Two PhD researcher fellowships in the field of AI and digitalised applied medical device development for EEG based risk estimation of dementia - EU Horizon 2020 Project AI-Mind

Applications are invited for two PhD researcher positions at the Department of Neurology, Oslo University Hospital (OUH), within the EU Horizon 2020 AI-Mind Project. The positions are located at the coordinating group of the AI-Mind project at Oslo University Hospital (OUH), Ullevål. AI-Mind is a five-year Research and Innovation Action (RIA) project, with a consortium of fifteen project partners from eight European countries. It is an interdisciplinary, international multicentre project that aims at developing a cloud-based diagnostic support platform for early dementia risk estimation in people with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). The platform will use Artificial Intelligence (AI) based methods to integrate electroencephalographic (EEG) data with cognitive test scores and genetic information. Visit www.ai-mind.eu for more detailed information.

The positions will be located at the coordinating group of the AI-Mind Project at Oslo University Hospital, Ullevål. The candidates will work in close collaboration with both academic and commercial European partners from the AI-Mind consortium, in particular with the Norwegian (OsloMet) and Finish (Aalto University) AI partners and the academic spin-off company BrainSymph AS.

We seek two PhD candidates, who are highly motivated to work in a interdisciplinary group, with high work capacity, curiosity, and feasibility. The positions are part of a multinational network of experts and research fellows from different scientific fields such as technology, medicine, economics, and law. Therefore, the ability to communicate and collaborate well with others from different multi-disciplinary fields is a prerequisite.

The purpose of the fellowships is research training leading to the successful completion of a PhD degree and requires admission to the PhD program at the University of Oslo.

Job description

The research challenges that the candidates will be addressing in this project are related to:

• Application areas of AI methods based on EEG data.
• Beyond-state-of-the-art EEG analysis frameworks, including estimation of source-space functional connectivity and brain network characterisation.
• Integration of EEG pre-processing pipelines with AI modelling frameworks.
• Development and validation of:
  • Automatized source reconstruction methods;
  • Functional connectivity methods with source-space EEG data;
  • Automatized procedures for quantitative quality assessment and pre-processing with a view of AI modelling compatibility.
• Be an active part of the data collection logistics team, including patient recruitment, EEG recording, administration of cognitive tests.

The candidates will be part of the Cognitive Health Research group at OUH. A detailed plan for the PhD period will be defined based on the specific background of the candidate and the project needs. The fellowship period is three years. Starting date is as soon as possible.

What we offer

• A pleasant, highly motivated, international oriented and very dynamic work environment.
• Flexible, adapted working hours with home office option.
• We are committed in maintaining a very good working climate, stimulating everybody to an excellent personal development and their own further scientific career.
• Very good welfare schemes pension scheme in the Government Pension Fund.
• A salary following PhD candidates’ placement in the public service (TEKNA).

The application must contain

• Application letter.
• CV with 2-3 references (complete overview of education, relevant professional practice, and any other qualifying activities).
• Copy of diplomas/transcripts.
• A summary of your Master thesis.

Application (with attachments, if applicable) must be submitted via our recruitment system Jobbnorge.

Deadline of submission of applications is: 10 May 2021.