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.

Ph.D. in Geology; geological and geophysical analysis of overburden for CO2 storage sites

General

The Department of Arctic Geology of the University Centre in Svalbard has a vacancy for a Ph.D. position for three years focusing on multi-disciplinary investigation of shales as cap rocks for CO2 storage in the Norwegian North Sea. The Department for Arctic Geology presently consists of 4 professors, 5 associate professors, 7 Ph.D. students, 10 adjunct professors and 1 departmental technician. Additional information about the Arctic Geology Department can be found at

http://www.unis.no/research/arctic-geology/.

The Ph.D. position is financed by the Environment-Friendly Energy Research Centre, the Norwegian CCS Centre (NCCS) hosted at SINTEF, Trondheim. The work will be carried out in close collaboration with the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGI) and the Department of Geosciences at the University of Oslo, within the framework of Task 9 (“Structural de-risking”) within NCCS. Further information about NCCS can be found at https://www.sintef.no/projectweb/nccs/

Description of the vacant position

We seek a highly motivated, pro-active and enthusiastic individual with strong academic ambitions that has the ability to work successfully within a large project team within NCCS. The candidate will develop state-of-the-art skills in multi-disciplinary characterization of overburden shales, including their detailed structural characterization using field work and virtual outcrop models, representation in geological models and synthetic modelling of multi-physical data sets (i.e. seismic and EM). The challenging work will involve both fieldwork on Svalbard and work on seismic and well data from proposed CO2 storage sites in the North Sea. The Ph.D. will mostly work with in the UNIS seismic interpretation lab, which offers modern work stations and relevant software (Petrel, SeisRoX, PhotoScan etc.), but is also expected to undertake research stays in Norway (University of Oslo/NGI) and abroad (visiting international NCCS partners).

The work will focus on understanding the detection thresholds of potential CO2 migration along fault zones in shale-dominated overburden rocks. We envision that the candidate will focus on providing detailed geometrical models of faults in shale-dominated successions, and represent these in industry-standard geological models. Geophysical data acquisition such as ERT is expected to be conducted to delineate the along-strike fault geometry. Through synthetic seismic and electromagnetic forward modelling, using realistic elastic and electrical parameters for a range of geological scenarios, the detection thresholds of CO2 migration will be quantified.

Qualifications

The successful candidate must have a Master degree or equivalent in an appropriate field (structural geology, petroleum geology, petrophysics, geophysics, geomechanics, physics, general geoscience etc.). The evaluation committee will especially consider the following:

• Knowledge and experience with working with exploration data, particularly seal analysis
• Experience with modern industry-standard data integration and analysis platforms (e.g., Petrel, SeisRoX) and data types (e.g., outcrops, borehole, 2D/3D seismic)
• Demonstrated ability and desire to conduct various outreach activities
• Practical experience with drone-based photogrammetry and ERT acquisition is beneficial
• Experience from Svalbard or other polar areas, including strenuous hiking partly in steep terrain
• Personal suitability and demonstrated ability to work both independently and as part of a team
• Excellent English written and oral communication skills are required

The candidate should hold a full driving license (for snowscooter-based field work) and be prepared to contribute to the ongoing activities within the Arctic Geology Department at UNIS and NCCS.

Admission to the doctoral programme at one of the Norwegian mainland universities (likely University of Oslo, refer to www.uio.no/english/research/phd for details) is a condition of employment in the position as Ph.D. student at UNIS. The final plan for researcher education shall be approved and a contract signed with the mainland university at the latest six months after commencement. The detailed research proposal will be prepared by the candidate with support from the supervisors.

The Ph.D. student will work together with MSc- and Ph.D.-students and Post-Docs within NCCS. The Ph.D. work will be performed in close collaboration with Kim Senger (Associate Professor, UNIS), Snorre Olaussen (Professor, UNIS), Alvar Braathen (Professor, University of Oslo), Elin Skurtveit (Adjunct Professor, University of Oslo), Joonsang Park (NGI) and representatives from NCCS industry partners.

Employment Conditions

The employment contract is a fixed term for a period of three years. Depending on the chosen candidate, the contract may be extended to four years including 25% mandatory teaching duties. The successful candidate must live in Longyearbyen, but will have the opportunity for shorter research stays where relevant. She/he is expected to contribute actively to ongoing scientific activities in NCCS and in the Arctic Geology department. It is also expected that the Ph.D. student take an active part in the advancement of his/her field of research, and she/he must also be willing to contribute to the development of UNIS in a more general sense.

Salary

All salaries are set in accordance with the Norwegian government's University salary scale. Ph.D students starts at salary step 51, which currently is a gross salary of NOK 449 000. As a resident in Svalbard 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 per cent, plus 8.2 per cent toward National Insurance coverage.

Selection and appointment

An expert Committee appointed by the Managing Director of UNIS will evaluate the qualifications of the applicants. The Committee will review the applications in detail and summarize their assessments in a written report. This report and the derived recommendations form the basis for Skype interviews with selected candidates, which will be summarized by the expert committee. The interviews shall among other things aim to clarify the applicant’s personal suitability for the position. The Committee report to the Appointment Committee and Managing Director of UNIS, which makes the final appointment. As UNIS would like to increase the percentage of females in academic positions, women are especially invited to apply. The start date is expected to be in early 2019.

Application and further information

Inquiries about this position should be addressed to: Associate Professor in Structural Geology and Basin Analysis Kim Senger, e-mail kim.senger@unis.no, phone +47 95 29 15 92.

As a minimum, please include the following documents in the online application form (accessible by clicking “Apply for this job”):

• A cover letter including your motivation for applying for this position, a description of your research interest and how these relate to the announced position (mandatory – max 1 A4 page)
• CV summarizing education, positions and academic work including a list of publications, if applicable
• Diploma and transcript from your Master’s degree or equivalent
• Diploma and transcript from your Bachelor’s degree or equivalent
• List of publications and academic work (including full copy of MSc thesis) that the applicant wishes to be considered by the evaluation committee
• Documentation of English language proficiency
• Names and contact details of two to three references (name, relation to candidate, e-mail and telephone number)

All documents should be provided in English or a Scandinavian language and uploaded using the online application form.

Deadline for application is 23 November 2018. Please apply online by using our application form found at www.jobbnorge.no.

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 from public 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.

In the end of the form, please attach copies of academic records and other documentation you find relevant for the application.

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