About the position

A Post-Doc position is available at the Department of Chemistry (Faculty of Natural Sciences). The position is financed by the Norwegian Research Council and has a special responsibility within the project COAST-IMPACT (August 2020 – July 2023). The candidate will work closely with the Department of Biology (Faculty of Natural Sciences). The post-doc work will expand investigations into the chemical pollution at specific stop-over sites for the birds during migration. The specific research questions to be addressed are: 1) Which wetlands along the East Asian coast present the most polluted hot spots for different types of chemical pollution during migration?; 2) Which pollutants are found in the highest concentrations in the shorebirds upon arrival in Australia?

The position is located at NTNU in Trondheim Norway for the first 24 months and then for 6 months at Nankai University, Tianjin, China.

The candidate will have the following supervisors: Associate Prof. Alexandros Asimakopoulos and Prof. Veerle Jaspers (NTNU). At Nankai university the post doc will be supervised by Prof. Lei Wang. The candidate will also report to the head of the department of chemistry.

Duties of the position

This post-doc position will be part of a larger international project, COAST-IMPACT, funded by the Norwegian Research Council (August 2020 – July 2023). The overall aim of COAST-IMPACT is to study the impact of pollution in the coastal wetlands of East Asia by assessing the biodiversity of littoral macroinvertebrates, and the resulting impact of food availability, pollution and infection in migrating shorebirds along the East Asian Australian Flyway using these wetlands. The post-doc work will be directly linked to work package 2 (WP2: Pollutant analyses). The work will involve environmental monitoring (water, sediment) and biomonitoring in macroinvertebrates and birds for inorganic, persistent organic and emerging pollutants with state-of-the-art mass spectrometric methodologies. The post-doc will be involved in extensive inter-laboratory schemes that will involve all the expert laboratories of the project (NTNU, Norwegian Institute for Air Research (NILU), University of Antwerp and Nankai University). The period of employment is 2.5 years (30 months). Please note that the last 6 months will be spent at Nankai University. The candidate will co-supervise the scientific work of > 5 master or 1-2 PhD students per academic year in activities linked to COAST-IMPACT.

Required selection criteria

A postdoctoral research fellowship is a qualification position in which the main objective is qualification for work in academic positions. You must have completed a Norwegian doctoral degree in one of the sub disciplines of Analytical Chemistry or Environmental chemistry or corresponding foreign doctoral degree recognized as equivalent to a Norwegian doctoral degree. First author publications in international peer-reviewed journals indexed in the Web of Science (second quartile and up) are required.

Excellent oral and written English skills are required. Applicants from non-English-speaking countries outside Europe must document English skills by an approved test.  Approved tests are TOEFL, IELTS and Cambridge Certificate in Advanced English (CAE) or Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency in English (CPE).

A documented background with at least two of the following selection criteria::

• Extensive Quality control/Quality assurance experience,
• Chemometrics experience,
• Biomonitoring experience,
• Legacy or emerging pollutants experience in analysis,
• Laboratory experience with mass spectrometry techniques such as GC-MS and LC-MS/MS,
• Fractionation experience,
• Trace-level analysis.
• Experience in supervising postgraduate level students/researchers.

Preferred selection criteria

• Experience with running linear models in R.
• Experience in chemoinformatics analysis.
• The candidate should show a keen interest in doing experiments.  

Personal characteristics

• The successful candidate should be creative, with a strong ability to problem solving.
• He/she should also enjoy interdisciplinary research and take keen interest in learning and working in teams as well as independently on their own project.

In the evaluation of which candidate is best qualified, emphasis will be placed on education, experience, motivation and personal suitability.

We offer

• exciting and stimulating tasks in a strong international academic environment
• an open and inclusive work environment with dedicated colleagues
• favourable terms in the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund
• employee benefits

Salary and conditions

Postdoctoral candidates are placed in code 1352, and are normally remunerated at gross from NOK 542 400 per annum before tax, depending on qualifications and seniority. From the salary, 2% is deducted as a contribution to the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund.

The engagement is to be made in accordance with the regulations in force concerning State Employees and Civil Servants, and the acts relating to Control of the Export of Strategic Goods, Services and Technology. Candidates who by assessment of the application and attachment are seen to conflict with the criteria in the latter law will be prohibited from recruitment to NTNU. After the appointment you must assume that there may be changes in the area of work.

The position is subject to external funding.

Aiming for a start date: August 2020.

Duration of employment: 30 months

About the application

The application and supporting documentation to be used as the basis for the assessment must be in English

Applications should include: CV including publication list, letter of motivation, certificates from both Bachelor, Master and PhD, copies of grade transcripts, up to 3 publications and other scientific works, (copies of documentation on English language proficiency test for non-native speakers outside of Europe) and minimum 2 reference letters.

Publications and other scientific work must follow the application. Please note that applications are only evaluated based on the information available on the application deadline. You should ensure that your application shows clearly how your skills and experience meet the criteria which are set out above. 

Joint works will be considered. If it is difficult to identify your contribution to joint works, you must attach a brief description of your participation.

General information

A good work environment is characterized by diversity. We encourage qualified candidates to apply, regardless of their gender, functional capacity or cultural background. 

The city of Trondheim is a modern European city with a rich cultural scene. Trondheim is the innovation capital of Norway with a population of 200,000. The Norwegian welfare state, including healthcare, schools, kindergartens and overall equality, is probably the best of its kind in the world. Professional subsidized day-care for children is easily available. Furthermore, Trondheim offers great opportunities for education (including international schools) and possibilities to enjoy nature, culture and family life and has low crime rates and clean air quality.

NTNU is committed to following evaluation criteria for research quality according to The San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment - DORA.

As an employee at NTNU, you must at all times adhere to the changes that the development in the subject entails and the organizational changes that are adopted.

Information Act (Offentleglova), your name, age, position and municipality may be made public even if you have requested not to have your name entered on the list of applicants.

Further information can be obtained from Associate Professor Alexandros Asimakopoulos, Department of Chemistry, NTNU, Tel. +47 48402604, E-mail: Alexandros.asimakopoulos@ntnu.no

Please submit your application electronically via jobbnorge.no with your CV, diplomas and certificates. Applications submitted elsewhere will not be considered. Diploma Supplement is required to attach for European Master Diplomas outside Norway. Chinese applicants are required to provide confirmation of Master Diploma from China Credentials Verification (CHSI).

If you are invited for interview you must include certified copies of transcripts and reference letters.

Please refer to the application number 47/20 when applying.

Application deadline: 08.05.2020

NTNU - knowledge for a better world

The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) creates knowledge for a better world and solutions that can change everyday life.

Department of Chemistry  

We educate graduates for careers in environmental science, industry, the school system, research and public administration. Chemistry is also a basic discipline for medicine, biology and technology, and an important key in issues related to energy, climate, the environment, food, water and health. Research activities at the Department range from environmental chemistry to applied theoretical chemistry. The Department of Chemistry is one of eight departments in the Faculty of Natural Sciences.  

Deadline 8th May 2020
Employer NTNU - Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Municipality Trondheim
Scope Fulltime
Duration Temporary