Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Protein Structural Dynamics by NMR

22 Feb 2024
Job Information

Organisation/Company

UiT The Arctic University of Norway

Department

Department of Pharmacy

Research Field

Pharmacological sciences

Researcher Profile

Recognised Researcher (R2)

Country

Norway

Application Deadline

14 Mar 2024 - 23:59 (Europe/Oslo)

Type of Contract

Temporary

Job Status

Full-time

Hours Per Week

37,5

Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?

Not funded by an EU programme

Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?

No

Offer Description
The position

UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Faculty of Health Sciences , Department of Pharmacy  (IFA), has a Postdoctoral Research Fellow position available for a period of 3 years. The position is affiliated with the Natural products and Medicinal Chemstry group .

The workplace is at UiT in Tromsø. You must be able to start in the position within a reasonable time after receiving the offer.

Unless special circumstances indicate otherwise, postdoctoral projects shall be planned with stays abroad. The duration should be at least 6 months.

The position is available for commencement from August 2024.

The position is affiliated to the Department of Pharmacy, which consists of seven research groups: Drug Transport and Delivery, Cell Signalling and Targeted therapy, Natural Products and Medicinal Chemistry, Microbiology, Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacoepidemiology, Infection Biology, and Computational Pharmacology. The Department has around 30 permanent positions. In addition, there is a variable number of PhD students, postdocs and part time positions. The Department is responsible for a bachelor’s and a master’s program in pharmacy. Teaching is given at both undergraduate and graduate levels.

The Natural Products and Medicinal Chemistry Research Group

The Natural Products and Medicinal Chemistry Research Group  currently consist of two professors and three associate professors, two technicians as well as several PhD students. The members of the research group are also responsible for courses in medicinal chemistry and analytical chemistry at bachelor, master and PhD level. 

About the research project

The research project is exploring, experimentally, how theoretically calculated free energies of enzyme catalysis are correlated to the structural dynamics of the enzyme. The project involves multidisciplinary research within the fields of NMR spectroscopy, theoretical chemistry and microbiology.

The project is part of a bigger theoretical project that has successfully performed full free energy calculations of catalysis for several enzymes, explaining the underlying structural dynamics of cold adaptation at the atomic level. These groundbreaking results have however up to this point never been validated experimentally. In the current project we aim to bridge the gap between theory and experiment, by measuring the structural dynamics of such enzymatic systems by NMR spectroscopy.

In this work, a brand new 700 MHz spectrometer, being installed in August 2024, will be used, together with instrumentation from the Norwegian NMR platform. The project has association with world leading experts both in the fields of NMR spectroscopy and computational chemistry, and abroad secondments are possible.

We strongly encourage career development not only limited to authorship of research manuscripts arising from this work, but also including conferences and collaborations.

Contact

For further information about the position and project, please contact Associate Professor Johan Isaksson:

• telephone: +47 77 64 48 42
• e-mail: [email protected]

General questions concerning the working environment, the physical state of the place of employment, health services, possibility for flexible working hours, and questions about the PhD program, may be directed to the Head of Office at the Department of Pharmacy, UiT, Morten Boland Jørgensen:

• telephone: +47 776 46 458
• e-mail: [email protected]

Qualifications

To be awarded the position of Postdoctoral Research Fellow, a Norwegian doctorate degree, or a corresponding international doctorate degree that is recognised as being equal to the Norwegian doctorate degree, is required.

The successful applicant must have completed or submitted a PhD degree within the topic of NMR spectroscopy. Prior experience with isotope labelling expression systems or theoretical chemistry will be considered advantageous. Hands-on experience in the following techniques is essential: Protein NMR spectroscopy and associated data treatment. It is essential to demonstrate ability to publish in internationally reputed journals. Thus, demonstrated multidisciplinary skills and a strong publication record will be considered in shortlisting applicants.

Having performed a PostDoc in a relevant topic for the project is considered highly beneficial

Researchers with experience from relevant multidisciplinary projects are particularly welcome to apply.

Good communication skills in English - both written and orally - are required. Nordic applicants can document their capabilities by attaching their high school diploma. The candidate should be able to work both independently and as part of a multidisciplinary team. Personal suitability and motivation for the position will be strongly emphasised. 

The successful candidate must also be willing to get involved in the ongoing development of their department and the university as a whole. National and international trends show that mobility and independence for young researchers are important for achieving external funding at national and international level, and consequently will be important for the prospect of establishing a permanent scientific position in the future.

Postdoctoral projects must be planned so that the candidate is given sufficient opportunity to develop professional independence within the framework of the overall project.

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

• Interesting work tasks in a cutting-edge multidisciplinary research project
• A vibrant international research community
• A good academic environment with dedicated colleagues
• Good career opportunities 
• A large degree of independence in work
• State-of-the-art research infrastructure
• 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:

• Cover letter explaining your motivation and research interests
• CV containing an overview of education, positions, supervised professional training and professional work
• Copies of diplomas, diploma supplements and transcripts (all degrees, translated to English or a Scandinavian language; certified copies must be provided upon request)
• Documentation of English proficiency
• Contact information to 2-3 references
• List of academic works identifying up to 3 selected academic works to be attached. (The doctoral thesis is here counted as one work.)
• Description of the attached works, and a short description of other works to show breadth of output

Qualification with a PhD is required before commencement in the position. 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. You must have dissertated before the start-up date of the position.

In order to achieve a targeted use of the postdoctoral position, and to strengthen the employee’s career development, a development plan must be available no later than three months after the appointment contract is signed. The development plan must be approved by the immediate leader with personnel responsibility.

All documentation to be considered must be in a Scandinavian language or English. We only accept applications and documentation sent via Jobbnorge within the application deadline. Candidates that do not provide required documentation or cannot prove the equivalence to required degree will not be considered for the position.

Assessment

The applicants will be assessed by an expert committee. The committee’s mandate is to undertake an assessment of the applicants’ research qualifications based on the application documents and related to the requirements for the position. During the assessment process, emphasis will be placed on the applicant’s potential for research as shown by:

• PhD thesis within the specified fields
• any other academic works
• experience and skills in laboratory work relevant for the project
• documented ability to work independently 
• skills in scientific writing in English
• knowledge and interest of the project’s specific topic
• interest and motivation for this specific project

In addition, consideration may be given to work experience or other activities of significance for the project. The applicants who are assessed as the best qualified will be invited to an interview. The interview serves, among other things, to clarify the applicant’s personal suitability for the position.

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.

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. 

You can find more information on the website for arriving staff .

We look forward to receiving your application!

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 Health Sciences at UiT The Arctic University of Norway represents a newly created entity gathering almost all possible health study programs. This facilitates an unique interdisciplinarity and innovation in health education and research. We work closely with the services in the North to solve tomorrow's challenges.
 
Read more about us at uit.no/helsefak

Requirements

Research Field

Pharmacological sciences

Education Level

PhD or equivalent

Additional Information
Work Location(s)

Number of offers available

1

Company/Institute

UiT The Arctic University of Norway

Country

Norway

Geofield

Where to apply

Website

https://www.jobbnorge.no/en/available-jobs/job/258029/postdoctoral-research-fel…

Contact

City

Tromsø

Website

http://en.uit.no/om/art?p_document_id=343547&dim=179040

Street

Hansine Hansens veg 18

Postal Code

N-9019

STATUS: EXPIRED