Postdoctoral Research Fellow position within terrestrial ecosystem modelling.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow position within terrestrial ecosystem modelling.
Apply for this job
See advertisement

UiB - Knowledge that shapes society

Through robust and close interaction with the world around us – globally, nationally and locally – we shall be instrumental in building a society based on knowledge, skills and attitudes.

Do you want to take part in shaping the future?

...

(Video unable to load from YouTube. Accept cookie and refresh page to watch video, or click here to open video)

Postdoctoral Research Fellow position

At the Department of Biological Sciences (BIO) there is a vacancy for a postdoctoral research fellow position within terrestrial ecosystem modelling, focussing on improving the representation dwarf-shrub plant functional types in the boreal, Arctic and alpine ecosystems. The position is for a fixed term of three years and is associated with the research project “The underappreciated roles of dwarf-shrubs in responding to and influencing global climate change” (DURIN) funded by the Research Council of Norway and the University of Bergen. See https://betweenthefjords.w.uib.no/durin/ for a description of the project and tasks.

About the project/work tasks:

Dwarf-shrubs are a dominant plant functional group across the boreal, arctic and alpine biomes, and they play important roles for biodiversity, ecology and ecosystem functioning in the habitats in which they occur. For example, dwarf-shrubs provide important food resources for grazers, pollinators, and people and habitat for other plants, insects, rodents, and birds. Through interactions with fungal symbionts in the soil (ericoid mychorriza), they play critical roles in ecosystem carbon sequestration and carbon storage, with implications for feedbacks from terrestrial ecosystems to the global climate system. DURIN will explore the role of dwarf-shrubs in climate responses and feedbacks across biomes and habitats in Norway, integrating plant physiology, ecology, and ecosystem science. Using distributed observational systems, field experiments, and growth chamber studies, we will obtain fundamental knowledge on how climate change directly and indirectly affects this important plant functional group, and its ecosystem functions and services. This improved process understanding will be integrated in land surface and earth system models to understand the role and contribution of dwarf-shrubs in the feedbacks from terrestrial vegetation to the climate system.

The Postdoctoral Research Fellow will be working within WP4 (Climate feedbacks: The CLM-FATES platform), focussing on improving the representation of dwarf-shrubs as a plant functional type in terrestrial ecosystem model CLM-FATES. The candidate will, for example:

• Improve the parameterization of dwarf-shrub plant functional type (PFT) in CLM-FATES and calibrate the model at DURIN observation sites.
• Conduct model experiments at regional and global scales to explore the response of dwarf-shrubs to climate changes.
• Run model simulations with dwarf-shrub PFT to assess the role of dwarf-shrubs in both biochemical and biophysical climate feedbacks.
• Lead and contribute to publications arising from the work.
• Collaborate with other ecologists and climate scientists over synthesis and upscaling.
• Use open and transparent workflows to manage, analyse, and openly share data.
• Further develop CLM-FATES platform (https://github.com/NorESMhub/noresm-land-sites-platform ) for site simulations and model-data integration.

This is a collaborative project between the University of Bergen and collaborators from CICERO and Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI). The postdoctoral research fellow will be working closely with both institutions, including opportunities for extended works stays in these institutes for setting up modelling and analytical work.

Qualifications and personal qualities:

• Applicants must hold a Norwegian PhD or an equivalent international degree within a relevant subject (e.g., geography, environmental science, ecology, physics or a related field), or must have submitted his/her doctoral thesis for assessment prior to the application deadline. It is a condition of employment that the PhD has been awarded before appointment.
• Knowledge and research experience with terrestrial ecosystem modelling, land surface modelling or earth system modelling is a requirement.
• Good programming skills (ideally in Fortran and Python, possibly R) and the ability to work collaboratively using Github is required.
• Knowledge of plant community ecology, ecosystem ecology or global changes on ecosystems would be advantageous.
• Data management skills following best reproducible open science practices is an advantage.
• Applicants must be able to work independently and in a structured manner, and to collaborate effectively with others.
• Applicants must have excellent skills in oral and written English.

 

Personal and relational qualities will be emphasized. Research experience, ambitions and potential will also count when evaluating the candidates.

Special requirements for the position

The University of Bergen is subjected to the regulation for export control system. The regulation will be applied in the processing of the applications.

About the position of postdoctoral research fellow:

The postdoctoral position is a fixed term position with the primary objective of qualifying the appointee for work in top academic positions. If the appointee lacks teaching experience, or other relevant qualifications, the employment period may be increased to 3 years and 6 months. Teaching and other duties will in such cases be added to the position. The position may be extended by up to one year (maximum 4 years in total) if the appointee is granted externally financed research stays abroad. Individuals may not be hired for more than one fixed-term period as a postdoctoral research fellow at the same institution. In accordance with the Research Council’s rules, neither can anyone be hired more than once as an NFR-financed postdoctoral research fellow. 

For postdoctoral research fellow positions associated with externally financed projects, the completion of the project proposal for the qualifying work, as well as a progress plan, will be developed in cooperation with the supervisor and head of department.

It is a requirement that the project is completed in the course of the period of employment.

We can offer:

• A good and professionally stimulating working environment
• Salary as postdoctoral research fellow (code 1352) in the state salary scale. This constitutes a gross annual salary of 615 700 (equivalent to pay grade 63). Further increases in salary are made according to length of service in the position. For particularly highly qualified applicants, a higher salary may be considered. 
• Enrolment in the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund
• Good welfare benefits

Your application must include:

• A brief account of the applicant's research interests and motivation for applying for the position.
• A research statement (maximum 2 pages) describing your research interests and plans, indicating relevance of the advertised position.
• The names and contact information for two referees. One of these should be the main advisor from the PhD programme.
• CV.
• Transcripts and diplomas. If you have not yet completed your PhD degree, please submit a statement from your institution confirming the expected date of award of your degree.
• Relevant certificates/references.
• List of any works of a scientific nature (publication list).
• Publications (as applicable).

The application and appendices with certified translations into English or a Scandinavian language must be uploaded at Jobbnorge

General information:

For further details about the position, please contact: Professor Vigdis Vandvik , University of Bergen, [email protected] +47 47301794 or Senior Researcher Dr Hui Tang, Finnish Meteorological Institute, [email protected].

For HR related questions please contact adviser Therese Myhre Odfjell, [email protected].

The state labour force shall reflect the diversity of Norwegian society to the greatest extent possible. Age and gender balance among employees is therefore a goal. People with immigrant backgrounds and people with disabilities are encouraged to apply for the position.

Upon the expiry of the closing date for applications, an evaluation committee will be appointed. As an applicant, you have a right of access to the committee’s description of your formal and professional qualifications. If you wish to take advantage of this right of access, please contact the executive officer in charge after receiving information about the appointment of the evaluation committee.

The University of Bergen applies the principle of public access to information when recruiting staff for academic positions.

Information about applicants may be made public even if the applicant has asked not to be named on the list of persons who have applied. The applicant must be notified if the request to be omitted is not met.

Further information about our employment process can be found here .

About The University of Bergen (UiB) 

The University of Bergen is a renowned educational and research institution, organised into seven faculties and approximately 54 institutes and academic centres. Campus is located in the centre of Bergen with university areas at Nygårdshøyden, Haukeland, Marineholmen, Møllendalsveien and Årstad. 

There are seven departments and several centres at Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences. Read more about the faculty  and departments.  

Apply for this job
Deadline

1st May 2024

Employer

University of Bergen

Municipality

Bergen

Scope

Fulltime (1 positions) Fulltime (%)

Duration

Fixed Term

Place of service
Thormøhlensgate 53 A, 5006 Bergen

See more jobs

• Vacant positions - University of Bergen

Find more jobs

• PDF

Link to startpage
Switchboard: +47 75 54 22 20 Support Privacy policy - cookies