Fixed-term

The position A PhD position is available at the Research group for Host-Microbe Interaction (HMI), Department of Medical Biology (IMB), Faculty of Health Science and will be allocated the newly established Clinical Academic Group (CAG) entitled “Patient-tailored management of bacterial infections in the age of antimicrobial resistance”. The position is for a period of four years. The nominal length of the PhD programme is three years. The fourth year is distributed as 25 % each year and will consist of teaching and other duties. The objective of the position is to complete research training to the level of a doctoral degree. Admission to the PhD programme is a prerequisite for employment, and the programme period starts on commencement of the position. The workplace is at infection medicine at UNN and HMI/IMB at UiT in Tromsø. You must be able to start in the position within 1st of September 2026. The project / The position’s field of research The newly established CAG will increase collaboration between hospital practice and clinical and biomedical research. The CAG consists of three projects: 1) Acute infections& sepsis, 2) Difficult-to-treat infections and 3) Early life microbiome, all supported by the Translational Research Accelerator (TRA) theme that will contribute to model development and establishment, to address clinical questions raised within the three projects. The PhD project will be within TRA, and the PhD student will be involved in establishing/using experimental model systems for clinically relevant infections (e.g., endocarditis, sepsis and ulcers) and /or models related to sites of colonization of pathogens e.g, in skin or mucosal tissues in the gut or nose. Examples include the establishment of advanced bacterial biofilm models, mammalian cells/organoid-based host-interaction models or mouse models of infections. In addition, the candidate might collaborate with a post- doctoral candidate in analyzing dormancy through fluorescent probes and flow cytometry and mice models on other difficult-to-treat infections such as osteomyelitis and wound infection. The candidate will be supervised by a team consisting of researchers from UNN, UiT and Nordland hospital, and will affiliate HMI/IMB with main workplace at UiT campus Tromsø. HMI has members from a variety of nationalities, and the working language is English. Contact For further information about the position, please contact Professor Mona Johannessen: Phone: +47 776 46225 Email: mona.johannessen@uit.no Or Professor Christian Lentz: Phone: + 47 776 44905 Email: christian.s.lentz@uit.no Qualifications Required qualifications:  Completion of a master’s degree in medicine, biomedicine or equivalent. Experience in: Microbiology culture methods, phenotypic characterization of bacteria, including antimicrobial susceptibility testing Handling mammalian cells and/or organoids Flow cytometry/FACS Molecular biology methods (e.g, DNA work, PCR, etc.) Documented oral and written fluency in English. Nordic applicants can document their English capabilities by attaching their high school diploma. Preferred qualifications:  Experience in fluorescence microscopy Mouse models of infection Working knowledge of Norwegian 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 high degree of self-motivation and good time management skills 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. Admission to the PhD programme For employment in the PhD position, you must be qualified for admission to the PhD programme at the Faculty of Health Sciences 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. Applicants must have a grade of C or better on the master’s thesis and have a grade point average of C or better for the master’s degree. A more detailed description of admission requirements can be found here.  If you are employed in the position, you will be provisionally admitted to the PhD programme. Application for final admission must be submitted no later than two months after taking up the position. Applicants with a foreign education will be subjected to an evaluation of whether the educational background is equal to Norwegian higher education, following national guidelines from Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills. Depending on which country the education is from, one or two additional years of university education may be required to fulfil admission requirements, e.g. a 4-year bachelor’s degree and a 2-year master’s degree. UiT normally accepts higher education from countries that are part of the Lisbon Recognition Convention. Inclusion and diversity 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. We offer Involvement in an interesting research project Good career opportunities A good academic environment with dedicated colleagues Flexible working hours and a state collective pay agreement Pension scheme through the state pension fund PhD Fellows are normally given a salary of 550 800 NOK/year with a 3% yearly increase 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