PhD position in Arctic Geology

• English

UNIS is a stateowned limited company with five of Norway’s universities represented on the board. UNIS is located in a modern working environment in Longyearbyen, Svalbard, and is well equipped with both technical and scientific equipment and laboratories. The institution has an infrastructure for both marine and terrestrial field, lab and experimental research.

The studies at UNIS are marketed internationally and all classes are offered in English. Approximately half of the staff and students are from abroad.

The Arctic Geology Department is looking for a highly motivated, independent geo-scientist for a full-time three-year PhD student position on shale geomechanics in the context of large-scale CO2 storage.

The Arctic Geology Department consists of six full time Associate Professors and Professors and four UNIS-based PhD students. In addition, Adjunct Professors and external PhD students contribute to the research and teaching at the department.   

The vacant PhD position is within the field of structural geology/geomechanics. The position is externally financed through a project entitled “Sharing and recycling shale mechanical data to enable gigaton CO2 storage (RecyclShale)” funded by the Norwegian Research Council. The RecyclShale project is led by the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGI, project leader Jung Chan Choi), with UNIS and SINTEF as academic project partners and a strong industry project partner team, including Equinor, Gassco, Vår Energi, TotalEnergies, Aker BP, and Wintershall DEA.

The overall project objective is to ensure the long-term integrity of new CO2 storage projects by enhancing the understanding of shale mechanical behavior through maximizing the use of existing data. The project will focus on a cost-efficient alternative instead of conducting new expensive and time-consuming standard tests. RecyclShale will compile existing shale mechanical datasets in collaboration with Norwegian operators and participating institutes, improve the understanding of factors affecting mechanical shale properties by integrating mineralogical information, and apply supplementary information from innovative small sample tests that can recycle small samples. The project will provide a practical correlation and tools to estimate site-specific shale information.

Within this framework, the selected PhD candidate will develop her/his own research project that will contribute to the overall project goals, with particular emphasis on integrating mineralogical and geological information into a practical shale mechanical correlation, but with realistic and achievable goals given the 3-year position with no teaching duties. The PhD project will involve fieldwork (in Svalbard and elsewhere), drill core work (using drill cores in Svalbard and from the Norwegian Continental Shelf), and laboratory analyses (at NGI and SINTEF). The focus will be on geomechanics and integrity of shale-dominated successions, which represent the most important lithology for regional scale cap rocks for the growing CO2 storage industry on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

The fieldwork part of the research focus will be on characterizing the mineralogy, fracturing and meso-scale structural heterogeneities of organic-rich shales exposed on Svalbard, particularly the Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous Agardhfjellet Formation and the Middle Triassic Botneheia Formation. The successful candidate will work on a range of scales and features, including examining fractures, faults and regional décollements. Organic rich shales commonly form cap rocks for both CO2 storage aquifers and hydrocarbon accumulations, in addition to acting as source rocks. However, these intervals are rarely cored and shale-dominated outcrops are often of poor quality. On Svalbard, however, the Longyearbyen CO2 project (http://co2-ccs-unis.no ) has drilled and fully cored four wells that penetrate the entire Agardhfjellet Formation. This unique data set offers the possibility to improve the general understanding of the structural framework of shales and its controlling mechanisms. The candidate is expected to log fractures and other structural heterogeneities in both drill cores and at relevant outcrops in central and eastern Spitsbergen. Quantitative data will be acquired with a handheld XRF system available at UNIS. The Svalbard drill cores will be compared to shale samples from the Norwegian Continental Shelf and Switzerland and put in a geological context taking also in effect the variable burial and uplift.

Furthermore, the candidate will investigate shales from various boreholes on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (through physical core samples and wireline logs) to decipher the effects of burial and uplift on the geomechanical properties of shale-dominated successions. The candidate is expected to analyze scattered geomechanical data in partner’s laboratories, to correlate them with field-measured geological and mineralogical information, and explain the regional discrepancy in shale mechanical data. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to extend the findings to other regions with a close collaboration with international partners, including Mont Terri Research Laboratory in Switzerland and Los Alamos National Laboratory in USA.

The successful candidate must have a Master degree or equivalent in geosciences, preferably structural geology, geomechanics or petroleum geology. Candidates in the final phase of their master thesis work may be considered if they can document that they are particularly suitable for this position. The PhD project involves substantial field work on Svalbard both summer and winter, which can be physically very demanding. The candidate must be able to conduct independent field work under such conditions, using both snow-scooters and small boats for transportation.

Admission to the doctoral programme at one of the Norwegian mainland universities (University of Oslo in this case; refer to https://www.mn.uio.no/english/research/phd/regulations/regulations.html#toc8 for among others academic grade requirements and English skills) is a condition of employment in the position as PhD student. The final plan for researcher education shall be approved and a contract signed with the mainland university at the latest six months after commencement. The application will be prepared by the candidate with input from the supervisors (expected to be Kim Senger at UNIS, Jung Chan Choi and Elin Skurtveit at NGI/UiO and Pierre Cerasi at SINTEF).

The position requires a strong background and interest on:

• Experience of field work, especially in polar climates,
• Experience with laboratory work, ideally geomechanical testing,
• Working with 3D modelling (Petrel, Move) and GIS software (QGIS, ArcGIS),
• Rock physics and geomechanics analysis, and
• Data analysis using Matlab and/or Python programming.

Additionally, scientific writing including authorship of scientific publications and presentation at scientific conferences is beneficial. Some of the field work will rely on the candidate raising external funds through Arctic Field Grants, so previous funding acquisition success is considered beneficial.

Motivation and personal suitability will be emphasised. To allow assessment of this, a statement of personal and scientific interest in taking a Ph.D. degree, including an outline of a PhD project idea, must be included in the application submitted via JobbNorge.

The candidate must satisfy the enrolment requirements for the doctoral degree program at the University of Oslo (UiO).

To be accepted to a PhD-programme at UiO, the candidate must have completed at least five years of higher education that includes a master's degree or other equivalent degree (equivalent to 120 credits) and a strong academic record with a weighted average for the last two years of your master's degree equivalent to a B or higher in UiO's grading scale. If you do not have letter grades from previous studies, you must have an equally good academic foundation. Applicants who are unable to meet these criteria may be considered only if they can document that they are particularly suitable candidates for education leading to a Ph.D. degree. A plan for the implementation of the research training must be approved by the faculty at University of Oslo. The candidate is expected to complete relevant courses as part of the formal Ph.D. training.

The total duration of the Ph.D. position is three years, ideally starting from 1 January 2024. The PhD candidate will be based in the Arctic Geology Department at the University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS), and she/he must live in Longyearbyen. Shorter scientific stays (7-12 months in total) on mainland Norway (NGI, Oslo and SINTEF, Trondheim) and/or abroad will be encouraged.

All salaries are set in accordance with the Norwegian government's University salary scale. PhD candidates start with a gross salary of NOK 531 800,-. As a resident in Svalbard an annual allowance of NOK 38 520.- (Svalbardtillegg) will be added to the salary. A Social Security contribution of 2%, to the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund, will be deducted from the salary. Income tax on Svalbard is 8%, plus 7,9% toward National Insurance coverage.

A full description of the RecyclShale project, background literature and other inquiries about this position can be provided on request by contacting: Associate Professor in Structural Geology and Basin Analysis Kim Senger, e-mail [email protected] , phone +47 95 29 15 92, who is also going to act as UNIS supervisor for this PhD project.

The application, submitted electronically in www.jobbnorge.no , must include:

• Cover letter
• Project proposal/Research proposal (max. 1-2 pages) describing:

 -         why you are interested in the project

-          why and how you wish to complete the project, including research questions, research methods and hypothesised results

-          what makes you suitable for the project

• CV (including a complete overview of education, professional training and professional work)
• Name and contact information of two or more references. One of these should be the main advisor for the master's or equivalent thesis
• Description and documentation of your language skills
• Transcripts and diplomas showing completion of the bachelor's and master's degrees, or official confirmation that the master's thesis is in its final phase
• Relevant certificates (driving license etc.)
• A list of any works of a scientific nature (publication list)
• Any peer review publications in your name
• A copy of the master thesis

The application and appendices with certified translations into English or a Scandinavian language must be uploaded in Jobbnorge. Any applications submitted by alternative means, for example via email, will not be evaluated.

You can request to have your application kept from public access cf. the open files act § 25. The request must be explained. UNIS will determine if the application will be kept from public access or not, based on the explanation and the regulations from the open files act. If the application will not be accepted, the candidate will be contacted.

Selection and appointment

A committee appointed by the Director of UNIS will evaluate the qualifications of the applicants, and invite the highest ranked person(s) for an interview. The appointment will be made by the Director of UNIS based on the recommendation from the committee.

Longyearbyen is located in Svalbard, in the midst of a varied and beautiful Arctic nature with good opportunities for outdoor activities. Longyearbyen is a modern town with approx. 2500 inhabitants from many nationalities and has a good service offering including kindergartens, swimming / sports hall and a varied association, sports and cultural life.

Maria Jensen

Avdelingsleder

77016680

[email protected]

Kim Senger

Førsteamanuensis

+4795291592

[email protected]

10th January 2024

UNIS

Svalbard

Scope

Fulltime (1 positions) Fulltime (%)

Fixed Term

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