The position
The Department of Geosciences has a PhD Fellow position vacant. The position is a part of the research project “Methanotrophic communities in ice” (METHANICE) funded by The Research Council of Norway. METHANICE is an international project with collaborators from world-leading institutions in Arctic environmental sciences. This includes The University Center in Svalbard (UNIS), Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), NASA and La Rochelle University, France.
The position is for a period of four years. The nominal length of the PhD programme is three years. The fourth year is distributed as 25 % each year and will consist of teaching and other duties. The objective of the position is to complete research training to the level of a doctoral degree. Admission to the PhD programme is a prerequisite for employment, and the programme period starts on commencement of the position.
The workplace is at UiT in Tromsø. You must be able to start in the position in Tromsø within a reasonable time after receiving the offer.
The position’s field of research
The “Methanotrophic communities in ice” (METHANICE) project aims to identify the role of methane consuming microorganisms associated with terrestrial seasonal ice. This ice forms on top of sub-permafrost groundwater springs during winter, trapping methane and carbon dioxide in a thick ice layer surrounding massive, pressurized aquifers that are oversaturated with the greenhouse gases (GHG). While the aquifers are full of microorganisms, a large proportion of these organisms are associated with methane consumption, it is still unknown whether they are active during winter.
The candidate’s objective is to reveal, if the ice microbial community uses the sub permafrost GHG present in the sub-ice reservoir and how they mitigate their release into the atmosphere. The appointed candidate will get access to the new Ice-Cold Microorganisms Environmental Laboratory (ICOM) at Department of Geosciences, UiT. ICOM is designed for experimental work on microbial ecosystems at low temperatures (-0.9 – 2 °C). In combination with molecular and analytical tools, the candidate will develop advanced ICOM experiments focusing both on Arctic microbial ecosystems and cold-loving microbes and test their ecological role in the changing Arctic environment.
Contact
For further information about the position, please contact researcher Dimitri Kalenitchenko, UiT:
Qualifications
The successful applicant must hold a Master in Microbiology, Ecology or Environmental sciences. Previous experience in environmental microorganisms’ cultivation, and experimental design are advantageous. A further project requirement is the ability to treat or learn how to treat data produced by high throughput sequencing data. Therefore, bioinformatic or informatic documented skills are an asset. The candidate is expected to participate in fieldwork in the Arctic to collect the samples needed for the project and use molecular biology skills to process the samples. The appointed candidate must have the ability and willingness to work under extreme/harsh (polar) climatic conditions in different seasons.
We are looking for a candidate who is well organized and who can work independently in a multidisciplinary environment. During this PhD, the candidate may face challenges related to experimental setup, requiring immediate problem solving and adjustments of the experiments/sampling plans. Therefore, previous experiences highlighting the ability of the candidate to face and deal with field and/or laboratory challenges in a professional way will be very much appreciated.
The candidate must have a documented good command of English (both written and oral). Applicants not being able to communicate in Norwegian will be encouraged to learn the language within a reasonable time.
If you are near completion of your master’s degree, you may still apply and submit a draft version of the thesis and a statement from your supervisor or institution indicating when the degree will be obtained. You must document completion of your degree before commencement in the position. You must still submit your transcripts for the master’s degree with your application.
The results will be presented at national and international conferences/workshops, as well as published in peer-reviewed scientific journals. The candidate must therefore have a documented good command of English (both written and oral).
The assessment will emphasize motivation and personal suitability for the position. You must be willing to engage in the ongoing development of your discipline and the university as a whole. During this assessment process, emphasis will be put on your potential for research as shown by the Master’s thesis, the cover letter, and any other academic works. In addition, we may consider work experience, teaching qualifications or other activities of significance for the PhD studies.
As many as possible should have the opportunity to undertake organized research training. If you already hold a PhD or have equivalent competence, we will not appoint you to this position.
Admission to the PhD programme
For employment in the PhD position, you must be qualified for admission to the PhD programme at the and participate in organized doctoral studies within the employment period.
Admission normally requires:
- A bachelor's degree of 180 ECTS and a master's degree of 120 ECTS, or an integrated master's degree of 300 ECTS.
- A master's thesis with a scope corresponding to at least 30 ECTS for a master's degree of 120 ECTS.
- A master's thesis with a scope corresponding to at least 20 ECTS for an integrated master's degree of 300 ECTS.
In order to gain admission to the programme, the applicant must have a grade point average of C or better for the master’s degree and for relevant subjects of the bachelor’s degree. A more detailed description of admission requirements can be found .
Applicants with a foreign education will be subjected to an evaluation of whether the educational background is equal to Norwegian higher education, following national guidelines from .
If you are employed in the position, you will be provisionally admitted to the PhD programme. Application for final admission must be submitted no later than two monthsafter taking up the position.
Inclusion and diversity
UiT The Arctic University of Norway is working actively to promote equality, gender balance and diversity among employees and students, and to create an inclusive and safe working environment. We believe that inclusion and diversity are a strength, and we want employees with different competencies, professional experience, life experience and perspectives.
If you have a disability, a gap in your CV or immigrant background, we encourage you to tick the box for this in your application. If there are qualified applicants, we invite at least one in each group for an interview. If you get the job, we will adapt the working conditions if you need it. Apart from selecting the right candidates, we will only use the information for anonymous statistics.
Application
Your application must include:
- Cover letter explaining your motivation and research interests
- CV (maximum 2 pages)
- Diploma for bachelor's and master's degree
- Transcript of grades/academic record for bachelor's and master's degree
- Explanation of the grading system for foreign education (Diploma Supplement if available)
- Documentation of
- 1-3 references with contact information
- Master’s thesis, and any other academic works
All documentation to be considered must be in a Scandinavian language or English. Diplomas and transcripts must also be submitted in the original language, if not in English or Scandinavian. We only accept applications and documentation sent via Jobbnorge within the application deadline.
We offer
- A cross-disciplinary, supportive, and stimulating working environment with a dynamic group of PhD candidates and early career researchers
- Good welfare arrangements for employees including beneficial arrangements for pension and insurances
- National and international mobility to work closely with the project partners and to present the work in conferences/workshops
- A unique hometown Tromsø combining a multicultural urban scene with nearby Arctic wilderness
- More practical information for working and living in Norway can be found here:
General information
The appointment is made in accordance with State regulations and guidelines at UiT. At our website, you will find more .
A shorter period of appointment may be decided when the PhD Fellow has already completed parts of their research training programme or when the appointment is based on a previous qualifying position PhD Fellow, research assistant, or the like in such a way that the total time used for research training amounts to three years.
Remuneration for the position of PhD Fellow is in accordance with the State salary scale code 1017. The starting salary is approximately 490 800 NOK per year. A compulsory contribution of 2 % to the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund will be deducted.
We process personal data given in an application or CV in accordance with the Personal Data Act (Offentleglova). According to the Personal Data Act information about the applicant may be included in the public applicant list, also in cases where the applicant has requested non-disclosure. You will receive advance notification in the event of such publication, if you have requested non-disclosure.
