About the position

Position as PhD Research Fellow in Microbial Ecology available at the Department of Biosciences and Centre of Biogeochemistry in the Anthropocene, University of Oslo.

The fellowship will be for a period of 3 years, with no compulsory work, or for a period of 4 years, with 25 % compulsory work (e.g. teaching responsibilities at the department) contingent on the qualifications of the candidate and the teaching needs of the department.

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

Starting date no later than 01.10.2019.

Job description

We are recruiting a PhD student in microbial ecology to work on a PhD at the Department of Biosciences and the newly established Centre of BioGeoChemistry in the Anthropocene (CBA). The successful candidate will study the fate of organic matter released from thawing permafrost. In the proposed PhD project, we intend to link carbon processing kinetics with the quality/history of the organic matter under varying environmental conditions. This will be superimposed by the presence of microbial genotypes and their expressed functions. In a first step this will be done by high-through-put experiments using bottle incubations and automatized monitoring of degradation kinetics and greenhouse gas production. Downstream high-through-put sequencing of the microbial communities will provide the blueprints of microbial community metabolism and will allow us to define microbial carbon, nitrogen and phosphor processing. In the second part, in situ experiments will be performed to validate laboratory results under natural conditions.

The successful candidate will analyse and interprete multi-omics, geochemical and kinetic data produced by PhD students and postdoctoral fellows at the CBA and the Section for Aquatic Biology and Toxicology (AQUA). There will be opportunities to participate in Arctic field surveys and experimental/laboratory work. The CBA is a recently established collaboration between departments of Biosciences, Chemistry and Geosciences at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences. The centre has a core staff of circa 12 faculty members (employed at their respective departments) and a number of PhDs and postdocs. In addition, the PhD student will be involved in several established collaborations with other research teams nationally (Norwegian University for Life Sciences) and internationally (a project consortium from the USA, Canada, Sweden, Denmark).

Qualification requirements

The Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences has a strategic ambition of being a leading research faculty. 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.

• Master’s degree or equivalent in biology relevant to this PhD project (e.g. ecology, limnology, marine biology, microbiology, molecular biology, bioinformatics, biotechnology)
• Foreign completed degree (M.Sc.-level) corresponding to a minimum of four years in the Norwegian educational system
• Experience with functional and/or object-oriented bioinformatics programming
• Experience in molecular biology and/or experimental ecology is desirable
• Self-motivation, excellent communication skills, ability to work and integrate well in an international working environment
• Candidates without a Master’s degree have until 30 June, 2019 to complete the final exam

Grade requirements:

The norm is as follows:

• The average grade point for courses included in the Bachelor’s degree must correspond to C or better in the Norwegian educational system
• The average grade point for courses included in the Master’s degree must correspond to B or better in the Norwegian educational system
• The Master’s thesis must correspond to the grade B or better in the Norwegian educational system
• Fluent oral and written communication skills in English

http://www.mn.uio.no/english/research/phd/application/application.html

We offer

• Salary NOK 449 400 – 505 800 per annum depending on qualifications and seniority as PhD Research Fellow (position code 1017)
• Attractive welfare benefits and a generous pension agreement
• Vibrant international academic environment
• Oslo’s family-friendly surroundings with their rich opportunities for culture and outdoor activities

How to apply

The application must include

• Cover letter
• CV (summarizing education, positions and academic work - scientific publications)
• Copies of the original Master’s degree diploma, transcripts of records and letters of recommendation
• Documentation of English proficiency
• List of publications and academic work that the applicant wishes to be considered by the evaluation committee
• A brief account (one page, as a separate file) of the applicant’s interest and motivation for applying for the position
• Names and contact details of 2-3 references (name, relation to candidate, e-mail and telephone number)

The application with attachments must be delivered in our electronic recruiting system, please follow the link “Apply for this job”. Foreign applicants are advised to attach an explanation of their University's grading system. Please note that all documents should be in English or a Scandinavian language.

Applicants may be called in for an interview.

Formal regulations

Please see the guidelines and regulations for appointments to Research Fellowships at the University of Oslo.

The purpose of the fellowship is research training leading to the successful completion of a PhD degree.

The fellowship requires admission to the PhD programme at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences. The application to the PhD programme must be submitted to the department no later than two months after taking up the position. For more information see:

http://www.mn.uio.no/english/research/phd/

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.

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

For further information please contact:

• Alexander Eiler, phone: +47 22854527, email: alexander.eiler@ibv.uio.no ,
  
• Dag Hessen, phone: +47 22854553, e-mail: d.o.hessen@mn.uio.no ,
  
• Anne Jahren Hope, e-mail: a.h.jahren@geo.uio.no

For questions regarding the recruitment system, please contact: HR-officer Nina Holtan, phone: +47 22854424, e-mail: nina.holtan@mn.uio.no

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