University of Bergen

The University of Bergen is a renowned educational and research institution, organised into seven faculties and approximately 54 institutes and academic centres. Campus is located in the centre of Bergen with university areas at Nygårdshøyden, Haukeland, Marineholmen, Møllendalsveien and Årstad.

There are five departments and seven centres at Faculty of Medicine.

Read More about the faculty and departments.

Knowledge that shapes society

Through robust and close interaction with the world around us - globally, nationally and locally - we shall be instrumental in building a society based on knowledge, skills and attitudes.

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Researcher (temporary position)

At the Faculty of Medicine, Department of Clinical Science, a full-time temporary position as researcher is available for a period of one (1) year. The position is external financed by The EEA and Norway-Romania Grants Scheme - Collaborative Research Projects (CRPs) and for the time being a part of the project “Supportive therapy for diabetes by increasing the stress endurance and regenerative capacity of beta-cells”. The project has a temporary financing for three (3) years.

About the project/work tasks:

This project is aiming at developing strategies to help the β-cells’ secretory performance i.e. improving their capacity to cope with the increased load in the ER. Therefore, we plan to identify and characterize the early secretory pathway disturbances that occur during diabetes progression of different models in conjunction with varied insults.

More specifically, the work will require to:

• employ microscopy techniques (confocal and large scale microscopy) on cryosections/paraffin sections and/or flow cytometry to evaluate the degree of disturbances in the early secretory pathway appearance in β-cells and thus their heterogeneity in three distinct multiple transgenic murine models of diabetes/β-cell stress
• perform immunofluorescence techniques to assess changes in ER and Golgi apparatus morphology;
• perform physiological tests (GSIS; ipGTT) in order to assess the functionality of the β-cell compartment
• perform and analyse different omics to systematically assess the level of magnitude of stimulation of UPR sensors and target genes in freshly isolated β-cells/islets from healthy, new onset diabetes, long-term diabetic mice

Qualification and personal qualities:

• the applicant must hold a relevant Norwegian PhD or equivalent doctoral degree
• and he/she holds a FELASA certificate allowing working with mice
• the successful applicant must have documented experience of at least three (3) years in working with multiple transgenic diabetic mouse models (colony and breeding management, genotyping, surgical techniques, pancreatic islet isolation, physiological tests, toxin administration and cell-specific ablation) and also with cell culture, in vitro differentiation, encapsulation as well as in vivo delivery methods (xenotransplantation), confocal or large-scale microscopy techniques, transcriptomics and proteomics analyses
• applicants who have experience in both transgenic models, ablation models, and stem cell biology are particularly welcome to apply for this position
• the applicant must be experienced in counseling, teaching, writing manuscripts and preferentially also grant applications
• personal skills, including abilities to work independently and cooperate within a research group will be evaluated
• the applicant must be motivated and responsible, and also have a great work capacity and enthusiasm for research
• the candidate must be fluent in written and oral English
• experience with international collaboration is an advantage

We can offer:

• a good and challenging work environment in research front of molecular and cellular diabetes research
• salary at level 59 - 62 (code 1109/salary scale 24.3 – 24.6), currently NOK 526 000-555 800 gross p.a. for a fulltime position; following ordinary meriting regulations.
• enrolment in the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund
• good welfare benefits

Your application must include:

• a brief letter of application stating your motivation for the position, why you are applying and why this position is perfect for you
• an overview of your education and work experience (CV)
• witnessed copies of diplomas and relevant certificates (applicants with education from other countries than Norway must enclose diplomas in both the original language and authorized translations)
• publications and academic work (max 10) and a list of these
• your PhD thesis (in PDF)
• two referees (name and contact information)

It is very important that each of the scholarly works on which the committee should place special emphasis, is attached in its entirety.

The following premise forms the basis for the post as researcher:

• the researcher will be a member of the research group of which the topic/project belongs to
• the salary shall if possible be 100 % covered by external financing
• the researcher shall actively contribute to attract external funding to the research project, both for her/his own position and other positions, from the Research Council of Norway, EU and other sources
• the researcher is expected to have her/his research activity financed by the project of the researcher and the projects of the associated research group
• the Head of Department may allocate work for the Researcher related to specific research projects
• the researcher may participate in committee work and other administrative tasks within the University of Bergen
• the researcher has no teaching duties, but is expected to supervise master students and PhD candidates when this is a natural part of the research activity of the research group
• the researcher may apply for competence promotion according to the regulations for promotions
• the basis for the position ceases if no further project funding and new law on state officials etc. on dismissal and preferential rights will be applied to permanent employees

General information:

Further information about the position can be obtained from:

• Associate Professor Simona Chera, phone: +47 55 97 1262 or e-mail: Simona.Chera@uib.no

The state labour force shall reflect the diversity of Norwegian society to the greatest extent possible. People with immigrant backgrounds and people with disabilities are encouraged to apply for the position.

The University of Bergen applies the principles of public access to information when recruiting staff for academic positions. Information about applicants may be made public even if the applicant has asked not to be named in the list of persons who have applied. The applicant must be notified if the request to be omitted is not met.

For further information about the recruitment process, click here.

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