Postdoctoral Research Fellow- Climate Change and socioecological interaction in Arctic Salmon rivers

UiT- The Arctic University of Norway; Of; On-site; TRY 3,170,000 - 3,874,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible hours

Pension scheme

ERC project

Interdisciplinary environment

Career opportunities

Job summary

UiT The Arctic University of Norway is seeking a Postdoctoral Research Fellow to join the RiverPulse ERC project in the Department of Language and Culture. The role combines ecological, ethnographic, and governance perspectives to study climate-driven changes in Arctic river systems and their social implications.

You will contribute to fieldwork, cross-disciplinary analysis, and the development of independent research outputs, with opportunities to publish in an international context and

Qualifications

• PhD in sustainability science, climate science, ecology, or environmental science.
• Experience with qualitative and/or mixed-method environmental research.
• Excellent written and spoken English.

Responsibilities

• Examine climate-change impacts and emerging forms of adaptation across the three river regions.
• Contribute to fieldwork and to interdisciplinary integration of ecological, ethnographic, local ecological knowledge and citizen-science evidence.
• Analyse interactions between ecological and social systems, including multiple and interacting drivers of environmental change and emerging responses.
• Develop your own analyses and publications within RiverPulse research area and contribute to comparative outputs.

Skills

English proficiency

Education

PhD in sustainability science or related field

Job description

The position

A Postdoctoral Research Fellow position at the interdisciplinary ERC research project RiverPulse is available at the Department of Language and Culture.

RiverPulse: Reconfiguring human–nature interactions as an assemblage at the Arctic frontline of climate change is an ERC Advanced Grant project at UiT, The Arctic University of Norway. It examines how accelerating climate change transforms Arctic salmon rivers as ecological systems, multispecies environments, lived places and sites of governance. The broader aim is to advance assemblage thinking as an empirically grounded framework for understanding climate change as a crisis of relations and Arctic salmon rivers as assemblages of ecological, social, cultural and political processes.

The project works across three river regions: Reisa in Norway, Tornio in Finland and Sweden, and Kapisillit in Greenland. The communities are multilingual and -cultural, including Sámi and Kalaallit Indigenous communities and Kven and Meänkieli minority contexts. RiverPulse combines ecological and quantitative research with ethnographic, historical, citizen-science and governance approaches to understand how climate-driven changes in rivers and salmon systems reconfigure river–salmon–human relations, knowledge and governance.

RiverPulse is designed as an interdisciplinary research programme, where the announced postdoctoral research fellow position is one of four positions. Ecological and quantitative evidence will be interpreted alongside qualitative and community-based knowledge, while each researcher retains clear scholarly responsibility for their own area. You will join a team spanning the humanities, social sciences and environmental sciences, with interdisciplinary collaborators and local research assistants across the three river regions.

The Department has a very active and diverse research profile, and hosts about 140 employees the majority of which are situated at the Tromsø campus, but some are at the Alta campus. There are about 500 students at the department.

The position is a fixed term position for a duration of 3 years. It is a prerequisite that the applicant can 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.

As a Postdoctoral Research Fellow, you will have the opportunity to advance your scientific career and further qualify for academic positions. If you do not already have the educational competence that meets the requirements for an Associate Professor position in Norway, UiT will arrange such competence during the employment period.

We expect you to join us by 1. April 2027. The position is based at UiT in Tromsø, with some travel required as part of the role.

The project/position's field of research

We are recruiting four postdoctoral research fellows with complementary expertise. Each position has its own research question and responsibilities, while all four fellows will contribute to the interdisciplinary work of RiverPulse across ecological, social, cultural and political processes. Previous Arctic or northern research experience is an advantage, but it is not generally required. We welcome applications from candidates who can explain how their expertise can contribute to RiverPulse. You are not expected to arrive as an expert in every method or discipline used in the project

In addition to their position-specific research responsibilities (please see below), all postdoctoral fellows will contribute to shared RiverPulse activities, including project meetings, workshops and events, research communication and dissemination, and other project-related activities. In addition, the position involves periods of extended fieldwork in one or several of our research sites.

A preliminary research plan of maximum 3 pages, excluding references. Please outline how you would develop your research within the wider RiverPulse project. The plan should identify the questions you would pursue, the material and methods you would draw on, and conceptual approach you envisage. It should explain how your research connects with the relevant RiverPulse position and with the project as a whole, what you would contribute independently, and where you see the most important opportunities for collaboration across disciplines and river regions. Where relevant, please address fieldwork, community engagement and ethical considerations.

The 3-page research plan is not expected to be a fully independent project proposal. We want to see how you formulate a coherent line of research of your own within an already defined ERC project, and how you would make use of the opportunities for collaboration that RiverPulse provides.

Your role

You Will Contribute Expertise In Climate Change And Socio-ecological Systems, With Particular Responsibility For Integrating Ecological And Social-science Perspectives On Climate Change Impacts And Responses Across The Three RiverPulse Rivers. The Focus Is On Climate-change Impacts, Interactions And Adaptation In Socio-ecological Systems Rather Than On Treating Ecological And Social Change Separately. You May Approach These Questions From The Natural Sciences, Environmental Social Sciences, Or Through Research That Already Works Across These Fields. The Position Addresses The Question

How does climate-driven environmental changes affect Arctic salmon socio-ecological systems, and what impacts and forms of adaptation are emerging?

Duties of the position

• Examine climate-change impacts and emerging forms of adaptation across the three river regions.
• Contribute to fieldwork and to interdisciplinary integration of ecological, ethnographic, local ecological knowledge and citizen-science evidence.
• Analyse interactions between ecological and social systems, including multiple and interacting drivers of environmental change and emerging responses.
• Develop your own analyses and publications within this positions research area and contribute to comparative RiverPulse outputs.

You are not expected to provide specialist expertise in every type of evidence used across RiverPulse. The position is intended for a researcher who can work confidently from their own expertise while engaging with other forms of knowledge and analysis.

Qualifications

Required qualifications

• A PhD in sustainability science, climate science, ecology, environmental science, environmental social science, environmental anthropology or another relevant field.
• Research experience relevant to climate change, environmental change, adaptation, socio-ecological systems or interactions between ecological and social processes.
• Experience with qualitative and/or mixed-method environmental research, and demonstrated capacity to integrate ecological and social-science perspectives in the analysis of environmental change.
• Excellent written and spoken English.

Fluency in English is required and working knowledge of Norwegian or a Scandinavian language is desirable. Nordic applicants can document their capabilities by attaching their high school diploma.

Desired Qualifications

• Experience with Arctic or northern climate research, climate-change impacts or adaptation, socio-ecological systems, interdisciplinary integration of ecological and social evidence, or citizen science.
• Competence in one or more RiverPulse field-site languages.

Relevant field-site languages are: Reisa – Norwegian, Kven and Northern Sámi; Tornio – Finnish, Swedish and Meänkieli; Kapisillit – Kalaallisut and Danish.

In your application, please describe your level of competence and how you are able to use the language in field research.

Assessment Criteria

In assessing your application, we will consider both what you already bring to the position and your potential to develop within RiverPulse. In addition to the specific qualifications, we will place emphasis on:

• the quality and relevance of your research and your research potential;
• your analytical skills, intellectual curiosity and motivation for interdisciplinary research on changing Arctic river systems and communities;
• your understanding of the position you are applying for and of how your expertise can contribute to the wider RiverPulse project;
• your ability to conduct research with scholarly independence within the overall framework of RiverPulse, including developing your own analyses and publications, while contributing actively and constructively to the project’s collaborative interdisciplinary research;
• initiative and openness to engaging with perspectives, methods and forms of knowledge beyond your own disciplinary background;
• communication and interpersonal skills that support a collaborative, inclusive and constructive research environment.

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
• 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
• The opportunity to join an ERC Advanced Grant project addressing a major environmental and societal challenge in the Arctic.
• A genuinely interdisciplinary research environment bringing humanities, social sciences and environmental sciences into sustained collaboration.
• A clearly defined research role together with support to develop your own analyses, publications and academic profile within RiverPulse.
• Opportunities to contribute to cutting-edge interdisciplinary research, workshops and wider project activities while building your own research network.
• A collaborative, inclusive and constructive working environment in which different forms of expertise and knowledges are valued.

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 for working and living in Norway can be found here: https://uit.no/staffmobility

Application

Please note that the application will only be assessed based on the information submitted by the application deadline via Jobbnorge. It is therefore important that you include all necessary documents demonstrating your qualifications for the position.

Your Application Must Include

• Application letter
• Preliminary research plan (max 3 pages)
• CV
• Diplomas and transcripts (all degrees)
• Contact information for 2–3 academic references, letters of reference are not required at the time of application.
• Documentation of English proficiency
• Documentation of educational competence, if available
• A motivation letter of maximum 2 pages. Please explain why you are applying for this RiverPulse position, how your background prepares you for it, and how you understand the scientific and practical responsibilities of the role. Please also reflect briefly on how you would contribute to interdisciplinary and collaborative research and on what you see as important or challenging in conducting climate-change research in Arctic river environments and communities.
• Up to five academic publications or other scholarly works that you consider most relevant to the position. Your doctoral dissertation may be included as one of these works. In your cover letter (max 1 page), please explain how you see that these publications link to RiverPulse.

As English is the working language of the research group, the CV, application letter, motivation letter and research plan must be written in English.

Documented completion of a PhD is a requirement for taking up a postdoctoral position. If you are in the final stages of your PhD, you may still apply for the position, provided that you submit confirmation that your doctoral thesis has been submitted for assessment.

Your application should help us understand not only whether you meet the formal criteria, but also how you see yourself contributing to RiverPulse and developing as a researcher within the project. All the documents must be submitted in a Scandinavian language or in English. If documentation of English language proficiency is not available at the time of application, it must be provided before taking up the position.

Note To Candidates

We know that no single candidate will bring every kind of experience or expertise listed here, and we do not expect you to. What matters is that you meet the required qualifications, bring a strong perspective of your own, and can see how your work could contribute to RiverPulse. RiverPulse is designed to give you both a clear research role and space to develop new expertise, questions and collaborations as the project progresses. If the position speaks to your research interests, we encourage you to apply.

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

The postdoctoral research fellow is remunerated in accordance with the State salary scale, code 1352, with a gross annual salary of NOK 655,100 for a full-time 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. You will become a member of the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund, which gives you many benefits in addition to a lifelong pension. Read more about your employee benefits at: spk.no.

The successful candidate must be willing to get involved in the ongoing development of their department and the university as a whole.

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.

Eallju - Developing the High North

UiT The Arctic University of Norway is an internationally leading broad-based university. Our vision is to be a driving force in the North. The Northern Sami term eallju, which means diligence, sets the tone for UiT's drive. Together with students, staff, and society at large, we will utilize our location in Northern Norway and Sápmi, our academic breadth, and interdisciplinary advantages to shape the future.

UiT has approximately 18,000 students, more than 4,000 employees, and is established across four main campuses and seven additional study locations in Northern Norway and on Svalbard. Our largest campuses are Tromsø, Alta, Narvik, and Harstad. UiT has seven faculties, 40 departments and centers, and leading research environments in various fields. The university offers 269 study programs and focuses on educational quality.

Academic freedom, scientific principles, and research ethics form the foundation of all UiT's activities. Participation, co-determination, transparency, and sound processes will provide the basis for making wise and forward-looking decisions. Our students and staff will have the opportunity to develop their abilities and potential. Rooted in scientific integrity, we aim to be bold, engaged, and generous - closely connected to academia, people, and contemporary developments.

Read more about UiT's strategy towards 2030.