Professor / Associate Professor in Microalgae and Microbial Biotechnology

Overview

Organisation / Company : UiT The Arctic University of Norway

Department : Department of Arctic and Marine Biology

Research Field : Biological sciences » Biology

Researcher Profile : Leading Researcher (R4) Positions

Country : Norway

Application Deadline : 10 Oct 2025 - 23 : 59 (Europe / Oslo)

Type of Contract : Permanent

Job Status : Full-time

Hours Per Week : 37.5

Offer Description

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.

UiT has approx. 18 000 students, more than 4000 employees, and is established at 4 main campuses and 7 study sites in the whole of Northern Norway and Svalbard. Our main campuses are in Tromsø, Alta, Narvik and Harstad.

The main task of BFE is to conduct teaching and research dissemination at a high national and international level within all relevant fields. Prioritized research areas are aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, climate, life in the Arctic, marine bioprospecting, fish health, seafood products, business and macroeconomics, resources and environment, markets and management of marine resources. The interdisciplinary profile of the faculty provides good opportunity to develop research projects involving several research groups at the faculty according to its strategy.

The Faculty of Biosciences, Fisheries and Economics, The Norwegian College of Fishery Science (NCFS) has a position vacant as Professor or Associate Professor in Microalgae and Microbial Biotechnology. The position is affiliated to the Microalgae and Microbiomes Research Group.

The Microalgae and Microbiomes Research Group focuses on molecular biology and advanced microbial cultivation to translate fundamental biology into new engineering design principles related to carbon capture, marine microbial ecology, bioproducts and other sustainability issues. The group’s research connects study areas of marine microalgae, complex microbial communities and synthetic biology.

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

The position’s field of work

The position is part of the Microalgae & Microbiomes Research Group (M2RG), which focuses on algal biotechnology, marine microbiomes and microbial synthetic biology. The successful candidate will also have an opportunity to interact and collaborate with existing research groups who work on different aspects of biotechnology, microbiology, circular economy, fisheries and marine ecology. The driving force behind UiT’s M2RG is to understand and harness design principles from microbial communities and Arctic phytoplankton to develop new engineering solutions that promote fundamental science, innovation and environmental sustainability. The team builds multi-disciplinary projects around the idea that microorganisms underpin large-scale ecosystem functions and biogeochemical cycles, and that genome encoded functions – once mechanistically understood – can be exploited to develop new technologies such as advanced carbon capture and utilization and sustainable production of food, feed and bioproducts as well. Our research group embraces the pursuit of fundamental scientific knowledge while actively striving to innovate new technological and economic opportunities in Arctic regions of northern Norway and the world-at-large.

In addition to advanced research on algae-based biotechnology, molecular microbial ecology, genomics, multi-omics, physiology and bioprocess engineering the group is involved in a large industrial cooperation aimed at sustainable commercial utilization of microalgae by sequestration of CO2.

Hence, along with modern, genome-informed investigations, microalgae mass cultivation techniques are important to the group’s current project portfolio. Opportunities to expand on this theme will continue, yet the group openly encourages growth in new areas of microbial biotechnology and / or microbial ecology. The group maintains many advanced capabilities that strategically promote integration between Arctic marine ecology and biotechnological innovation. The successful candidate will have access to laboratory and field expedition capabilities including state-of-the-art bioimaging, next generation sequencing and world class research vessels. Available research facilities include temperature and light regulated climate rooms, microbial cultivation laboratories (including access to pilot scale photobioreactors), a molecular biology laboratory and a microbiology laboratory.

Attached to the position is assigned teaching within marine biotechnology. The candidate is expected to take part in courses both at bachelor and master level as well as supervision of master and PhD students. We emphasize collegial cooperation related to planning, teaching and developing of our programs as modern biological sciences change. The position is further expected to lead externally funded research projects, outreach, dissemination, and help establish collaborative relationships with industry and the international scientific society in general.

Qualifications

Qualification requirements :

• Doctoral degree in subject area concerned or competence at a corresponding level documented by academic work of the same scope and quality.
• Track record of scientific excellence that is demonstrated by multiple publications in internationally recognized, peer-reviewed journals. The number of publications must be appropriate for the current career stage of the candidate. These publications should be related to at least one of the following areas : microalgae, microbial ecology, phytoplankton, marine microbiology, marine biotechnology, microbial genomics, microbiomes, marine microbial communities, metabolic engineering, and / or synthetic biology.
• Ability to attract external funding (read how in the "application" section).
• Documented pedagogical competence (can be obtained - read more below)
• Personal characteristics that makes you ambitious, and good to communicate and collaborate. The successful candidate must be willing to get involved in the ongoing development of their department and the university as a whole. Personal qualifications based on personal suitability, productivity and inclusiveness will be emphasized.

It is considered advantageous if the candidate in addition can document :

In addition we encourage candidates to list any other abilities that might relate to these or highlight different abilities that are not listed but may also contribute towards scientific excellence in microalgae, marine microbiomes and / or microbial synthetic biology.

Additional qualification requirements for the position as Professor :

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).

Pedagogical basic competence

All applicants for teaching and research positions shall document their pedagogical competence. You must have acquired basic competence for teaching and supervision at higher education level. This includes basic skills in planning, conducting, evaluating and developing teaching and guidance.

How to document required pedagogical basic competence :

Additional required teaching and supervision qualifications for applicants to position as Professor :

For professor positions, the teaching competence can be developed and documented through a combination of courses and teaching portfolio.

For both job titles, those who do not meet the requirements upon appointment will be required to meet the requirements within two years. For information about basic pedagogical competence and teaching portfolio, see : (Only in Norwegian)

Application

The applicants will be assessed by an expert committee. The committee\'s mandate is to undertake an assessment of the applicants\' qualifications on the basis of the written material presented by the applicants, and the detailed description drawn up for the position. The application must include :

Description of and reflection over your work involving development of your teaching and supervision. This should be documented with specific examples that demonstrate development over time, as well as a description of and reflection over the process and result.

Documentation has to be in English or a Scandinavian language. The application and submitted documents must be sent electronically via The applicants who are assessed as best qualified will be called to an interview. The interview shall, among other things, aim to clarify the applicants’ personal suitability for the position and motivations. A trial lecture may also be held.

We offer

The remuneration for Professor is in accordance with the State salary scale code 1013. The remuneration for Associate Professor is in accordance with the State salary scale code 1011. As a state employee, you have one of the best pension schemes available. For more information see : spk.no. The allocation of working hours is flexible and allocated on a case-by-case basis. In general, Professor / Associate Professors will spend an equal amount of time on teaching and research and development work. As a norm, the time resources spent on administrative duties constitutes 5% for academic staff. 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 a member of the National Insurance Scheme which also includes health care services.

UiT The Arctic University in 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.

After the appointment you must assume that there may be changes in the area of work.

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. Apart from selecting the right candidates, we will only use the information for anonymous statistics.

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.

#J-18808-Ljbffr