PhD Fellow in Biofloc Microbiomes

The applicants will be assessed by an expert committee. The committee's mandate is to undertake an assessment of the applicants' qualifications based on the written material presented by the applicants, and the detailed description draw up for the position. A copy of the assessment report will be sent to all applicants.

The applicants who are assessed as best qualified will be called to an interview. The interview should among other things, aim to clarify the applicant's motivation and personal suitability for the position.

This UiT PhD will probe the molecular ecology of biofloc-dense, beneficial microbial communities that recycle waste and stabilize water quality in aquaculture-so we can identify, promote, and manage the microbes and activities that best support animal welfare and system performance. Drawing on UiT's lead roles in characterizing biofloc microbial communities and defining beneficial microorganisms within SwitchFloc's Animal Welfare work package, the fellow will build and apply advanced bioinformatics pipelines for shotgun metagenomics to resolve community taxonomy, annotate functional genes, and interpret genome-encoded potential/architecture in biofloc (e.g., genome-resolved analyses) across experimental and farm conditions.

Eligibility (MSCA DN)

• You meet the mobility rule: you have not lived or had your main activity (work/studies) in Norway for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before your recruitment date

Required qualifications

• Master's degree (or equivalent) in microbiology, genetics, bioinformatics, biotechnology, or a closely related field which may include computational biology, computer science, data science, statistics, systems biology, biomedical engineering, or applied mathematics with a clear interest in bioinformatics. Qualification with a master's degree is required before commencement in the position. If you are near completion of your master's degree, you may still apply and submit a draft version of the thesis and a statement from your supervisor or institution indicating when the degree will be obtained. You must still submit your transcript of grades for the master's degree with your application.
• Ability to demonstrate a foundation and/or a strong motivation to develop advanced bioinformatics skills for:
  • Shotgun metagenomics (microbial taxonomy, functional gene annotation, and genome architecture/genome-resolved analyses in complex communities).
  • Metatranscriptomics (multi-kingdom profiling and inference of expressed functions under different biofloc maintenance treatments).
• English proficiency (written and spoken). Nordic applicants can document their English capabilities by attaching their high school diploma.

Desired qualifications

• Background in aquatic microbial ecology, marine microbiology, or environmental microbiology.
• Strong programming/computing skills (e.g., Python and/or R), Unix/Linux command line, and good practices with Git and reproducible research.
• Experience using or readiness to use high-performance computing (HPC) environments (e.g., SLURM), workflow tools (Snakemake/Nextflow), and containers (Docker/Singularity).
• Hands-on experience with microbiology sampling (water/floc collection, filtration), DNA/RNA extraction, and basic molecular biology.
• Familiarity with short- and long-read data (Illumina, ONT/PacBio), assembly/binning (MAGs), taxonomic/functional profiling, and differential expression analysis.
• Exposure to or interest in metabolomics/lipidomics and multi-omics integration.
• Strong quantitative skills (statistics/ML for microbiome data) and clean, well documented code.
• Excellent teamwork, openness to intersectoral and international secondments, and strong scientific communication.
• Language bonus: any level of Scandinavian language and/or Spanish

In the assessment, the emphasis is on the applicant's potential to complete a research education based on the master's thesis or equivalent, and any other scientific work. In addition, professional experience and other experience of significance for the completion of the doctoral programme will be taken into consideration.

We will also emphasize motivation and personal suitability for the position. We are looking for candidates who:

• Have good collaboration skills
• Have good communication and interaction with colleagues and students
• Wants to contribute to a good working environment

As many people as possible should have the opportunity to undertake organized research training. If you already hold a PhD or have equivalent competence, we will not appoint you to this position.

For employment in the PhD position, you must be qualified for admission to the PhD programme at the Faculty of Biosciences, Fisheries and Economics and participate in organized doctoral studies within the employment period.

Admission normally requires:

• A bachelor's degree of 180 ECTS and a master's degree of 120 ECTS, or an integrated master's degree of 300 ECTS.
• A master's thesis with a scope corresponding to at least 30 ECTS for a master's degree of 120 ECTS.
• A master's thesis with a scope corresponding to at least 20 ECTS for an integrated master's degree of 300 ECTS.

UiT The Arctic University of 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 are a strength, and we want employees with different competencies, professional experience, life experience and perspectives.

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. If there are qualified applicants, we invite at least one in each group for an interview. If you get the job, we will adapt the working conditions if you need it. Apart from selecting the right candidates, we will only use the information for anonymous statistics.