PhD Fellow in Marine Molecular Ecology

UiT Norges arktiske universitet; Tromsø; On-site; NOK 522,000 - 638,000; Full time

Job summary

UiT The Arctic University of Norway invites applications for a PhD Fellow to study the molecular ecology of fishes and communities in the Arctic Ocean as part of Arctic Ocean 2050. The position is four years, with teaching duties in the fourth year and in new courses.

The successful candidate will work in the Research Group for Genetics (RGG), contributing to biodiversity assessments, cycles of ecological traits, and molecular food webs while pursuing doctoral training.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in molecular ecology, molecular biology, or genetics.
• Documented experience with DNA extraction from tissues, communities, and/or environmental samples.
• Documented experience with PCR and/or qPCR.
• Documented experience with either bioinformatic or statistical analysis of DNA sequence data.
• Knowledge of taxonomy of fishes and other marine aquatic taxa.
• Documented knowledge of English.

Responsibilities

• Study the molecular ecology of fishes and other communities in the Arctic Ocean as part of Arctic Ocean 2050.
• Work as part of the Research Group for Genetics (RGG).
• Contribute to teaching and courses in Fish Biology and Aquatic Molecular Ecology.

Skills

DNA extraction

PCR/qPCR

Bioinformatics / statistics

Taxonomy knowledge

English language

Education

Master’s degree in molecular ecology, molecular biology, or genetics

Job description

The position

The Norwegian College of Fishery Science (NCFS) at the Faculty of Biosciences, Fisheries and Economics (BFE) is searching for a PhD Fellow to study the molecular ecology of fishes and other communities in the Artic Ocean as a contribution to the national flagship project Arctic Ocean 2050. The candidate will be part of the Research Group for Genetics (RGG).

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

The PhD project will focus on illuminating fish diversity and connectivity, overall biodiversity, and biological interactions using environmental DNA obtained from seawater, natural samplers, and communities, video surveys and conventional survey methods, from the Arctic Ocean. This frigid part of the world is undergoing dramatic changes due to the climate crisis, however, how fishes, and other communities, and the food webs are impacted by these changes is poorly studied.

The research could therefore additionally include categorizing assemblages of species and/or populations into groups of ecological traits and function and include the construction of molecular based food webs. The successful candidate will be working in the national flagship project Arctic Ocean 2050. The teaching will be related to the thematic areas of the Research Group for Genetics (RGG), primarily within a course in Fish Biology and in a new course in Aquatic Molecular Ecology.

The successful candidate will become a member of the Research Group for Genetics (RGG) and will be included in the research, the career development programme, and social activities of the research group.

The candidate will be working with the RGG and Arctic Ocean 2050 team of scientists, PhD students and technical staff with highly cross-disciplinary competence. The applicant should be able to work independently as well as in a team.

Qualifications

• A master’s degree or equivalent by the time of employment in molecular ecology, molecular biology, or genetics within a topic relevant to the position
• Documented experience with DNA extraction from either tissues, communities, and/or environmental samples
• Documented experience with PCR and/or qPCR
• Documented experience with either bioinformatic or statistical analysis of DNA sequence data
• Knowledge of taxonomy of fishes and other marine aquatic taxa
• Documented knowledge of English

Desirable Qualifications

• Experience in collecting and handling eDNA and community samples
• Experience with working in clean lab environments
• Experience with metabarcoding and/or shotgun sequencing approaches and analysis of such data
• Experience with conventional and video fish survey methods and data analyses
• Experience with fieldwork and research cruises, especially in cold environments
• Knowledge of, or experience with, ecological niche theory and foodwebs
• Experience and interest in teaching
• Experience with outreach, communication, and social media content creation
• Knowledge of Norwegian or a Scandinavian language

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. In addition, other experience of significance for the completion of the doctoral programme may be given consideration.

Personal qualifications and suitability will be emphasized; the candidate’s personal qualifications should include excellent interpersonal and communication skills and an enthusiasm to work as a member of a collaborative research team.

As many 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 in the PhD position, you must be qualified for admission to the PhD programme at the Faculty of Biosciences, Fisheries and Economics and participate in organized doctoral studies within the employment period.

Admission Normally Requires

• A bachelor's degree of 180 ECTS and a master's degree of 120 ECTS, or an integrated master's degree of 300 ECTS.
• A master's thesis with a scope corresponding to at least 30 ECTS for a master's degree of 120 ECTS.
• A master's thesis with a scope corresponding to at least 20 ECTS for an integrated master's degree of 300 ECTS.

Grade requirements applies both to the master thesis as well as courses part of the master’s degree. The minimum requirements are grade B or better on the master’s degree, and an average grade of B or better on courses that are part of the master’s degree. For integrated master's degrees, applicants are required to have achieved a grade of B or higher on their master's thesis and an overall average grade of C or higher across all courses comprising the integrated degree programme. A more detailed description of admission requirements can be found here.

If you are employed in the position, you will be provisionally admitted to the PhD programme. Application for final admission must be submitted no later than two months after 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

• Involvement in an interesting research project
• Good 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
• PhD Fellows are normally given a salary of 580 000 NOK/year with a 3% yearly increase

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.

More practical information about working and living in Norway can be found here: https://uit.no/staffmobility

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 draw up for the position. A copy of the assessment report will be sent to all applicants.

The applicants who are assessed as best qualified will be called to an interview. The interview should among other things, aim to clarify the applicant’s motivation and personal suitability for the position.

Generalinformation

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

Remuneration for the position of PhD Fellow is in accordance with the State salary scale code 1017. A compulsory contribution of 2 % to the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund will be deducted. You will become a member of the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund, which gives you many benefits in addition to a lifelong pension: You may be entitled to financial support if you become ill or disabled, your family may be entitled to financial support when you die, you become insured against occupational injury or occupational disease, and you can get good terms on a mortgage. Read more about your employee benefits at: spk.no.

A shorter period of appointment may be decided when the PhD Fellow has already completed parts of their research training programme or when the appointment is based on a previous qualifying position PhD Fellow, research assistant, or the like in such a way that the total time used for research training amounts to three years.

We process personal data given in an application or CV in accordance with the Personal Data Act (Offentleglova). According tothe Personal Data Act information about the applicant may be included in the public applicant list, also in cases where the applicant has requested non-disclosure. You will receive advance notification in the event of such publication, if you have requested non-disclosure.

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

Eallju - Developing the High North

UiT The Arctic University of Norway is a multi-campus research university 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.

The Faculty of Biosciences, Fisheries and Economics (BFE) consists of Department of Arctic and Marine Biology, Norwegian College of Fishery Science (NFH) and School of Business and Economics.

The main task of BFE is to conduct teaching and research dissemination at a high national and international level within all relevant fields. Prioritized research areas are aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, climate, life in the arctic, marine bioprospecting, fish health, seafood products, business and macroeconomics, resources and environment, markets and management of marine resources. The interdisciplinary profile of the faculty provides good opportunity to develop research projects involving several research groups at the faculty according to its strategy.