Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Modelling the impact of Antarctic Ice Sheet change

Stig Brøndbo
5th June 2024
Languages
English

• English

English
Faculty of Science and Technology
Postdoctoral Research Fellow in  Modelling the impact of Antarctic Ice Sheet change 
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The position

A Postdoctoral Research Fellow position is available at the Department of Geoscience, Faculty of Science and Technology. The position is affiliated to the newly funded Centre of Excellence, iC3: Centre for ice, Cryosphere, Carbon and Climate with the research group, Centre for ice, Cryosphere, Carbon and Climate.

The iC3 polar research Centre in Arctic Norway is seeking to recruit a Postdoctoral Research Fellow to advance our knowledge on how the Antarctic Ice Sheet impacts Southern Ocean plankton ecosystems and productivity. This position is open to qualified applicants of all nationalities. 

The position is a fixed term position for a duration of 3 years. Appointment to the position of Postdoctoral Research Fellow within iC3 is mainly intended to provide qualification for work in top academic positions. No person may hold more than one fixed term position as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the same institution.

The appointed postdoctoral fellow must have their daily workplace at the Department of Geosciences UiT The Arctic University of Norway.The workplace is at UiT in Tromsø. You must be able to start in the position within a reasonable time after receiving the offer.

If you receive a personal overseas research grant from NFR it is possible to apply NFR for an extension of the fellowship period corresponding to the length of the stay abroad (minimum three months, maximum 12 months).

About iC3

The Centre for ice, Cryosphere, Carbon and Climate (iC3) is an interdisciplinary polar research hub at UiT The Arctic University of Norway, the northernmost world’s University (https://ic3.uit.no/ ).

We offer a friendly and supportive working environment to postdoctoral researchers who are passionate about polar science, have a strong work ethic, and share our commitment to teamwork and scientific excellence. Training and supporting the next generation of interdisciplinary polar scientists is a core part of our mission. iC3 has a dedicated mentorship and graduate training program. We actively help postdoctoral fellows to gain new skills, secure grant funding, get their research published, and build their professional networks. The postdoctoral fellow will be one of several fellows to be appointed during 2024.

Our Centre is hosted by UiT, The Arctic University of Norway, the top university worldwide in terms of Arctic research output, and is partnered with the Norwegian Polar Institute and NORCE. We work together across disciplines to answer some of the biggest questions in polar research. iC3 aims to close order of magnitude uncertainty in polar carbon budgets, addressing the hypothesis that changing ice sheets and the cryosphere profoundly impact Earth's carbon cycle, directly affecting human societies via feedbacks to the global climate and polar ecosystems.

Our team has access to world-class facilities including Arctic and Antarctic research stations, ice-going research vessels and in-house laboratory and modelling capacity.

The project/position's field of research

The Southern Ocean is an essential component of Earth´s carbon cycle, absorbing around 40% of the world ocean´s anthropogenic CO2 uptake. Atmospheric and ocean warming is enhancing meltwater discharge from some Antarctic Ice Sheet sectors and causing sea ice decline. These cryospheric changes are likely to amplify over the coming century, with the potential to influence important Southern Ocean marine ecosystems by altering nutrient and light availability. One of the main CO2 sinks of the Southern Ocean is the biological carbon pump, which is dominated by the activity of diatoms. Diatoms are large phytoplankton that produce silica shells and form extensive blooms, contributing to large carbon and silicon exports. Diatom production is limited by both iron and silicic acid in the Southern Ocean, which affect their potential to take up and export carbon to the deep ocean via complex coupling between biogeochemical cycles of carbon, silicon, and iron. Current estimates of the ice-sheet impact on Southern Ocean primary production vary widely. However, most of these models have a limited representation of the marine ecosystem of the Southern Ocean, in particular omitting the effect of iron availability on diatoms growth, life cycle and silicon-to-carbon elemental ratio. It is critical to improve understanding of the response of diatoms to changing cryospheric iron and silicon sources in Antarctica in order to predict the sensitivity of the Southern Ocean carbon cycle to past and future ice sheet change.

The fellow will employ the state-of-the-art ocean model NEMO coupled with the ocean biogeochemical model PISCES to study the effect of variable ice sheet and sea ice iron and silicon inputs on the marine plankton ecosystem, primary and export production in the Southern Ocean. The project will focus primarily on the impact of ice sheet-sourced nutrient inputs (e.g. subglacial meltwater, ice shelf melt and iceberg discharge) on diatom populations and how they influence their silicon-to-carbon ratio in relation to iron supply. Depending on the interests of the candidate, other aspects of Southern Ocean coupling with ice sheet meltwaters and associated nutrients or ecological trait modelling may be investigated.

The fellow will work closely with Dr Fanny Monteiro (Associate Professor at University of Bristol and Adjunct Associate Professor at iC3, UiT), an expert on modelling complex plankton ecosystems, and a network of glaciologists and ocean scientists within iC3. Drs Sebastien Moreau and Philipp Assmy (Norwegian Polar Institute) are experts on Southern Ocean biogeochemistry and plankton ecology respectively, while Prof Jemma Wadham (UiT) has expertise in biogeochemical cycles beneath ice sheets. The postdoctoral fellow will also have the opportunity to collaborate with Prof Alessandro Tagliabue (University of Liverpool), an expert on the iron cycle in the NEMO-PISCES model. The postdoctoral fellow is expected to be involved in all aspects of the research, including study design, planning, conducting research, data analyses, and publishing results. The research work will be performed in collaboration with national and international partners, and progress and results are expected to be published in peer-reviewed scientific journals and presented at national and international conferences/workshops. It is expected that the postdoctoral researcher takes an active role within the iC3 Centre.

Contact

For further information about the position, please contact 

• Dr Fanny Monteiro, email: [email protected]
• Prof. Jemma Wadham, emial: [email protected]
• Dr Sebastien Moreau, email: [email protected]
• Dr Philipp Assmy, email: [email protected]
• Prof. Alessandro Tagliabue, email: [email protected]

For information about iC3 and any general enquiries, please contact:

• iC3 Centre Manager: Dr Terri Souster, [email protected]

Website: iC3 Centre for ice, Cryosphere, Carbon and Climate

Twitter: @iC3_CoE

Facebook: iC3 Centre

Linkedin: iC3 Centre

Jon Terje Hellren Hansen, Ingun A.Mæhlum via Unsplash Jon Terje Hellren Hansen, Ingun A.Mæhlum
Qualifications

This position requires

• A Norwegian doctoral degree or a corresponding foreign doctoral degree recognized as equivalent to a Norwegian doctoral degree in ocean physics, biogeochemistry and/or plankton ecology. 
• Comprehensive experience in running and analysing numerical models
• Sufficient knowledge of programming languages like Fortran, Python, Matlab or equivalent
• A strong publication track record, including first author contributions
• Documented fluency in English (both written and oral).
• An international network which the candidate can refer to

During the assessment emphasis will be put on the candidate’s motivation, potential for research, and personal suitability for the position. We are looking for candidates who:

• Have strong problem-solving skills
• Are highly motivated and independent, with evidence of strong organisational skills and good time management
• Have ability to work collaboratively with colleagues and students

Applicants not being able to communicate in Norwegian will be encouraged to learn the language within a reasonable time.

Desirable qualifications:

• Research experience in polar oceans
• Research experience in ocean biogeochemistry and ecology
• Experience in model development

 

Qualification with a PhD is required before commencement in the position. If you are at the final stages of your PhD, you may still apply if you have submitted your PhD thesis for doctoral degree evaluation within the application deadline. In that case, you must submit the thesis together with your application. You must have defended your PhD dissertation before the start-up date of the position. 

UiT wishes to increase the proportion of females in academic positions. In cases where two or more applicants are found to be approximately equally qualified, female applicants will be given priority.

In the assessment the main emphasis will be attached to the submitted works and the project proposal for the qualifying work. Emphasis shall also be attached to experience from popularization/dissemination and academic policy and administrative activity.

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  

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

Your application must include:

• Application letter explaining your motivation and research interests for the post, along with details of how you fit the required and desirable qualifications for the position (max. 2 A4 page)
• CV (containing a complete overview of education and professional work; max. 3 pages)
• Diplomas and transcripts (all degrees)
• Documentation of English proficiency
• Contact information to 2-3 references
• A list of your academic production
• Description of your academic production, stating which works you consider most important
• The academic works (published or not) you wish us to take into consideration in the assessment

If you’re at the final stages of your PhD, you may still apply if you have submitted your PhD thesis for doctoral degree evaluation within the application deadline. You must submit the thesis with your application. Documentation of your completed PhD degree must be submitted before commencement.

All documentation to be considered must be in a Scandinavian language or English. 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.

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.

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. A trial lecture may also be held.

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 . 

The remuneration for Postdoctoral research fellow is in accordance with the State salary scale code 1352. 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 .

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

UiT wishes to promote gender equality. If two or more applicants are found to be equally qualified, the university will rank applicants from the underrepresented gender ahead of others.

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 a multi-campus comprehensive university at the international forefront. Our vision is to be a driving force for developing the High North. The Northern Sami notion eallju, which means eagerness to work, sets the tone for this motive power at UiT. Along with students, staff and the wider community, we aim to utilise our location in Northern Norway and Sápmi, our broad and diverse research and study portfolio and interdisciplinary advantage to shape the future.

Our social mission is to provide research-based education of high quality, perform artistic development and carry out research of the highest international quality standards in the entire range from basic to applied. We will convey knowledge about disciplines and contribute to innovation. Our social mission unites UiT across various studies, research fields and large geographical distances. This demands good cooperation with trade and industry and civil society as well as with international partners. We will strengthen knowledge-based and sustainable development at a regional, national and international level.

Academic freedom and scientific and ethical principles form the basis for all UiT’s activities. Participation, co-determination, transparency and good processes will provide the decision-making basis we need to make wise and far-sighted priorities. Our students and staff will have the opportunity to develop their abilities and potential. Founded on academic integrity, we will be courageous, committed and generous in close contact with disciplines, people and contemporary developments.

We will demonstrate adaptability and seek good and purposeful utilisation of resources, so we are ready to meet the expectations and opportunities of the future. We will strengthen the quality and impact of our disciplines and core tasks through the following three strategic priority areas.

Apply for this job
Deadline

5th June 2024

Employer

UiT The Arctic University of Norway

Municipality

Tromsø - Romsa

Scope

Fulltime (1 positions) Fulltime (%)

Duration

Fixed Term

Place of service
Hansine Hansens veg18, 9019 Tromsø

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