About the position

Position as Postdoctoral Research Fellow available at Centre for Space Sensors and Systems (CENSSS) at the Department of Technology Systems (ITS).

CENSSS is a Centre for Research-based Innovation (SFI), funded by the Research Council of Norway (RCN) and UiO for up to eight years, starting in November 2020. CENSSS has three research partners and nine user partners. CENSSS is located at Kjeller, Norway, where there is a long history of space science and technology dating back to the 1960s.

CENSSS addresses challenges and opportunities in science, technology and business related to “New-Space” satellites and systems for Earth Observation, as well as Space Exploration, by focusing on novel sensors, systems and services. CENSSS is operating the RIMFAX ground penetrating radar on the NASA Perseverance Mars rover.

Starting date as soon as possible.

The fellowship period is 3 years. A fourth year may be considered with a workload of 25 % that may consist of teaching, supervision duties, and/or research assistance. This is dependent upon the qualification of the applicant and the current needs of the department.

No one can be appointed for more than one Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at the University of Oslo.

Project description/Job description/Development plan

The Post Doc fellow will be part of the RIMFAX team on the NASA Mars 2020 Perseverance rover mission. RIMFAX is a Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and one of seven scientific instruments aboard the Perseverance rover. The RIMFAX Science team is an international team with participants from institutions in both US and Europe, see here.

The main goal of the RIMFAX experiment is to study the environmental and geological history of Mars at the Perseverance landing site in Jezero crater.

The Post Doc research work will include the following topics and tasks:

• Contribute to the operation of RIMFAX on Mars
• Process and interpret RIMFAX GPR data from Mars
• Present RIMFAX results to the Mars 2020 Science Team
• Publish scientific results at conferences and in scientific journals
• Supervise Master students & PhDs.

The main purpose of a postdoctoral fellowship is to provide the candidates with enhanced skills to pursue a scientific top position within or beyond academia. To promote a strategic career path, all postdoctoral research fellows are required to submit a professional development plan no later than one month after commencement of the postdoctoral period.

It is expected that the successful candidate will be able to complete the project in the course of the period of employment.

Your main tasks will be 

• Ability to take initiative and come up with new ideas to solve theoretical and practical problems
• Ability to work independently as well as in a team
• Good personal communication skills
• In assessing the applications, special emphasis will be placed on the documented academic qualifications, personal skills, and research interests, and as well as on the candidate's motivation and personal suitability as assessed via interviews

What skills are important in this role?

The Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences has a strategic ambition to be among Europe’s leading communities for research, education and innovation. Candidates for these fellowships will be selected in accordance with this, and expected to be in the upper segment of their class with respect to academic credentials.

Qualification requirements:

• Applicants must hold a degree equivalent to a Norwegian doctoral degree in physics, geoscience, or related fields. Doctoral dissertation must be submitted for evaluation by the closing date. Only applicants with an approved doctoral thesis and public defence are eligible for appointment.
• Fluent oral and written communication skills in English.

Desired qualifications:

• The topic of the doctoral degree must be of relevance to the position
• Applicants must have experience in one or more of the topics:
• Planetary radar systems,
• Ground Penetrating Radar
• Near Surface Geophysics
• Operation of planetary science instruments
• The Post Doc candidate must have experience in Python programming
• The Post Doc candidate must be eligible to be able to join the NASA Mars 2020 Science Team.
• The Post Doc candidate must be eligible to obtain a “restricted” security clearance according to the Norwegian National Security Act (Lov om Nasjonal Sikkerhet, a.k.a. “Sikkerhetsloven”), i.e. preferably a citizen of Norway or a NATO country.

We can offer you

• Exciting and meaningful tasks in an organization with an important societal mission, contributing to knowledge development, education, and enlightenment that promote sustainable, fair, and knowledge-based societal development.
• Committed colleagues in a good working environment. 
• Good welfare schemes.
• Opportunity of up to 1.5 hours a week of exercise during working hours. A workplace with good development and career opportunities.
• Postdoctoral development programmes.
• Membership in the Statens Pensjonskasse, which is one of Norway's best pension schemes with beneficial mortgages and good insurance schemes.
• Salary in position as Postdoctoral Fellow, position code 1352 in salary range NOK from 579 700 - to 657 300 per annum depending on competence and experience. From the salary, 2 percent is deducted in statutory contributions to the State Pension Fund. 

Read more about the benefits of working in the public sector at Employer Portal.

Inclusive worklife and diversity at UiO

Inclusion and diversity are a strength. The University of Oslo has a personnel policy objective of achieving a balanced gender composition. Furthermore, we want employees with diverse professional expertise, life experience and perspectives.

If there are qualified applicants with disabilities, employment gaps or immigrant background, we will invite at least one applicant from each of these categories to an interview.

We hope that you will apply for the position.

More information about gender equality initiatives at UiO can be found here.

How to apply

The application must include:

• Cover letter (statement of motivation, summarizing scientific work and research interest).
• CV (summarizing education, positions, pedagogical experience, administrative experience and other qualifying activity).
• Copies of educational certificates, academic transcript of records.
• A complete list of publications and up to 5 academic works that the applicant wishes to be considered by the evaluation committee.
• Names and contact details of 2-3 references (name, relation to candidate, e-mail and telephone number).

Application with attachments must be submitted via our recruitment system Jobbnorge, click "Apply for the position".

When applying for the position, we ask you to retrieve your education results from Vitnemålsportalen.no. If your education results are not available through Vitnemålsportalen, we ask you to upload copies of your transcripts or grades. Please note that all documentation must be in English or a Scandinavian language.

In assessing the applications, special emphasis will be placed on the documented, academic qualifications, the project description (whenever this is required in the call for applicants), and the quality of the project as well as the candidates motivation and personal suitability.

Formal regulations

The best qualified candidates will invited for interviews.

Please see the guidelines and regulations for appointments to Postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Oslo.

If an applicant has applied for and been granted funding for a fulltime research stay abroad while being employed as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow, the employment will be prolonged with the equivalent time as the research stay, but for no longer than of twelve months ( thus extending the employment to a maximum of four years)

No one can be appointed twice as a Postdoctoral fellow financed with funds from The Research Council of Norway (NFR).

Applicant lists can be published in accordance with Norwegian Freedom of Information Act § 25. When you apply for a position with us, your name will appear on the public applicant list. It is possible to request to be excluded from this list. You must justify why you want an exemption from publication and we will then decide whether we can grant your request. If we can't, you will hear from us.

The University of Oslo has an agreement for all employees, aiming to secure rights to research results a.o.

Apply for position

Questions about the position

For further information please contact:

• Svein-Erik Hamran (Professor), s.e.hamran@its.uio.no

For questions regarding Jobbnorge, please contact:

• Elin Thoresen (HR Adviser), elithore@mn.uio.no