PhD Fellow in Evolutionary Biochemistry

UiT The Arctic University of Norway; Norway; On-site; NOK 520,000 - 600,000; Full time

Job summary

UiT The Arctic University of Norway invites applications for a 4-year PhD position in Evolutionary Biochemistry within the Host–Microbe Interaction group. The project, LacZymes, is led by Dr.

Christopher Frøhlich and aims to uncover AMR evolution mechanisms using ancestral reconstruction, directed evolution, kinetics, and X-ray crystallography. The position includes research training toward a doctoral degree, with teaching duties in the fourth year.

Qualifications

• Master's degree in molecular biology or related field with high academic standing.
• Fluent in English and able to work in an international environment.
• Experience in molecular cloning, protein expression and purification, and enzymatic characterization.

Responsibilities

• Manage own research project within the LacZymes project.
• Design experiments and execute enzymatic evolution studies.
• Perform enzyme production and purification.
• Characterize enzymes biochemically and structurally.
• Contribute to scientific papers and PhD thesis.
• Present work at national and international venues.

Skills

Molecular biology

English proficiency

Interdisciplinary research

Collaboration

Education

Master's degree in molecular biology

Tools

X-ray crystallography

Protein expression and purification

Pymol

Job description

Organisation/Company UiT The Arctic University of Norway Department Department of Medical Biology Research Field Biological sciences Researcher Profile First Stage Researcher (R1) Positions PhD Positions Application Deadline 13 Dec 2026 - 23:59 (Europe/Oslo) Country Norway Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Full-time Hours Per Week 37,5 Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Not funded by a EU programme Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Offer Description

The position

A 4-year PhD position in Evolutionary Biochemistry is available at the Department of Medical Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, within the Host–Microbe Interaction (HMI) research group. The position is part of the LacZymes project, led by Dr. Christopher Frøhlich.

General information about the position.

The position is for a period of four years. The nominal length of the PhD programme is three years. The fourth year is distributed as 25 % each year and will consist of teaching and other duties. The objective of the position is to complete research training to the level of a doctoral degree. Admission to the PhD programme is a prerequisite for employment, and the programme period starts on commencement of the position.

The workplace is at UiT in Tromsø. You must be able to start in the position within a reasonable time after receiving the offer.

The project

Do you hold a Master’s degree in molecular biology (or a related field) and have a strong interest in the molecular mechanisms underlying antibiotic resistance development? Are you motivated to conduct interdisciplinary research at one of the northernmost universities in the world? If so, this PhD position may be of interest to you.

The successful candidate will join a project aiming to uncover the molecular mechanisms of AMR evolution at the enzymatic level. To address this, the project integrates ancestral sequence reconstruction, directed evolution, pre-steady-state and steady-state enzyme kinetics, and X-ray crystallography. Candidates with experience in one or more of these areas are encouraged to apply.

The PhD candidate will report to Dr. Christopher Frøhlich and is expected to contribute actively to the project while developing expertise at the interface of molecular biology, enzymology, and evolutionary biology.

The PhD candidate will work on the following tasks:

• Manage their own research project
• Experimental design and execution
• Enzyme evolution and selection
• Enzyme production and purification
• Biochemical enzyme characterization
• Structural and functional characterization
• Writing scientific papers and a PhD thesis
• Presenting the work in national and international arenas

Personal characteristics:

The applicant should be motivated, creative and ambitious, with a strong ability to work problem-solution orientated both in teams and independently. The applicant should be genuinely interested in the field of molecular evolution and AMR as well as scientific dissemination. In the evaluation of which applicant is best qualified, emphasis will be placed on education, experience, and personal suitability, in terms of the qualification requirements specified in this position announcement. The appointment is to be made in accordance with the regulations in force concerning State Employees and Civil Servants and national guidelines for appointment as PhD fellow

Applicants are required to submit a motivation letter describing how the position aligns with their research interests.

Contact

For further information about the position, please contact Dr. Christopher Frøhlich:

• Master’s degree in molecular biology, microbiology, chemistry or equivalent education, with a grade of C or better. Candidates who have not yet completed their Master’s education must submit a written statement from their main supervisor stating the tentative date of their Master’s defence.
• Experience in at least two of the following areas: molecular cloning, protein expression and purification, biochemical characterization of enzymes (e.g. kinetic investigations), X-ray crystallography
• Documented oral and written English skills

Applicants must document fluency of in English and be able to work in an international environment. Nordic applicants can document their English capabilities by attaching their high school diploma. Working knowledge of Norwegian or a Scandinavian language is also beneficial.

Preferred qualifications

• Experience in the field of AMR and AMR mechanisms
• Experience in coding (e.g. Python) and competence with computer-based analytical tools (e.g., Pymol)
• Knowledge of a Scandinavian language
• Experience in writing publications
• Experience in a biosafety level-2 laboratory environment

In the assessment, the emphasis is on the applicant's potential to complete a research education based on the master's thesis or equivalent, and any other scientific work. (The motivation letter will also be considered.)In addition, professional experience and other experience of significance for the completion of the doctoral programme will be taken into consideration.

We will also emphasize motivation and personal suitability for the position. We are looking for candidates who:

We are looking for candidates who:

• Have good collaboration skills
• Have good communication and interaction with colleagues and students
• Wants to contribute to a good working environment

As many people as possible should have the opportunity to undertake organized research training. If you already hold a PhD or have equivalent competence, we will not appoint you to this position.

Admission to the PhD programme

For employment inthePhD position,you must be qualified for admission to the PhD programmeat the Faculty of Health Sciences and participate in organized doctoral studies within the employment period.

Admission normally requires:

• Abachelor's degree of 180 ECTS and amaster's degree of 120 ECTS, oran integrated master's degree of 300 ECTS.
• Amaster's thesiswitha scope corresponding to at least 30 ECTSforamaster's degree of 120 ECTS.
• Amaster's thesiswithascope corresponding to at least20 ECTSforan integratedmaster's degree of 300 ECTS.

Applicants must have a grade of C or better on the master's thesis and have a grade point average of C or better for the master's degree. A more detailed description of admission requirements can be found here .

If you are employed in the position, you willbeprovisionally admittedto the PhD programme. Application forfinal admissionmust be submitted no later thantwo monthsafter taking up the position.

Applicants with a foreign education will be subjected to an evaluation of whether the educational background is equal to Norwegian higher education, following national guidelines from Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills . Depending on which country the education is from, one or two additional years of university education may be required to fulfil admission requirements, e.g. a 4-year bachelor's degree and a 2-year master's degree. UiT normally accepts higher education from countries that are part of the Lisbon Recognition Convention.

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 are 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 at 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