Postdoctoral fellowship in Computational Music and Dance Analysis at the University of Oslo

A Postdoc Fellowship position (SKO 1352) in Computational Music and Dance Analysis is available in connection with the research project DJEMBEDANCE: Multimodal Rhythm in Music and Dance from West Africa, funded by the Research Council of Norway. The project is affiliated with RITMO Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Rhythm, Time and Motion at the University of Oslo. 

All RITMO researchers are co-located and work in a unique interdisciplinary constellation, with world-leading competence in musicology, psychology and informatics. It is expected that all members of the centre contribute to the general activities and collaborations within RITMO. The researchers have access to state-of-the-art facilities in sound/video recording, motion capture, eye tracking, physiological measurements, various types of brain imaging (EEG, fMRI), and rapid prototyping and robotics laboratories. 

Applicants should upload a research outline, with research questions and theoretical and methodological approaches.

More about the position

The candidate is expected to investigate temporal patterns and their coordination in music and dance performance in recordings of djembe music and dance performance from Mali. The focus is expected to be on using computational methods on the existing audio, video, and motion capture data. The DJEMBEDANCE project aims to study rhythmic, metric and timing patterns in music and dance with a focus on their cross-modal relations, interactions and integration.  Aspects to be studied include microtiming patterns, metric beat perception and production in both music and dance, and adaptive time-keeping in music-dance synchronisation. The core tasks will consist of corpus creation (from the large set of existing recordings), feature extraction, data visualisation, pattern recognition, and computational analysis of interpersonal and cross-modal pattern relationships. The chosen candidate will collaborate closely with ethnomusicologists, dance scholars, and cognitive scientists.

The appointment is for a period of three years, starting 1. September 2023. There is a 10 % component of the position which is devoted to teaching and administrative duties. There might be a possibility to extend to four years depending on the qualifications of the recruited candidate, the departments’ needs for teaching, and the centre’s need for assistance.

The successful candidate is expected to be part of the research environment of RITMO and contribute to strengthening the links between different research areas within the centre. The main purpose of postdoctoral research fellowships is to qualify researchers for work in higher academic positions within their disciplines.

Qualification/requirements

• PhD in sound and music computing, informatics, computer science, computational musicology, or related fields. The applicant is required to document that the degree corresponds to the profile of the post. 
• Experience with one or more of the following: sound analysis, music information retrieval, digital signal processing, computer vision, machine learning, and data visualization.
• It is advantageous to have experience with human movement analysis, multimodal corpus creation, and metadata development.
• Excellent skills in written and oral English
• The applicant's collaboration skills and ability to join interdisciplinary academic communities, and estimated academic and personal ability to contribute to the research objectives of RITMO
• Personal suitability and motivation for the position.

The doctoral dissertation must be submitted for evaluation by the application deadline. The appointment is dependent on the public defence of the doctoral thesis being approved. 

No one can be appointed for more than one postdoctoral period at the University of Oslo.

In assessing the applications, special emphasis will be placed on:

• The research project’s scientific merit, research-related relevance and innovation
• The quality of the research outline. The candidate’s proposed research project must be closely connected to the DJEMBEDANCE project profile.
• The applicant’s estimated academic and personal ability to carry out the project within the allotted time frame and contribute to the research objectives of RITMO
• Excellent collaboration skills and the ability to successfully join in academic teamwork within and across disciplines.

We offer

• Salary level 544 400-626 300 NOK per annum, depending on qualifications.
• A professionally stimulating working environment.
• Membership in the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund
• Attractive welfare benefits.

Applications must include

Applicants must submit the following attachments with the electronic application:

• Application letter describing the applicant’s qualifications and motivation for the position.
• Curriculum Vitae (complete list of education, positions, teaching experience, administrative experience and other qualifying activities, including a complete list of publications with links to the full version of published papers).
• Research outline, including relevant research questions and theoretical and methodological approaches (approximately 2-3 pages, see the template for research outline).
• Names and contact details of 2-3 references (name, relation to candidate, e-mail and telephone number)

Diplomas, certificates, doctoral thesis and other academic works will be requested later.

Please note that all documents must be in English or a Scandinavian Language.

The application with attachments must be delivered in our electronic recruiting system, jobbnorge.no.

The short-listed candidates will be invited to an interview.

Formal regulations

See also Regulations concerning Post-Doctoral Research Fellowships.

Following the Freedom of Information Act (Offentleglova) § 25, Chapter 2, information about the applicant may be used in the public list of applicants even if the applicant opts out from the entry in the public application list.

No one can be appointed for more than one Postdoctoral Fellow period at the University of Oslo.

The University of Oslo has an Acquisition of Rights Agreement for the purpose of securing rights to intellectual property created by its employees, including research results.

The University of Oslo aims to achieve a balanced gender composition in the workforce and to recruit people with ethnic minority backgrounds.

Contact information

Head of Administration Pia Søndergaard, e-mail: pia.sondergaard@imv.uio.no, phone number: +47 22 85 44 89

For technical questions regarding the recruitment system

HR Adviser Mira Kramarova

About the University of Oslo 

The University of Oslo is Norway’s oldest and highest ranked educational and research institution, with 28 000 students and 7500 employees. With its broad range of academic disciplines and internationally recognised research communities, UiO is an important contributor to society.

RITMO Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Rhythm, Time and Motion is financed through the Research Council of Norway’s Centre of Excellence Scheme.

RITMO combines a broad spectrum of disciplines – from musicology, neuroscience and informatics – to study rhythm as a fundamental property of human cognition, behaviour and cultural expression. The Centre is organized under the Department of Musicology, in close collaboration with the Department of Psychology and the Department of Informatics.