PhD - Marine geology

University Centre in Svalbard

Longyearbyen, Norway

Description

The Department of Arctic geology of the University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS) has a vacancy for a PhD position for three years in marine geology linked to the GLANAM-project (Glaciated North Atlantic Margins), a Marie Curie Initial Training Network funded by the EU 7th Framework program with partners from academia and industry sector from Norway, UK and Denmark. UNIS is the world's northernmost institution for higher education and research with over 70 employees and 350 students, located in Longyearbyen, Svalbard. Approximately half of the staff and students are from abroad, and all teaching is in English. UNIS offers high quality courses at the undergraduate and graduate level in Arctic Biology, Arctic Geology, Arctic Geophysics and Arctic Technology. UNIS has modern facilities to support educational and research activities, in the class room and laboratories as well as in the field and at sea. The Department of Arctic geology presently consists of 5 professor, 3 associate professors, 7 adjunct professors, 5 Post Docs and 7 PhD students. The overall aim of the GLANAM project is to educate young researchers for public and private sector, strengthen their career opportunities and competitiveness in Earth Sciences with a focus on glacially influenced continental margins. The candidate will be working within the Work Package 1 (WP1: Ice sheet history on circum-North Atlantic continental shelves) of the GLANAM project with a focus on the Late Weichselian ice-sheet dynamics and deglaciation history of the northern and eastern Svalbard margins. This project will use existing and new seabed morphological and subsurface acoustic data as well as sediment cores to map the distribution of submarine landforms and sediment facies for spatial and temporal reconstruction of geological evolution and glacial processes on the poorly investigated eastern and northern Svalbard margins. The candidate should be able to participate on research cruises in harsh Arctic conditions for periods up to several weeks long where new multibeam bathymetric, side-scan and sub-bottom profiling data, as well as sedimentological data will be acquired.

Requirements

We are seeking a creative and motivated candidate with background in marine geology and/or marine geophysics. Previous knowledge of multibeam bathymetric/backscatter, and shallow subbottom acoustic/seismic data acquisition and processing techniques as well as familiarity with seabed mapping and GIS software is required and should be documented. Experience working with sedimentological data and geophysical/geotechnical core logs is an advantage. He/she should be able to work independently as well as in an international research team. Strong problem-solving and good communication skills are essential. Fluent English is a must. The successful candidate must have a Master's degree or equivalent in marine geology or geophysics (or have submitted a Thesis for evaluation) by the end of the application deadline. Following the rules of mobility for Marie Curie Initial Training Networks, the candidate should not have lived or had his/her main employment or study in Norway for more than 12 months during the past three years prior to the employment (short stays and holidays do not count).

More information and applications

The successful candidate must live in Longyearbyen. He/she is expected to contribute actively to ongoing scientific activities in the department. It is also expected that the PhD takes an active part in the advancement of his/her field of research, and he/she must also be willing to contribute to the development of UNIS in a more general sense. All salaries at UNIS are set in accordance with the Norwegian government's University salary scale. PhD students starts at salary step 50, which currently is a gross salary of NOK 416 300. As a resident in Svalbard an annual allowance of NOK 29 600 (Svalbardtillegg) will be added to the salary. A Social Security contribution of 2 per cent, to the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund, will be deducted from the salary. Income tax on Svalbard is 8 per cent, plus 7.8 per cent toward National Insurance coverage. An expert Committee appointed by the Managing director of UNIS will evaluate the qualifications of the applicants. Selected candidate(s) will be invited for an interview. Final appointment will be made by the UNIS' Appointment Committee. As UNIS would like to increase the percentage of females in academic positions, women are especially invited to apply. Inquiries and additional information about this position may be directed to:

Associate professor Riko Noormets (Riko.Noormets@unis.no) or Professor Karin Andreassen (Karin.Andreassen@uit.no).

Application deadline is March 12th, 2013. Position is available from 1st April 2013. Please apply online by using application form at www.unis.no/vacancies. Attach a CV, a letter of motivation, copies of academic records and other documentation relevant for the application.