Western Norway University of Applied Sciences

With about 17,000 students, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences is one of the largest higher education institutions in Norway. A broad range of academic programmes are offered at Bachelor, Master and PhD levels, spread out on five campuses Førde, Sogndal, Bergen, Stord og Haugesund.

Our ambition is to build stronger and more solid academic and research environments that will interact nationally and internationally. The aim is to become a recognized actor on the international higher education arena. Increased international cooperation and engagement in externally funded projects will work towards this goal.

The Faculty of Engineering and Science has approximately 270 employees and approximately 3200 students. The faculty has a broad education offering at both the bachelor and master's level in engineering and sciences, as well as PhD education in computer technology. Mohn center for Innovation and Regional Development researches and offers master's programs in innovation and entrepreneurship. The dive-training program offers one-year vocational education.

The majority of the faculty's activities are in Haugesund, Bergen, Sogndal and Førde, but we also offer decentralized education in Florø, Kristiansund and Stord. The faculty's activities are internationally rooted and work in close collaboration with regional companies, clusters, health enterprises and the public sector, including other institutions in the university and college sector. This applies to research, development, innovation, and not least, education with student projects at all levels.

The Department of Safety, Chemistry and Biomedical laboratory sciences has over 60 employees in full-time and part-time positions. They are divided into 7 Professors, 17 Associate Professors, 24 Assistant Professors and 8 Engineers. In addition, there are 8 PhD fellows associated with the academic environment at the institute. The department has four bachelor's programs and one master's program. In Bergen, we have a bachelor's program for bioengineering and chemistry engineering. At campus Haugesund we have a bachelor's program for fire engineering education and HSE engineering education as well as a master's program in fire safety. The department has laboratories with state-of-the-art instrument parks, a broad research activity and close collaboration with many companies in the region.

Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Faculty of Engineering and Science has a vacancy for Ph.D. scholarship for Prediction of Wildfires in Scandinavia

About the position:

Western Norway University of Applied Sciences has a vacancy for Ph.D.-scholarship for Prediction of Wildfires in Scandinavia. The position is part of the research project "PREWISS", financed by the Research Council of Norway, and is for a fixed-term period of 3 years.

The Ph.D candidate will be part of the fire safety research group at Campus Haugesund in the Department of Safety, Chemistry and Biomedical laboratory sciences at Faculty of Engineering and Science.

Workplace is at campus Haugesund.

About the PhD project/work tasks:

Global warming will give rise to increasing temperatures, less rain, and longer periods with dry weather conditions. Such hot and dry periods will increase the risk of large wildfires in regions unfamiliar with these types of disasters, one such region is Northern Europe where both the number and the size of wildfires are expected to increase. To prepare for and reduce the risk of disastrous wildfires, societal safety must be further developed to predict these types of disasters. This project will contribute to the prediction of wildfires risk and spread by implementing new methods for detecting risk factors together with new models for fire spread.

The candidate will work experimentally with fire spread in Scandinavian vegetation. From small-scale to medium-scale in our laboratory facilities, as well as real-scale in the field, the fire behaviour of different vegetation will be determined and analysed. The influence of different parameters such as weather conditions and topography will be also determined for the fire behaviour of the specific vegetation that can be encountered in the Scandinavian region.

Applicants should submit a project outline of maximum 5 pages, describing topic, choice of theory and method as well as plan for carrying out a potential project. The preliminary project descriptions will be used for assessing the qualifications of the candidates. The final project description will be developed together with the supervisors.

Qualifications:

Formal qualifications:

• Good understanding and writing of English language
• Relevant education at master level

Wanted qualifications:

• Education or experience from fire safety is an advantage but not a prerequisite.
• Previous experience from work in fire safety engineering laboratory
• Knowledge on instrumentation.

Personal qualifications:

• Ability for teamwork
• Good communication skills
• High work capacity
• Interested to work in multidiscipline project
• Solution oriented

The PhD research fellow should have a master's degree in (or closely related to) systems engineering, software engineering, computer science, computing, information and communication technologies, or in fire safety with a with a strong emphasis on computing. In order to communicate with fire brigades and civilians, fluency in a Scandinavian language is an advantage for this PhD position.

In addition to the required educational background, the following criteria will be evaluated: competence and grades on completed course work, quality of the master's thesis (excellent grade, equivalent of grade B or better on the ECTS grading system), publications (if any), communication skills, research and teaching experience, practical software engineering skills and experience.

The candidate must be diligent and display the ability to work independently, supplemented with regular guidance, and is expected to carry out high-quality research and to publish the results in national seminars, international workshops, conferences, and journals.

The PhD candidate will be assigned academic supervisors at Western Norway University of Applied Sciences. An application for enrolment should first be submitted after an appointment is made and the supervisor(s) will help with this procedure. The candidate must be enrolled as a PhD student within 3 months from the start of the employment.

Application procedure:

Applications will be evaluated by an expert panel of three members.

Applicants are asked to submit their application and CV online. Please use the link “Apply for this job” (“Søk stillingen”).

The following documentation should be uploaded as an attachment to the online application:

• Master Thesis
• Copies of selected academic publications (no more than 15)
• A CV with a complete list of academic publications
• Diplomas and certificates

Applicants should indicate which publications or parts of publications should be given special consideration in the evaluation. If the documents submitted are not in a Scandinavian language or in English, the applicants must submit certified translations of these. The transcripts must specify the topics, the course works, and the grades at the bachelor`s and master`s degree levels.

Applicant whose education is from another country than Norway, need to also attach a certified translation of the diploma and transcript of grades to English or a Scandinavian language, if the original is not in any of these languages. It is required that the applicant enclose a review from NOKUT whether the education (bachelor and master’s degree) is of a scope and level that corresponds to the level of a Norwegian master’s degree. Please see www.nokut.no/en for more information about NOKUT’s general recognition. This may take some time and we recommend you to apply as soon as you know you will apply for this position. If no answer within the application deadline, please enclose documentation from NOKUT that they have received your application.

Applicants should note that the evaluation will be based on the documentation submitted electronically via Jobbnorge within the submission deadline. The applicants are responsible for ensuring that all the documentation is submitted before the closing date. It is of utmost importance that all publications to be considered in the evaluation are uploaded as an attachment with the application, since these are sent electronically to the expert panel. Applications cannot be sent by e-mail or to individuals at the college.

Salary:

• Good occupational pension, insurance and loan schemes from The Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund
• Exciting academic environment with the possibility of competence enhancement and development
• Opportunities for training within the working hours

Initial salaries will be offered at grade 54 (code 1017) in the Civil Service pay grade table scale.

There is a compulsory 2 % deduction to the pension fund (see http://www.spk.no for more information). The successful applicant must comply with the guidelines that apply to the position at any time.

General information:

The appointment will be made in accordance with the regulations for State employees Law in Norway ("Lov om statens ansatte)". Organizational changes and changes in the duties and responsibilities associated with the position must be expected.

State employment shall reflect the multiplicity of the population at large to the highest possible degree. Western Norway University of Applied Sciences Bergen has therefore adopted a personnel policy objective to ensure that we achieve a balanced age and gender composition and the recruitment of persons of various ethnic backgrounds.

Information about the applicant may be made public even though the applicant has requested not to be named in the list of applicants. The applicant will be notified if his/her request is not respected.

Short-listed applicants will be called in for an interview.

Contacts:

1) Associate professor Maria de Las Nieves Fernandez Anez, email: nieves.fernandez@hvl.no, tlf: 52 70 28 63

2) Head of department Geir Martin Førland, email: geir.martin.forland@hvl.no, tlf: 55 58 76 23

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