Natural History Museum

Job description

With this competitive two-year postdoctoral fellowship, the Natural History Museum in Oslo (NHM) aims to bring in a talented researcher to enhance our STADIS hub.

Starting date: January 1st 2024, or as soon as possible thereafter.

More about the position

The fellowship opportunity involves engaging in a self-developed and innovative research project. It is preferred that the project primarily focuses on the research themes at STADIS, which are the origins and processes governing stability and/or discontinuity of biological systems at different levels of organization from the level of genomes/phenomes to ecosystem. To foster collaboration, the project should be undertaken in conjunction with at least two of NHMs research groups. Moreover, an ideal project will effectively utilize NHMs extensive physical and digital collections, either separately or in combination. This fellowship presents an exciting prospect to contribute to the advancement of knowledge and leverage NHMs resources in a meaningful way.

STADIS is a recently established research hub at NHM with the long-term goal of establishing a Norwegian Centre of Excellence. STADIS focuses on stability and discontinuity in and between different biological system levels, such as genomes, phenotypes, species, communities, and ecosystems. The hub encompasses empirical and theoretical research as well as method development. Please contact us for further information (see the contact information below). The successful candidate for this position will work in close collaboration with staff members of at least two of NHMs research groups. The position comes with an independent research budget of 100,000 NOK per year.

NHM has approximately 160 employees and is located in Oslo’s Botanical Garden, which is very close to the city center, and at Økern. The Botanical Garden and the city of Oslo provide a vibrant environment for both work and personal life, with proximity to the forest, the Oslofjord and mountain areas. For almost 200 years, specimens of animals, fungi, plants, rocks, minerals and fossils have been collected, studied and preserved at NHM. With over 6 million specimens, NHM has the largest natural history collection in Norway. The improvement, maintenance and use of scientific collections is central to our work. The herbarium and fungarium comprise over 1.4 million and 600,000 plant and fungal specimens, respectively, of which the majority are Nordic. The zoological collections jointly comprise more than 2.5 million objects. The museum also houses over 1 million paleontological and geological collections. The NHM DNA bank holds several hundred thousand tissue samples and DNA extracts. The museum provides excellent research facilities in-house, including various molecular- and microscopy laboratories. NHM has ten research groups that pursue research and education within basic and advanced biosystematics and biodiversity as well as geological studies.

NHM is part of the University of Oslo (UiO), which is Norway’s oldest and highest ranked educational and research institution, with 28,000 students and 7,000 employees. With its broad range of academic disciplines and internationally recognized research communities both at NHM and UiO, both are important contributors to society.

The fundable project, expectations and hosts

The fundable project should

• be innovative
• enhance the STADIS hub
• focus on bio- and/or geo-diversity
• be hosted by at least two of NHMs research groups
• make use of and enhance NHMs physical and digital collections, ideally both

Expectations of the postdoc:

• Carry out the project proposed in the application within the employment period
• Participate and contribute actively in the STADIS hub

Hosts:

• Primary and secondary hosts must be from different research groups at NHM

Qualification requirements

The candidate must have:

• a degree equivalent to a Norwegian doctoral degree (PhD) in biology, geology or related disciplines. For candidates not having finished their doctoral degree, the doctoral dissertation must have been submitted for evaluation by the closing date of the call. An appointment is dependent on the defense of the doctoral dissertation being approved
• excellent communication skills (including written and spoken English)

It is preferable that the candidate has (and can document):

• a strong academic track record
• experience in collection-based research (physical and/or digital)
• team- and networking skills

Personal skills

We are looking for a highly motivated, creative, and structured candidate with excellent collaborative qualities

We offer

• salary NOK 575 400 – 657 300 per annum depending on qualifications in position as Postdoctoral Research Fellow (position code 1352)
• a dynamic and friendly working environment
• membership in the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund,
• attractive welfare benefits in addition to Oslo’s rich opportunities for culture and outdoor activities

How to apply

The application must include the following elements as separate documents:

• Cover letter
• Five-page research plan (following the template for this position provided here: template_for_project_description.docx)
• CV (following the template for this position provided here: template_for_CV.docx)
• Letter of recommendation and statement of support signed by the primary and secondary hosts at NHM
• Name, academic relation, and contact information of two references from two different institutions

Please note that the application with attachments must be delivered in our electronic recruitment system. Please note also that all documents should be in English.

For an overview of our researchers, see here or contact Professor Hugo de Boer (h.de.boer@nhm.uio.no).

In assessing the applications, special emphasis will be placed on the documented academic qualifications, the excellence of the proposed research, as well as the candidate's motivation and personal suitability. Online interviews with the best qualified candidates will be arranged.

Formal regulations

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

No one can be appointed for more than one Postdoctoral Fellow period at the University of Oslo.

According to the Norwegian Freedom of 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.

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

The University of Oslo aims to achieve a balanced gender composition in the workforce and to recruit people with ethnic minority backgrounds.

Contact information

About the fellowship:

• Professor Hugo de Boer (h.de.boer@nhm.uio.no)

About information on the STADIS hub and the proposal for a Norwegian Center for Excellence:

• Professor Torsten Struck (t.h.struck@nhm.uio.no)

About the recruitment system:

• HR-Adviser Thomas Brånå (thomas.brana@nhm.uio.no)

Apply for position