The University of Oslo is Norway’s oldest and highest rated institution of research and education with 26 500 students and 7 200 employees. Its broad range of academic disciplines and internationally esteemed research communities make UiO an important contributor to society.
Centre for Planetary Habitability (PHAB) is a Norwegian Centre of Excellence that provides a stimulating and well-funded research environment. PHAB’s main goal, based on detailed studies of Earth and our solar system, is to develop predictive models to identify habitable planets around other stars. PHAB research activities comprise three interrelated research themes: (1) Planets and Early Earth, (2) Modern Earth and (3) Exo-Earths. The centre was established in 2023 and will consist of approximately 70 full time and part time professors and researchers, PhD Research Fellows and Postdoctoral Research Fellows.
About the position
Position as Researcher in Paleogeography and Geodynamics is available at the Centre for Planetary Habitability (PHAB), Department of Geosciences, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Oslo (UiO).
The position is a fulltime position for a period of 3 years.Starting date 01.02.2026Place of work is PHAB, the Department of Geosciences at Blindern, Oslo.
Project description
The position is associated with the Centre for Planetary Habitability and linked to a project entitled “The Great Oxygenation Event and Planetary Habitability” (GOEPHAB) funded by the Research Council of Norway. GOE-PHAB is part of an international initiative (17 partner countries) GOE-DEEP (Gabon and Oxygenation of Earth – Drilling Early Earth Project), which aims to obtain 11 drill cores from anexceptional archive of Paleoproterozoic time, the Franceville Basin in Gabon, Africa. Drill targets span the time interval of key events in the early Proterozoic (2.5-2.0 Ga), including the potential to deliver new insights about the initial rise of atmospheric oxygen. The cores will form new geobiological, geochronological, geochemical, paleomagnetic and sedimentological knowledge to reconstruct theenvironmental conditions and resolve fundamental questions that remain about the emergence of Earth´s aerobic biosphere-hydrosphere-atmosphere system.
The prime objective for GOE-PHAB is to understand the environmental changes that enhanced planetary habitability during the early Proterozoic and the project will be carried out in close co-operation with project partners at the Geological Survey ofNorway (NGU, Trondheim), Tuffs University (USA), Helsinki University (Finland), Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK, Germany) and Carleton University (Canada). Eight GOE-DEEP cores have already been drilled and will be available for sub-sampling in early 2026 at the Geological Survey of Norway (NGU, Trondheim). The successful candidate will partly be involved in core sub-samplingand paleomagnetic experiments to build a regional paleogeographic framework for the Franceville Basin (Congo Craton), but the main tasks are as follows:
Developing apparent polar wander paths with statistical uncertainties for themajor cratons between ~2.7 and 2.0 billion years (Ga)
Building a global full plate paleogeographic model (2.7-2.0 Ga) with statistical uncertainties, serving as basis for climate modelling (in co-operation with PIK)
Identifying the driver(s) for the Great Oxygenation Event and coeval Snowball Earth conditions (in co-operation with all project partners)
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.
Required qualifications:
Applicants must hold a degree equivalent to a Norwegian doctoral degree in geosciences or physics. Doctoral dissertation must be submitted for evaluation by the closing date. Only applicants with an approved doctoral thesis and public defense are eligible for appointment.
The candidate must have a strong background in scientific programming (e.g., Python)
The candidate must have experience in developing reference frames for absolute plate motion and statistical methods for quantification of uncertainties
The candidate must have experience with methods to discriminate between true polar wander and the motion of individual plates
The candidate must have experience with global paleogeographic and geodynamic modelling
The candidate must have experience with full-plate modelling and the GPlates reconstruction freeware
Fluent oral and written communication skills in English
Desired qualifications:
Experience with drill-core sub-sampling (e.g., ICDP, ODP, IODP) for paleomagnetic and rock magnetic experiments
Experience working in large-scale multi-partner projects
Experience in carbon-cycle modelling software development
All candidates and projects will have to undergo a check versus national export, sanctions and security regulations. Candidates may be excluded based on these checks. Primary checkpoints are the Export Control regulation, the Sanctions regulation, and the national security regulation.
What are we looking for in you?
Personal skills:
Good communication and interpersonal skills
Ability to create and contribute to a well-functioning, inclusive and productive research environment
Strong quantitative and analytical skills.
Employment in the position is based on a comprehensive assessment of all qualification requirements applicable to the position, including personal skills.
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.
Opportunity of up to 1.5 hours a week of exercise during working hours. A workplace with good development and career opportunities.
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 Researcher, position code 1109 in salary range NOK from 646 000 to 745 000, depending on competence and experience. From the salary, 2 percent is deducted in statutory contributions to the State Pension Fund.
We need different perspectives in our work
UiO is an open and internationally oriented comprehensive university that strives to be an inclusive and diverse workplace and academic environment. You can read more about UiO’s work on equality, inclusion, and diversity at uio.no.
We fulfill our mission most effectively when we draw upon our variety of experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives. We are looking for great colleagues, could you be the next one?
We will do our best to accommodate your needs. Relevant adjustments may include modifications to working hours, task adaptations, digital, technical, or physical adjustments, or other practical measures.
If you have an immigrant background, a disability, or CV gaps (Norwegian), we encourage you to indicate this in the job application portal. We always invite at least one qualified candidate from each group for an interview. In this context, disability is defined as an applicant who identifies as having a disability that requires workplace or employment-related accommodations. For more details about the requirements, please refer to the Employer portal (Norwegian).
The selections made in the job application portal are used for anonymized statistics that all state employers include in their annual reports. More information about gender equality initiatives at UiO can be found here. We hope you will apply for the position with us.
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 this job".
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.
Formal regulations
The best qualified candidates will be invited for interviews.
According to the Norwegian Freedom and Information Act (Offentleglova) information about the applicant may be included in the public applicant list, also in cases where the applicant has requested non-disclosure.
