Postdoctoral fellow or Ph.D. candidate - Biotechnology and Food Science (KBM)
Deadline: 21.12.2022
Norwegian University of Life Sciences
NMBU has a particular responsibility for research and education that secures the basis for the life of future generations. Sustainability is rooted in everything we do and we deliver knowledge for life. NMBU has 1,900 employees of which about 500 phd scholarships and 6,700 students. The university is divided into seven faculties.
NMBU believes that a good working environment is characterised by diversity.
We encourage qualified candidates to apply regardless of gender, functional ability, cultural background or whether you have been outside the labour market for a period. If necessary, workplace adaptations will be made for persons with disabilities. More information about NMBU is available at www.nmbu.no.
About The Faculty of Chemistry, Biotechnology and Food Science
The Faculty of Chemistry, Biotechnology and Food Science (KBM) employs about 160 people. Currently about 50 PhD students are enrolled into our PhD program. KBM represents a broad range of scientific fields encompassing basic natural sciences such as microbiology, chemistry, biochemistry as well as the application of these towards food chemistry, technology and safety, biotechnology, bioprocessing and environmental issues. The Faculty is responsible for education, research and information within our fields of expertise and also has state-of-the-art instrumentation to perform research within these fields. KBM collaborates in networks and research projects both nationally and internationally.
Are you interested in exploring the host- and microbiome-pathogen interplay in the udder of production animals?
Postdoctoral fellow or Ph.D. candidate within microbiome-pathogen and host-pathogen interactions
About the position
One vacant position (1 postdoctoral fellowship for 2 years or 1 PhD candidate for 3 years) is available at the Faculty of Chemistry, Biotechnology and Food Science (KBM) in connection to the project HoliCow “A holistic approach to an old problem: deciphering complex host-microbiome-pathogen relationships in bovine mastitis”.
The project HoliCow aims to explore the bovine udder microbiome, its functionality and its interaction with the host and mastitis pathogens. This will provide novel knowledge to help the fight against mastitis which is the most common cause of recorded diagnoses and disease treatments in Norwegian dairy cattle.
The hired candidate (postdoctoral fellow or PhD candidate) will investigate the composition and functionality of the udder microbiome and will explore the interaction between the most common mastitis pathogens and host cell lines and udder microbes using the latest molecular techniques (e.g. CRISPR/Cas-approaches, meta-proteomics).
Main tasks
Major tasks include:
Bacterial isolation, identification and characterization from milk samples
Molecular characterization of mastitis pathogens
Use of molecular techniques to study host-pathogen and microbe-pathogen interactions
Extrapolation of biological insights through integration of multi-omics data
Writing articles for publication in high impact peer-reviewed scientific journals
Competence
The PhD fellowship requires admission to the PhD program at KBM
The PhD/post-doctoral position should qualify for work in high-level scientific positions in research institutes and academia.
Required and desired qualifications and skills for the Postdoctoral fellow:
Applicants must hold a PhD degree or equivalent in a relevant field such as microbiology, bioinformatics, molecular biology, biotechnology or food science (required)
Good research performance during PhD documented by high-quality scientific publications (required).
Proficiency in oral and written English language.
Experimental work in molecular microbiology (required).
Research experience with nucleic acid or protein extraction (required).
Experimental work with sequencing or proteomics
Bioinformatics processing of sequencing and proteomics
Basic knowledge of at least one programming language (R, Python,…)
Required and desired qualifications and skills for the PhD candidate:
Master’s degree in molecular microbiology, bioinformatics, biotechnology, food science or equivalent (required).
Training and research experience in microbiology and molecular biology
Proficiency in oral and written English language
Experimental work with next generation sequencing is an advantage
The successful applicant for the PhD candidate must meet the requirements for admission to a PhD programme at NMBU. The applicant must have an academically relevant education corresponding to a five-year Norwegian degree programme (300 ETC), where 120 ECT are at master's degree level. The applicant must have a documented strong academic background from previous studies and be able to document proficiency in both written and oral English. For more detailed information on the admission criteria please see the PhD Regulations and the supplementary regulations for the KBM PhD programme.
Personal skills for both positions
Good collaboration skills and ability to join interdisciplinary academic fields
The ability to work independently, accurately and structured
Personal interest and motivation for the position
High motivation for a research career
Curious in learning new disciplines
Remuneration and further information
PhD student: The position is placed in government pay scale position code 1017 PhD. Fellow. PhD. Fellows are normally placed in pay grade 54 (NOK 501.200,-) on the Norwegian Government salary scale upon employment and follow ordinary meriting regulations.
Employment is conducted according to national guidelines for University and Technical College PhD scholars
Postdoctoral Fellow: The position is placed in government pay scale position code 1352 Postdoctoral Fellow, wage framework 24 (salary grade 62-77) (NOK 573.900,- 765.600,- ), depending on qualifications. Seniority Promotion in position.
For further information, please contact Associate Professor Davide Porcellato (davide.porcellato@nmbu.no) at the SciFood: Food quality and sustainability research group or Associate Professor Morten Kjos (morten.kjos@nmbu.no) at the Molecular Microbiology research group at KBM:
To apply online for these vacancies, please click on the 'Apply for this job' button above to be directed to the University's Web Recruitment System. Please note, before completing the online application form you will need to register an account (if you have not already) and log in.
Application deadline: 21.12.2022
For the Post Doc position: Up to ten publications selected by the applicant as most relevant must be attached to the application. In multiple-author publications, the applicant should clarify his/her contribution to the work.
Printed material which cannot be sent electronically should be sent by surface mail to Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Faculty of Chemistry, Biotechnology and Food Science
P.O. Box 5003, NO-1432 Ås, within 21.12.2022. Please quote reference number 22/05831
Applicants invited for an interview will be asked to present verified copies of diplomas and certificates.
