Position as PhD Research Fellowship in microbial systems ecology available at the Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo. Starting date no later than 1st of October 2018. The fellowship will be for a period of 3 years, with the possibility of a fourth year with 25% compulsory work (e.g. teaching responsibilities at the department) contingent on the qualifications of the candidate and the teaching needs of the department.

The successful candidate will be involved in the application and development of molecular and bioinformatic tools in the field of environmental microbiology. Research in the lab ties in with the recent revolution in sequencing and single cell technologies to explore the dynamics of complex microbial systems in aquatic environments. The candidate for this position is expected to move beyond the hypotheses generating environmental ‘omics’ and focus on the development of new concepts and experimental systems to shift microbial ecology from an explorative to experimental science.

The successful candidate will work in close collaboration with PhD students and postdoctoral fellows at the section of aquatic biology and toxicology (AQUA). The student will be supervised by Associate Professor Alexander Eiler, in close collaborations with Professors Dag O. Hessen and Tom Andersen. Projects involve several established collaborations with other research teams nationally and internationally.

Qualification requirements

The Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences has a strategic ambition of being a leading research faculty. Candidates for these fellowships will be selected in accordance with this, and expected to be in the upper segment of their class with respect to academic credentials.

Applicants

• must hold a Master’s degree or equivalent either in Bioinformatics, Biotechnology, Ecology, Microbiology, Biostatistics or computational Biology.
  • the average grade point for courses included in the Master’s degree must be B or better in the Norwegian educational system
  • the Master’s thesis must have the grade B or better in the Norwegian educational system
  • the average grade point for courses included in the Bachelor’s degree must be C or better in the Norwegian educational system
• Experience with functional and/or object-oriented bioinformatics programming in a unix environment using languages such as Ruby, Python or C++ is highly desirable.
• Self-motivation, excellent communication skills, ability to work and integrate well in an international working environment
• Candidates without a Master’s degree have until 30 June, 2018 to complete the final exam
• All Ph.D. candidates must demonstrate high English language skills. International applicants must document these skills prior to admission to the PhD programme by passing one of the following tests with these or better grades:
  • TOEFL – Test of English as Foreign Language, internet based test (IBT). Minimum total score: 80
  • IELTS – International English Language Testing Service. Minimum overall band score: 6.5
  • Certificate in Advanced English (CAE) and Certificate of Proficiency in English (CPE) from the University of Cambridge
  • PTE Academic – Pearson Test of English Academic. Minimum overall score: 62