LEDIG STILLING VED UIT NORGES ARKTISKE UNIVERSITET
Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Protein Structural Dynamics by NMR
Deadline: 04.08.2024
Publisert
UiT The Arctic University of Norway is a multi-campus research university and the northernmost university of the world. Our central location in the High North, our broad and diverse research and study portfolio, and our interdisciplinary qualities make us uniquely suited to meet the challenges of the future. At UiT you can explore global issues from a close-up perspective.
Credibility, academic freedom, closeness, creativity and commitment shall be hallmarks of the relationship between our employees, between our employees and our students and between UiT and our partners.
The Faculty of Health Sciences at UiT The Arctic University of Norway represents a newly created entity gathering almost all possible health study programs. This facilitates an unique interdisciplinarity and innovation in health education and research. We work closely with the services in the North to solve tomorrow's challenges.
UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Pharmacy, has a Postdoctoral Research Fellow position available for a period of 3 years. The position is affiliated with the Natural products and Medicinal Chemstry group. The position is available for commencement from September 2024, and no later than January 2025.
Appointment to the position of Postdoctoral Research Fellow is mainly intended to provide qualification for work in top academic positions. It is a prerequisite that the applicant can carry out the project over the full course of the employment period. No person may hold more than one fixed term position as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the same institution.
The workplace is at UiT in Tromsø. You must be able to start in the position within a reasonable time after receiving the offer.
Unless special circumstances indicate otherwise, postdoctoral projects shall be planned with stays abroad. The duration should be at least 6 months.
The position is affiliated to the Department of Pharmacy, which consists of seven research groups: Drug Transport and Delivery (this position affiliated to), Cell Signalling and Targeted therapy, Natural Products and Medicinal Chemistry, Microbiology, Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacoepidemiology, Infection Biology, and Computational Pharmacology. The Department has around 30 permanent positions. In addition, there is a variable number of PhD students, postdocs and part time positions. The Department is responsible for a bachelor’s and a master’s program in pharmacy. Teaching is given at both undergraduate and graduate levels. For more information, visit the Department’s web pages.
The Natural Products and Medicinal Chemistry Research Group
The group currently consist of two professors and three associate professors, two technicians as well as several PhD students. The members of the research group are also responsible for courses in medicinal chemistry and analytical chemistry at bachelor, master and PhD level. You can learn more about the research group by visiting the Natural Products and Medicinal Chemistry group webpage.
About the research project
The research project is exploring, experimentally, how theoretically theoretical free energies of enzyme catalysis are correlated to the structural dynamics of the enzyme. The project involves multidisciplinary research within the fields of NMR spectroscopy, theoretical chemistry and microbiology.
The project is part of a bigger theoretical project that has successfully performed free energy calculations of catalysis for several enzymes, explaining the underlying structural dynamics of cold adaptation and enzyme evolution at the atomic level. These groundbreaking results have however up to this point never been validated experimentally. In the current project we aim to bridge the gap between theory and experiment, by measuring the structural dynamics of such enzymatic systems by NMR spectroscopy.
In this work, a new 700 MHz spectrometer, being installed in August 2024, will be used, together with instrumentation from the Norwegian NMR platform up to 850 MHz. The project is associated with world leading experts both in the fields of NMR spectroscopy (Lewis Kay) and computational chemistry (Johan Åqvist), and abroad secondments are possible.
We strongly encourage career development not only limited to authorship of research manuscripts arising from this work, but also including conferences and collaborations.
Contact
For further information about the position and project, please contact:
General questions concerning the organization of the working environment, such as the physical state of the place of employment, health service, possibility for flexible working hours, as well as questions about the PhD program, may be directed to the head of administration at the Department of Pharmacy, UiT, Morten Boland Jørgensen. Telephone: +47 776 46 458, e-mail: morten.b.jorgensen@uit.no.
Qualification requirements
To be awarded the position of Postdoctoral Research Fellow, a Norwegian doctorate degree, or a corresponding international doctorate degree that is recognised as being equal to the Norwegian doctorate degree, is required.
The successful applicant must have completed or submitted a PhD degree within the topic of NMR spectroscopy. Prior experience with isotope labelling expression systems or theoretical chemistry will be considered advantageous but is not mandatory. Hands-on experience in the following techniques is essential: Advanced protein NMR and associated data treatment. It is essential to demonstrate the ability to publish in internationally reputed journals. Thus, demonstrated multidisciplinary skills and a strong publication record will be considered in shortlisting applicants.
Researchers with experience from relevant multidisciplinary projects are particularly welcome to apply.
Good communication skills in English - both written and orally - are required. The candidate should be able to work both independently and as part of a multidisciplinary team. Personal suitability and motivation for the position will be strongly emphasised. Applicants in the final stage of the PhD degree can apply but must document completion of the PhD degree within June 2024 to be qualified for the position.
In the assessment the main emphasis will be attached to the submitted works and the project proposal for the qualifying work. Emphasis shall also be attached to experience from popularization/dissemination and academic policy and administrative activity.
At UiT we put emphasis on the quality, relevance and significance of the research work and not on where the work is published, in accordance with the principles of The San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA).
Inclusion and diversity
UiT The Arctic University i 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 is 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 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.
We offer
Interesting work tasks in a cutting-edge multidisciplinary research project
A vibrant international research community
A good academic environment with dedicated colleagues
Good career opportunities
A large degree of independence in work
State-of-the-art research infrastructure
Flexible working hours and a state collective agreement
Pension scheme through the state pension fund
Norwegian health policy aims to ensure that everyone, irrespective of their personal finances and where they live, has access to good health and care services of equal standard. As an employee you will become member of the National Insurance Scheme which also include health care services.
More practical information for working and living in Norway can be found here.
Application
Your application must include:
Cover letter explaining your motivation and research interests
CV containing an overview of education, positions, supervised professional training and professional work
Copies of diplomas, diploma supplements and transcripts (all degrees, translated to English or a Scandinavian language; certified copies must be provided upon request)
Documentation of English proficiency. This website states how English proficiency shall be documented
2-3 reference letters with contact details of the referees
List of academic works identifying up to 3 selected academic works to be attached. (The doctoral thesis is here counted as one work)
Description of the attached works, and a short description of other works to show breadth of output
If you’re at the final stages of your PhD, you may still apply if you have submitted your PhD thesis for doctoral degree evaluation within the application deadline. You must submit the thesis with your application. Documentation of your completed PhD degree must be submitted before commencement.
You must have dissertated before the start-up date of the position.
In order to achieve a targeted use of the postdoctoral position, and to strengthen the employee’s career development, a development plan must be available no later than three months after the appointment contract is signed. The development plan must be approved by the immediate leader with personnel responsibility.
All documentation to be considered must be in a Scandinavian language or English. We only accept applications and documentation sent via Jobbnorge within the application deadline. Candidates that do not provide required documentation or cannot prove the equivalence to required degree will not be considered for the position.
Assessment
The applicants will be assessed by an expert committee. The committee’s mandate is to undertake an assessment of the applicants’ research qualifications based on the application documents and related to the requirements for the position.
During the assessment process, emphasis will be placed on the applicant’s potential for research as shown by:
PhD thesis within the specified fields
any other academic works
experience and skills in laboratory work relevant for the project
documented ability to work independently
skills in scientific writing in English
knowledge and interest of the project’s specific topic
interest and motivation for this specific project
In addition, consideration may be given to work experience or other activities of significance for the project. The applicants who are assessed as the best qualified will be invited to an interview. The interview serves, among other things, to clarify the applicant’s personal suitability for the position.
General information
The appointment is made in accordance with State regulations and guidelines at UiT. At our website, you will find more information for applicants.
The remuneration for Postdoctoral research fellow is in accordance with the State salary scale code 1352. A compulsory contribution of 2 % to the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund will be deducted. You will become a member of the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund, which gives you many benefits in addition to a lifelong pension: You may be entitled to financial support if you become ill or disabled, your family may be entitled to financial support when you die, you become insured against occupational injury or occupational disease, and you can get good terms on a mortgage. Read more about your employee benefits at: spk.no.
The successful candidate must be willing to get involved in the ongoing development of their department and the university as a whole.
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.
