Description of the vacant position

UNIS

UNIS is a state-owned limited company. 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 research in Svalbard. 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 Terrestrial Ecology. Currently the department constitutes 3professors, 5 associate professors, 4 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.

The PhD project will focus on arctic vegetation, with a special focus on bryophytes, and its links to permafrost in a climate change perspective. The candidate will make use of ongoing environmental gradient studies and/or climate change manipulation experiments. The candidate is expected to take part in extensive field and lab periods of vegetation recording and identification, which require endurance and the ability to work systematically. A detailed project description will be made by the successful PhD candidate together with the advisors upon employment. Short research visits with national or international collaborators will be possible.

The PhD will be based at the Department of Arctic Biology (UNIS), but the candidate will be admitted to the PhD program at the Natural History Museum at the University of Oslo (UiO). Associate professor Simone Lang (UNIS) will be the main supervisor with professor Rune Halvorsen (UiO) and associate professor Pernille B. Eidesen (UNIS) acting as cosupervisors. The PhD student must meet the requirements to enter the PhD programme at UiO and will complete courses in terrestrial ecology as part of the degree.

Qualifications and personal qualities

• Applicants must hold a master's degree or the equivalent in a relevant topic, such as terrestrial ecology or similar, and 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 from terrestrial field work that involves identification of plants; good floristic knowledge is an advantage.
• Applicants must have experience and skills in basic lab, analytical and statisticalmethods.
• 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.
• Skills in bryophyte identification are an advantage.
• Experience with field work in polar regions is an advantage.
• Authorship or co-authorship of scientific publications is an advantage.
• 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 471 900 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.

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

The successful candidate is expected to live and work in Longyearbyen, Svalbard where UNIS will provide favorable arrangements for employee rent assisted housing. UNIS will cover passage journey and moving expenses when relocating to Longyearbyen, holiday grants, five weeks’ of vacation per year and flexible working hours. Longyearbyen is a modern and family oriented society that provides schools at all levels and state subsidized day care centers for children. The town offers a wide range of sports and cultural activities for residents of all ages. To read more about life in Longyearbyen, please visit www.lokalstyre.no/

Application

A 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.Inquiries about this position may be directed to:Ass. Prof. Simone Lang, phone: +47 79023317, email: simone.lang@unis.noHead of Department of Arctic Biology, prof. Børge Damsgård, email:borge.damsgard@unis.no

The 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 of two or more referees
• transcripts and diplomas showing completion of the bachelor's and master'sdegrees, 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 30.08.2019.

You can request to have your application kept from public access cf. the open files act §25. The request must be explained. UNIS will determine if the application will be kept frompublic access or not, based on the explanation and the regulations from the open files act.If the application will not be accepted, the candidate will be contacted.

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