LEDIG STILLING VED UIT NORGES ARKTISKE UNIVERSITET
9-months Researcher Position in Pharmaceutics and Innovation of Nanofiber Wound Dressings
Deadline: 15.07.2026
Publisert
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UiT The Arctic University of Norway is a multi-campus comprehensive university at the international forefront. Our vision is to be a driving force for developing the High North. The Northern Sami notion eallju, which means eagerness to work, sets the tone for this motive power at UiT. Along with students, staff and the wider community, we aim to utilise our location in Northern Norway and Sápmi, our broad and diverse research and study portfolio and interdisciplinary advantage to shape the future.
The Faculty of Health Sciences at UiT The Arctic University of Norway represents a newly created entity gathering almost all possible health study programs. This facilitates an unique interdisciplinarity and innovation in health education and research. We work closely with the services in the North to solve tomorrow's challenges.
The position is a fixed term position funded by the MABIT-program for a duration of nine months, with the intended start date of 1st of September 2026. Preferably, the applicant should be 100% engaged in the project over the full course of the employment period. The workplace is at UiT in Tromsø.
The Drug Transport and Delivery Research Group
The Drug Transport and Delivery Research Group (DTDRG) specializes in pharmaceutical technology and biopharmacy, with a strong focus on leveraging advanced drug formulation and nanotechnology to improve therapeutic outcomes. Our research primarily targets the treatment of local and systemic infections, inflammatory conditions, and cancer. To achieve these goals, we combine innovative formulation strategies with optimized drug administration approaches. Beyond focusing on the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API), we emphasize the synergistic effects achieved through the careful selection of ingredients, including excipients, with a particular interest in naturally derived bioactive compounds that support therapeutic objectives. Our research portfolio includes a variety of nanocarriers such as liposomes, nanofibers, nucleic acid nanostructures, hybrid nanoparticles, and nanoemulsions, which are often combined with secondary dispersion media like hydrogels to create advanced drug products. To ensure efficacy, we utilize relevant model systems to study drug transport and delivery to the target site of action.
DTDRG currently consists of two Full Professors, two Associate Professors, two Researchers, two Technicians, as well as Postdoctoral Researchers and PhD students. In addition to our research activities, we contribute to education by teaching pharmaceutics and biopharmaceutics at the bachelor’s, master’s, and PhD levels within our pharmacy education program.
About the research project
In this research project, we aim to develop one or more prototype(s) of an innovative nanofiberous wound dressing based on local arctic marine ingredients. The optimized formulations bioactivity and stability will be characterized, and the production settings in a NanospiderTM NS Lab electrospinning setup available at our laboratory facility at Department of Pharmacy carefully optimized. The project includes multidisciplinary collaborations with local industry (Chitinor AS and SeaGarden AS), Norinnova AS, as well as with close collaborators within our own department and at our neighboring faculties, Department of Physics and Technology. These collaborations are facilitating access to novel ingredients, as well as advanced characterization techniques. The in vitro performance of the nanofibers will get special attention, including their antimicrobial activity, and performance in cell cultures using an in vitro wound scratch assay. Skills in laboratory work, including electrospinning, texture analysis, rheological characterization, RAMAN-spectroscopy, electron microscopy (SEM), as well as experiences in handling cells and bacteria cultures, would be especially appreciated.
Qualifications
For this announced position, we are targeting a person with a PhD in relevant disciplines, including i.e. pharmaceutics, nanotechnology, biotechnology, biomedicine and microbiology.
However, master’s in pharmacy, pharmaceutics or equivalent with relevant laboratory expertise and hands-on experience in cell-work, production and characterization of nanofibers and/or deep knowledge about the critical formulation requirements of a wound dressing, might also be considered for the position.
Required qualifications:
Hands-on experiences in basic laboratory work
Well trained in good laboratory practices, understanding the risk and safety precautions needed in the laboratory
Experiences drug formulations work and preferably with biopolymer-based formulation and their relevant physiochemical characterization techniques
Hands-on experiences in cell-work and antimicrobial testing
Knowledge of electron microcopy, including TEM and SEM
Good software skills, including tools such as Excel or similar, enabling efficient processing of inherited raw data
Analytical and critical skills enabling presenting the experimental results in a reliable and easily understandable way, using tools like PowerPoint or similar
If not sufficient skilled in Norwegian or another Scandinavian language, good communication skills in English is a prerequisite
Basic knowledge of GMP-regulations
Desired Qualifications:
Hands-on-experiences and knowledge about electrospinning
Experience in preparing topical formulations for wound healing applications
Knowledge about wounds, and what criteria should be met to obtain good healing conditions
Experience in aseptic production and sterilization of medical products
Knowledge about RAMAN-spectroscopy
Experiences with innovation and patenting would be beneficial
Documented skills in scientific writing and publications will be valued
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).
We will emphasize the applicant’s motivation for the position and personal suitability.
We are looking for candidates who have:
Good collaboration skills
Abilities for good communication and interaction with colleagues and students
Abilities and desires to contribute to a good working environment
We offer
Involvement in an interesting research project
A good academic environment with dedicated colleagues
Flexible working hours and a state collective pay agreement
Pension scheme through the state pension fund
Norwegian health policy aims to ensure that everyone, irrespective of their personal finances and where they live, has access to good health and care services of equal standard. As an employee you will become member of the National Insurance Scheme which also include health care services.
The successful candidate must be willing to get involved in the ongoing development of their department and the university as a whole.
The remuneration for the position is depending on qualifications, in accordance with the State salary scale code 1109, with a gross annual salary ranging from NOK 630.000 to 765.000 (in a 100% position) or scale code 1108, with a gross annual salary ranging from NOK 555.000 to 610.000 (in a 100% position). In special cases, a higher salary may be considered
A compulsory contribution of 2 % to the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund will be deducted. As a state employee, you have one of the best pension schemes available. For more information see: spk.no
Inclusion and diversity
UiT The Arctic University of 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.
Application
The application must include:
Cover letter including a short description of interests and reasons for applying for the position
Description of your past research project(s) and its relevance to the advertised position (max one page)
CV containing a complete overview of experience, professional work and references
Diplomas, diploma supplements and transcripts (all degrees, in original language and translated)
Written references
Two references with contact details
A list of your academic production
Academic works, up to ten. The doctoral thesis is regarded as one work.
Description of your academic production, stating which works you consider most important
Documentation of English proficiency, if not native Norwegian or Scandinavian.
Proficiency in the English language should preferably be documented in the following ways:
Diploma from a Norwegian upper secondary school with both spoken and written English (140 hours)
TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language)
IELTS (International English Testing Service)
Completed university degree in the field of English language or literature
One year of completed university studies in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the UK or USA, for which English was the language of instruction.
Documentation has to be in English or a Scandinavian language. The application and submitted documents must be sent electronically via www.jobbnorge.no
Assessment
The applicants will be assessed by an expert committee. The committee's mandate is to undertake an assessment of the applicants' qualifications based on the written material presented by the applicants, and the detailed description drawn up for the position.
The applicants who are assessed as best qualified will be called to an interview. The interview shall among other things, aim to clarify the applicant’s personal suitability for the position and motivations.
General
The appointment is made in accordance with State regulations and guidelines at UiT. At our website, you will find more information for applicants.
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.
