UiT The Arctic University of Norway

UiT is a multi-campus research university in Norway and the northernmost university of the world. Our central location in the High North, our broad and diverse research and study portfolio, and our interdisciplinary qualities make us uniquely suited to meet the challenges of the future. At UiT you can explore global issues from a close-up perspective.

Credibility, academic freedom, closeness, creativity and commitment shall be hallmarks of the relationship between our employees, between our employees and our students and between UiT and our partners.

Faculty of Science and Technology / Department of Chemistry

The position

The Department of Chemistry seeks a motivated and enthusiastic Postdoctoral Research Fellow joining the Research Group in Biomolecular and Structural Chemistry. The successful Postdoctoral Research Fellow will become a member of an international and interdisciplinary research team focusing on structural and functional studies of proteins. Collaborative work will be carried out with other groups at UiT The Arctic University of Norway, other groups in Norway and internationally.

The Postdoctoral Research Fellow will be part of the Centre for New Antibacterial Strategies (CANS) and work in the LacZymes group, with group leader Prof. Hanna-Kirsti Schrøder Leiros. The position is a fixed term position for a duration of 3 years.

Appointment to the position of Postdoctoral Research Fellow is mainly intended to provide qualification for work in top academic positions. It is a prerequisite that the applicant is able to carry out the project over the full course of the employment period. No person may hold more than one fixed-term position as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the same institution.

The appointed Postdoctoral Research Fellow must have its daily workplace at UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø.

The position can/will additionally be assigned to teaching and related work for UiT in an amount equivalent to a maximum 25. % of a full-time employment.

The position's field of research

This position will focus on protein evolution, enzyme mechanisms and structure-activity relationship of enzymes involved in bacterial antibiotic resistance, and beta-lactamase enzymes in particular. Laboratory protein evolution, mutant libraries and three-dimensional structures will be used to understand important resistance mechanisms in various genetic backgrounds. This project will focus on serine- and metallo-beta-lactamases.

The Postdoctoral Research Fellow will work in an interdisciplinary research team with expertise in structural biology, biochemical characterization, molecular dynamic simulations, population biology, microbiology, and protein evolution. The Postdoctoral Research Fellow will also interact with a machine learning group to include three-dimensional structural analysis to increase the accuracy of sequence-based diagnostics.

The candidate can expect to be involved in the supervision of Bachelor, Master and PhD students and may participate in teaching at the Department of Chemistry.

All candidates must submit a statement of their vision for how they will strengthen research activity.

Contact

For further information about the position, please contact

• Prof. Hanna-Kirsti S. Leiros, telephone +47 77645706, E-mail: hanna-kirsti.leiros@uit.no

Qualifications

The position as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow requires:

A Norwegian doctoral degree in structural biology or molecular evolution/biology, or a corresponding foreign doctoral degree recognized as equivalent to a Norwegian doctoral degree.

Other requirements are:

• Candidates must have solid background in at least one, and preferable more, of these fields: structural biology, structure function relationships, molecular biology or molecular genetics.
• A good practical knowledge of protein expression, protein purification and protein characterization is an advantage
• Good knowledge in sequencing and handling of bioinformatic datasets is beneficial
• Knowledge in protein crystallography, structure elucidation and interpretation of protein structures is an advantage
• Prior experience with antimicrobial resistance is beneficial
• The successful candidate must show excellence in previous work and have a good track record
• Independence and ability to solve challenging structural and molecular biology problems is essential
• Teaching and/or supervision experience is an advantage
• Excellent work ethic and commitment to the job
• Fluency in English, both written and verbal. Interest in Norwegian language and culture is welcome.

Qualification with a PhD is required before commencement in the position. If you’re at the final stages of your PhD, you may still apply if you have submitted your PhD thesis for doctoral degree evaluation within the application deadline. You must submit the thesis with your application. You must have dissertated before the start-up date of the position.

During the assessment emphasis will be put on the candidate’s motivation, potential for research, and personal suitability for the position. You must be willing to engage in the ongoing development of your discipline and the university as a whole.

During the assessment process, emphasis will be put on your potential for research, as shown by the PhD thesis and other academic work, relevant research experience and academic performance and teaching experience and/or qualifications. Teaching experience and/or qualifications will be considered an advantage. In addition, we may consider work experience or other activities of significance for position

At UiT we put emphasis on the quality, relevance and significance of the research work and not on where the work is published, in accordance with the principles of The San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA).

Inclusion and diversity

UiT The Arctic University i Norway is working actively to promote equality, gender balance and diversity among employees and students, and to create an inclusive and safe working environment. We believe that inclusion and diversity is a strength, and we want employees with different competencies, professional experience, life experience and perspectives.

If you have a disability, a gap in your CV or immigrant background, we encourage you to tick the box for this in your application. If there are qualified applicants, we invite least one in each group for an interview. If you get the job, we will adapt the working conditions if you need it. Apart from selecting the right candidates, we will only use the information for anonymous statistics.

We offer

• Involvement in an interesting research project
• Excellent career opportunities
• A good academic environment with dedicated colleagues
• Flexible working hours and a state collective pay agreement
• Pension scheme through the state pension fund

Application

Your application must include:

• Application letter
• Personal vision on your career development and your thoughts on how your work at UiT will help you reach your goals (max. two pages)
• Description of your past research project and its relevance to the advertised position (max 1 page)
• CV (complete overview of education, professional training and work, skills)
• Diplomas and transcripts (all degrees)
• List of publications and other academic activities with description of personal contribution
• Contact information to 3 references, including the PhD supervisor
• Description of your academic production, stating which works you consider most important
• Academic works, up to ten. The doctoral thesis is regarded as one work.
• PhD thesis
• Documentation of English language proficiency. If not otherwise exempt, documentation of English language proficiency for PhD-studies, with a recommended minimum score of 6.5 on each part of the IELTS test, or minimum scores of 22, 22, 22 and 25 (reading, listening, speaking and writing, respectively) on the TOEFL test.
• Letters of recommendation may be submitted in addition to the above documents

The documentation must be in English or a Scandinavian language. We only accept applications sent via www.jobbnorge.no.

General information

The appointment is made in accordance with State regulations and guidelines at UiT. At our website, you will find more information for applicants.

The remuneration for Postdoctoral research fellow is in accordance with the State salary scale code 1352. A compulsory contribution of 2 % to the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund will be deducted.

The successful candidate must be willing to get involved in the ongoing development of their department and the university as a whole. UiT wishes to increase the proportion of females in academic positions. In cases where two or more applicants are found to be approximately equally qualified, female applicants will be given priority.

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.

In case of discrepancies between the Norwegian and the English version of this description, the Norwegian version takes precedence.

More practical information for working and living in Norway can be found here: International staff

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