PhD Fellow in plant ecology and evolution

Changing Arctic Research School

UiT the Arctic University of Norway started a transdisciplinary research school "Changing Arctic" in August 2022, with PhD candidates and supervisors from all seven university faculties. The research school has a focus on renewable energy, food security, health and welfare. “Changing Arctic” will collaborate with actors in private and public sector. The research outcomes will contribute to resilience and transformation in the Arctic and will thus operationalize Sustainable Development Goals.

The training will provide PhD candidates with knowledge, professional and transferable skills, and general competences that enables them to contribute to innovative and sustainable solutions for the Arctic. The research school will arrange courses, seminars, workshops, and excursions, and will organise secondments in private enterprises, NGOs, and public institutions. This is to ensure the relevance of project outcomes and enhance the employability of the PhD graduates. Read more about the research school Changing Arctic | UiT.

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 (10%) and other duties such as secondments and interactions with the industry or the public sector (15 %). 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 Campus Tromsø. You must be able to start in the position within a reasonable time after receiving the offer. The Research School starts on the 1st of September 2024.

The position’s affiliation and field of research

Despite the candidate is a member of the research school, the candidate will be employed at the Arctic University Museum of Norway.

The largest impact of climate change currently seen on arctic vegetation is the northwards expansion of shrub tundra. However, shrubs may be impacted by a range of factors such as herbivory, snow cover, moisture, and temperatures, and the long-term impact are not well known. Ancient DNA has recently revolutionised our understanding of effect of past climate changes as it provides a local vegetation signal of high taxonomic resolution. Unfortunately, the dominant shrub genera, birch and willow, are rarely distinguished to species level in ancient DNA studies. This PhD will focus on 1) develop methods for species level identification of shrubs from lake sediments, and 2) use latitudinal gradients of sedaDNA to study past effects of environmental changes on arctic greening.

The PhD will be part of the Norwegian Centre for Arctic Ecosystem Genomics (ArcEcoGen) at the Arctic University Museum, UiT, Tromsø. ArcEcoGen centre focuses on the combined effect of humans, climate, and biota on northern ecosystem dynamics in the past, present, and future using environmental DNA (eDNA) techniques. The centre has genome skims of most arctic plant species through the project PhyloNorway, which will provide a basis for method development. Further, the centre has analysed >50 sediment cores for plant and animal DNA, and these will be available for re-analyses using methods dedicated to distinguishing the shrubs. The available plant DNA data can be used to reconstruct past temperature, moisture, disturbance and a range of other environmental factors based on plant traits whereas the mammal DNA data can be used to estimate past grazing pressure. This allows disentangling long-term impact of different drivers of ecosystem changes. Possible secondment includes county administration and research institutes working on topics related to management of natural resources.

Contact

For further information about the position, please contact:

Professor Inger Greve Alsos

• email: inger.g.alsos@uit.no

or for further information about the Changing Arctic Research School:

Professor Michaela Aschan and senior adviser Hanne Risan Johnsen

• email: ChangingArctic@uit.no

Qualifications

This position requires:

• A master's degree in subject relevant to the research description (see also specifications below in “Admission to PhD programme”)
• A master's thesis (see specifications below)
• Documented fluency in English. Nordic applicants can document their English capabilities by attaching their high school diploma.

It is considered an advantage if you have:

• Working experience in the field in question
• Experience from bioinformatic/working on genetic data
• Knolwedge of northern ecosystems
• Experience from working in a team
• Publications and/or reports
• Working knowledge of Norwegian or a Scandinavian language

Qualification with a master’s degree is required before commencement in the position. If you are near completion of your master’s degree, you may still apply and submit a draft version of the thesis and a statement from your supervisor or institution indicating when the degree will be obtained. You must still submit your transcripts for the master’s degree with your application.

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 project description will also be considered. In addition, other experience of significance for the completion of the doctoral programme may be given consideration, , e.g. working experience.

We will also emphasize motivation and personal suitability for the position. 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 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.

UiT normally accepts higher education from countries that are part of the Lisbon Recognition Convention.

Grade requirements applies both to the master thesis as well as courses part of the master’s degree. The minimum requirements are grade C or better on the master’s degree, and grade C or better on courses that are part of the master’s degree. A grade lower than C in one course may be compensated by a higher grade than C in another course. If the applicant has two subjects with the grade D or lower, the applicant is not qualified for admission. A more detailed description of admission requirements can be found here.

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 NOKUT. 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.

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 six weeks after taking up the position.

Find more information about taking a PhD at the Arctic University of Norway in the PhD-guide from Tromsø Doctoral Students (TODOS).

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 in a transdisciplinary research school
• A good and interdisciplinary academic environment with dedicated colleagues
• Good career opportunities, and high employability after successful graduation
• A stunning Arctic landscape and diversity of outdoor activities
• Flexible working hours and a state collective pay agreement
• Pension scheme through the state pension fund
• PhD Fellows are normally given a salary of 532 200 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

Application

Your application must include:

• Cover letter explaining your motivation and research interests
• CV
• Diploma for bachelor's and master's degree
• Transcript of grades/academic record for bachelor's and master's degree
• Explanation of the grading system for foreign education (Diploma Supplement if available)
• Documentation of English proficiency
• 2-3 references with contact information
• Master’s thesis, and any other academic works
• Project description (max. 4 pages)

The applicants must present a description outlining the academic basis of the PhD project. The project description shall not exceed 4 pages, literature references included. It must include a description of the theme, research question(s), and a reasoning of the choices. It should also indicate the methodologies to be used, and what actors outside the academia to involve. The final project description will be developed in cooperation with the supervision team after employment.

All documentation to be considered must be in a Scandinavian language or English. Diplomas and transcripts must also be submitted in the original language, if not in English or Scandinavian. If English proficiency is not documented in the application, it must be documented before starting in the position. We only accept applications and documentation sent via Jobbnorge within the application deadline.

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.

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 to the 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.