Meltwater release of heavy metals from glacier to ocean in a changing Arctic (METALLICA)

Job opening: Postdoctoral Research Fellow (Deadline passed)

We have an open position as Postdoctoral Research Fellow to work on heavy metal accumulation in the marine food web. Application deadline is 17th November 2023. 

The position is part of the Research Project METALLICA (2023-2026), funded by the Research Council of Norway. The project is led by University of Tromsø in collaboration with the Norwegian Polar Institute and with five national and two international partners, the Norwegian Environmental Agency, Arctic Council and AMAP.

This is a fixed termed position for two years in the Section for Pollution and Marine mammals in our Research Department. This section is focusing on how contaminants are incorporated into marine food chains, how climate change affect biogeochemistry and how contaminants affect the health of different species in the Arctic.
There will be some travel in connection with meetings/workshops and participation in field-/cruise work.
Your workplace will be Tromsø, Norway.

Work assignments


You will study how heavy metals are transferred from glacial rivers to food webs (from phytoplankton to fish and sea birds) in Arctic fjords. This will be done in collaboration with other researchers working in the METALLICA-project.

Your tasks will specifically include:

  • Collection of biological samples.
  • Analysis of stable isotopes and heavy metals in those biological samples.
  • Data processing, including multivariate statistics.
  • Publication in international scientific journals.
  • Contribution to popular science dissemination and other outward-looking activities.
  • Contribution to the project deliverables at a high international level and new knowledge that is relevant to environmental management.


Qualifications


You must hold a completed PhD in Ecotoxicology or Marine Biology/Ecology and have experience with planning and conducting fieldwork.

A Norwegian doctoral degree or equivalent doctoral degree from a foreign university is required. You are welcome to apply if you have not completed your doctoral dissertation yet, but you must then provide documentation that your dissertation has been submitted for evaluation before the application deadline for the position. An approved public defence of your doctoral thesis is a prerequisite for employment.

In addition to your PhD, we would like you to have experience with:

  •   bioaccumulation of pollutants and/or the marine food web
  •   analyses of stable isotopes and pollutants/heavy metals in biota
  •   use of multivariate data sets, databases, web tools and statistical software such as R.

Remember to include an updated publication list. We will emphasize your publication record and what journals they are published in. It is in your favour if you already have connections within international research networks.

You will collaborate with colleagues at the Norwegian Polar Institute and others colleagues within the METALLICA-project, so good collaborative skills are necessary. You will, of course, also work individually. This implies that you need to determine what type of work that needs to be done and to conduct it in the best possible way.

In addition to communicating, you are expected to deliver reports, publications etc., and thus, your written and oral communication must be good in English. Our working language is Norwegian, so knowledge of the Norwegian language will carry weight in the assessment. If you do not speak Norwegian you are expected to attend language courses during your employment since communicating in Norwegian will be important for you, as well as for the institute. We pay for courses that are completed successfully.

Find out more and apply through JobbNorge: https://www.jobbnorge.no/en/available-jobs/job/252230/postdoctoral-research-fellow-heavy-metals-in-marine-food-web-2-years