Genetics University of Oslo PhD Opening for International Students

Position as PhD Research fellow available at the Department of Biosciences

The fellowship will be for a period of 3 years.

Starting date no later than 01.12.2015. No one can be appointed for more than one fixed-term period at the same institution.

Job Description

The position will be connected to the Centre for Epigenetics, Development and Evolution (CEDE) at the University of Oslo (UiO). CEDE is a newly established research environment at UiO which aims to bring together researches from different biological disciplines but with a common interest in evolutionary and developmental biology.

The overall goal of the project is to reveal the genetic mechanisms underlying morphological evolution of early animals and their closest ancestors, Choanozoa. More specifically the project will use transcriptome sequencing of different life stages and developmental stages of basal animal lineages such as sponges and ctenophores and selected Choanozoan species. The project will identify genes and non-coding RNAs that have been important for the major evolutionary transitions and morphological innovations along the origins of metazoa and animal multicellularity.

Requirements:

The Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences has a strategic ambition of being a leading research faculty. Candidates for these fellowships will be selected in accordance with this, and expected to be in the upper segment of their class with respect to academic credentials.

Applicants must hold a Master’s degree or equivalent in Biology. In addition, candidates must have strong skills and interest in evolutionary biology and will be required to interpret results in an evolutionary framework. The candidate should have experience with analyzing next generation sequence data such as transcriptomic and genomic data. The candidate should have good skills in bioinformatics and be familiar with working with programs such as Python/Perl/R and equivalent. Programming skills will be highly valued. Knowledge on statistics/mathematics is highly recommended.

We particularly seek candidates who are able to work in a team and cooperative skills are regarded as very important for the position. The work will be conducted together with several members of the CEDE group covering different biological disciplines

The purpose of the fellowship is research training leading to the successful completion of a PhD degree.

The fellowship requires admission to the research training programme at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences. The application to the PhD programme must be submitted to the department no later than two months after taking up the position. For more information see:

http://www.uio.no/english/research/phd/before-applying/

http://www.mn.uio.no/english/research/doctoral-degree-and-career/phd-programme/index.html

A good command of English is required.

Salary: Position code 1017, Pay grade: 50 - 57 (NOK 430 500– 483 700 per year)

The application must include:

Application letter letter including a statement of interests
CV (summarizing education, positions, positions and academic work - scientific publications)
Copies of educational certificates, transcript of records and letters of recommendation
Documentation of English proficiency
List of publications and academic work that the applicant wishes to be considered by the evaluation committee
Names and contact details of 2-3 references (name, relation to candidate, e-mail and telephone number)

Foreign applicants are advised to attach an explanation of their University’s grading system. Please remember that all documents should be in English or a Scandinavian language.

In accordance with the University of Oslo’s equal opportunities policy, we invite applications from all interested individuals regardless of gender or ethnicity.

UiO has an agreement for all employees, aiming to secure rights to research results a.o.