A three-year PhD fellowship within the project " How do infectious diseases contribute to the decline of migration shorebirds” is available at the Faculty of Biosciences and Aquaculture, Nord University (Steinkjer, Norway) from March 1, 2021.

This PhD project will be part of a larger international project, COAST-IMPACT, funded by the Norwegian Research Council. The overall aim of COAST-IMPACT is to study the impact of pollution and disease on migrating shorebirds (many of which are in steep declines).

The field component of this PhD study will be undertaken on local wetlands in Norway (e.g. Trøndelag and/or Jæren).  The lab component will utilize RNA sequencing (targeting lncRNA, miRNA and mRNA), quantitative PCR and cell culture experiments to elucidate the mechanisms driving pollutant induced immunomodulation that relate to increased infection susceptibility in the hosts.  Lastly, the obtained data will be used to improve disease outbreak prediction for the future.

Details are here: https://www.jobbnorge.no/en/available-jobs/job/195895/phd-fellowship-host-pathogen-interactions-in-migrating-shorebirds

The annual salary for doctoral researchers (code 1017) is set at wage level 54, LR 20, NOK 482.200,- in the Norwegian State Salary Scale. Suitably qualified candidates may be placed in code 1378.

• Advantages within the Government Pension Fund for borrowing, insurance and pension.
• Creative and collegial working environment
• A workplace with steady progressive development
• Flexible working hours
• Active university sports team