UNIS

UNIS is a stateowned limited company with five of Norway’s universities represented on the board. UNIS is located in a modern working environment in Longyearbyen, Svalbard, and is well equipped with both technical and scientific equipment and laboratories. The institution has an infrastructure for both marine and terrestrial field, lab and experimental research. The studies at UNIS are marketed internationally and all classes are offered in English. Approximately half of the staff and students are from abroad.

The department of Arctic Biology at UNIS is seeking candidates for a full-time, 4 year position as a PhD fellow in Marine Molecular Ecology. Currently the department constitutes 3 professors, 5 associate professors, 5 PhD students, 9 Adjunct Professors (20% position) and 3 technical/administrative staff. The department conducts research and education in Arctic marine and terrestrial biology, and currently provides 22 courses on bachelor, master and PhD level. The department focuses on an integrated approach to High Arctic biology. Additional information about the department can be found at www.unis.no

Description of the vacant position

The PhD project will focus on the diversity and functions of Arctic marine microbial eukaryotes (protists) in a temporal and climate change perspective. The candidate will utilize available samples and data from the IsA (Isfjorden Adventfjorden) high-resolution marine time-series, and will also contribute to the continuation of the time-series through monthly year-round sampling. Molecular tools such as metabarcoding, qPCR and possibly meta-genomics/transcriptomics will be used. The successful candidate will be required to carry out marine field work under harsh conditions, and potentially have short research visits with national / international collaborators. A detailed project description will be made by the successful PhD candidate together with the advisors upon employment.

The PhD will be based at the Department of Arctic Biology (UNIS), but the candidate will be admitted to the PhD program at the Faculty of Engineering and Science, Department of Natural Sciences, University of Agder (UiA). Associate professor Anna Vader (UNIS) will be the main adviser with professor Tove M. Gabrielsen (UiA) acting as co-adviser. The PhD student will complete course work in the marine science field as part of the degree.

Qualifications and personal qualities:

• Applicants must hold a master's degree or the equivalent in a relevant field, such as marine or molecular biology, or must have submitted his/her master's thesis for assessment prior to the application deadline. It is a condition of employment that the master's degree has been awarded.
• Applicants must have experience and skills in basic lab, analytical and statistical methods.
• Experience and skills in the use of molecular genetic tools and analyses of molecular genetic data are an advantage.
• Experience from marine field work and/or polar field sampling, is an advantage.
• Authorship or co-authorship of scientific publications is an advantage.
• Applicants must be able to work independently and in a structured manner, and demonstrate good collaborative skills.
• Applicants must be proficient in both written and oral English.

Motivation and personal suitability will be emphasized. To allow assessment of this, a statement of personal and scientific interest in taking a PhD degree, including an outline of a PhD project idea (total max 2 pages) must be included in the application

Employment conditions

The total duration of the PhD position is 4 years, of which 25% comprises teaching duties. The employment potentially includes some supervision duties of Master students.

All salaries are set in accordance with the Norwegian government's University salary scale. PhD fellow research fellows start at a gross salary of NOK 449 000 annually. As a Svalbard resident an annual allowance of NOK 34 560 (Svalbardtillegg) will be added to the salary. A Social Security contribution of 2 per cent, to the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund, will be deducted from the salary. Income tax on Svalbard is 8%, plus 8,2% toward National Insurance coverage. UNIS offers a membership in the Norwegian Public Pension Fund.

Application

The candidate must satisfy the enrolment requirements for the doctoral degree programme at University of Agder (UiA). A final plan for the implementation of the research training must be approved by the faculty within three months after starting in the position.

Selection and appointmentA committee appointed by the Managing director of UNIS will evaluate the qualifications of the applicants, and invite the highest ranked person(s) for an interview. The appointment will be made by the Director of UNIS based on the recommendation from the committee.

ApplicationThe application, submitted electronically in www.jobbnorge.no, must include:

• Letter of motivation including outline of possible PhD project (total max 2 pages)
• CV (including a complete overview of education, professional training and professional work)
• name and contact information for two or more referees
• transcripts and diplomas showing completion of the bachelor's and master's degrees, or official confirmation that the master's thesis has been submitted
• relevant certificates/references
• a list of any works of a scientific nature (publication list)
• any peer review publications in your name

The application and appendices with certified translations into English or a Scandinavian language must be uploaded in Jobbnorge.

Deadline for applications is February 22nd 2019.

Inquiries

Inquiries about this position may be directed to:

• Ass. Prof. Anna Vader, phone: +47 79023359, email: anna.vader@unis.no
  
• Head of Department of Arctic Biology, prof. Børge Damsgård, email: borge.damsgard@unis.no

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