Required qualifications

• Completed master’s degree in psychology, health sciences, or related fields relevant for the topic of the PhD project. 
• To be admitted to the PhD programmes at the University of Oslo, an applicant must have a five year master's degree or equivalent studies that have been recognised by the faculty as forming a sufficient basis for admission.
• To be employed as a PhD research fellow, admission to the doctoral program is required. Normally, one must apply for admission to a Ph.D. program within 3 months after the start of the research project leading to the Ph.D. degree.
• Strong skills in quantitative data analysis (R, Mplus or similar)
• Ambition and potential for high-quality research within the project, as evidenced by application letter and previous research experience.
• Personal suitability and interest to engage in interdisciplinary collaboration 
• Interest for research on topics related to women’s health
• Excellent English skills, orally and in writing

• Preferable additional qualifications
  Experience with working with longitudinal datasets and/or causal modelling
• Experience with research in mental health, psychosocial wellbeing, or women’s health
• Experience with user involvement and co-produced research
• Experience with open science practices
• Experience of publication in peer-reviewed journals
   

Employment in the position is based on a comprehensive assessment of all qualification requirements applicable to the position, including personal qualifications.
 

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 offer

• 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.
• Dedicated colleagues in a friendly and international work 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. 
• 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 Doctoral Research Fellow, position code 1017 in salary range NOK from 550 800 to 615 000, 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 .

Application

Your application should include:

• Application letter, describing your motivation for applying for the position, summarizing previous research experience, research interests and how own qualifications match the announced position, max. 2 pages
• CV, with complete overview of education, work experience, and other qualifying activity
• Publication list, including master thesis and potentially other work, including preprints and scientific talks and posters. 
• Copy of master’s thesis and potentially other scientific work (not more than a total of 3 items) 
• Transcripts and educational certificates, including a confirmation of completed MA degree.
• Contact information for 2-3 references (name, title, email, phone number, and description of relationship to the applicant) The master’s supervisor should be one of the listed references.

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. 

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 cannot, 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 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.

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University of Oslo

The University of Oslo is Norway’s oldest and highest ranked educational and research institution, with 26 500 students and 7 200 employees. With its broad range of academic disciplines and internationally recognised research communities, UiO is an important contributor to society.

The Department of Psychology is one of seven units of the Faculty of Social Sciences, and has 75 permanent and 70 temporary members of scientific staff. Degrees are offered at bachelor and master level, plus a clinical training programme, and the PhD programme has 140 students.

Questions about the position

Professor Tilmann von Soest

Project leader

t.v.soest@psykologi.uio.no

Dordi Stavik

HR Adviser

dordi.stavik@psykologi.uio.no

Apply for this job
Deadline

23rd February 2026

Employer

University of Oslo

Municipality

Oslo

Scope

Fulltime (1 positions) Fulltime (%)

Duration

Fixed Term

Place of service
Forskningsveien 3A, 0373 Oslo

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