There is a vacancy for an associate professor at the Department of Earth Science. The associate professor will be the research leader at the Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research (BCCR) in marine paleoclimate and Earth system stability. We are particularly encouraging early to mid-career scientists with a leadership potential to apply. The successful applicant is expected to initiate and deliver high-quality research and will lead a thematic research group at the Bjerknes Centre. The research leader position has a special emphasis on linking BCCR’s partners and climate research initiatives by engaging actively in BCCR’s leader group and research themes. The appointee will be formally and permanently employed by the Department of Earth Science at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Bergen (UiB), but with work place and assignment at BCCR as long as the Centre for Climate Dynamics funding (see below) continues.

About the Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research

The Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research (BCCR) is a collaborative organization administratively located at the University of Bergen and has earmarked funding from the Ministry of Education, presently up to and including 2026. The Centre draws upon the expertise developed since its inception as a national Centre of Excellence in 2002. The BCCR combines expertise in climate dynamics from its partners: the University of Bergen, NORCE, Institute of Marine Research, and the Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Centre. The BCCR is one of Europe’s largest and most recognized research environments for the understanding of climate variability and change. BCCRs vision is to be the leading international centre for predicting Arctic-Atlantic climate change in a global context and be the key national provider of climate knowledge. The thematic research areas of the centre are global climate, polar climate, climate hazards and carbon. In all research areas, modern observations, model simulations, and reconstructions from the geological record are used, often in combination, to derive robust knowledge on the climate system. To complement and lead our ongoing activities we announce an Associate professor position in marine paleoclimate and Earth system stability. UIB has no tenure track and thus hire permanently at associate professor level.

Work tasks/research field:

The interacting components of the Earth system give rise to threshold behavior and tipping points in the climate system. Crossing these climate system thresholds can result in abrupt and irreversible changes with a wide range of environmental and societal consequences. Yet, while threshold behavior is critical to predict and model, it also poses unique challenges due to the timescales over which the processes operate and Earth system components interact. Progress requires constraining and understanding the fuller range of climate system behavior present over Earth’s history. We are seeking innovative and interdisciplinary scholars with a record of high-impact research in marine paleoclimatology who will contribute to understanding climate system (in)stability in the past, in order to better understand present, and future climate change. Qualified candidates will employ modern tools of multi-disciplinary science and demonstrate the willingness to integrate, and interact with the broad range of expertise in climate reconstruction, observation, and modelling as well as future projections represented in the BCCR community. We are broadly seeking for qualified candidates in marine paleoclimatology and paleoceanography. Specific areas of interest include, but are not limited to, those who are carrying out transformative research in past climate transitions, the dynamics of rapid climate changes, climate modes and extremes, ocean circulation, and climate sensitivity. Candidates developing innovative geochemical proxy approaches to understand the past ocean dynamics and biogeochemistry and/or approaches for integrating paleoceanographic data with modelling, are desirable.

The successful candidate will lead a thematic research group within BCCR. More specifically, the candidate will be part of the centre’s leader group together with the three other research group leaders, the centre director, and head of administration.
The successful candidate will actively participate in the development and implementation of the BCCR’s strategic goals and will also be central in the further strategic and scientific development of the BCCR collaboration.
The successful candidate will be actively engaged in initiation of national and international research projects and activities, and use their expertise to help define strategic research projects.
The successful candidate will stimulate and strengthen collaboration with researchers and research groups and communities both internally, nationally and internationally, and with partners internally and externally.
The successful candidate will be expected to highlight and disseminate key research results contribute to strengthening the dialogue between climate sciences and the public as well as represent the centre externally.

The appointee will report to the BCCR director. All working hours and assignments will be dedicated to the activities of the BCCR with 50% of the working hours dedicated to leading the research theme group. The appointee will be exempted from teaching regular courses at UiB, but mentoring students at the master and PhD levels is desirable. This will require pedagogic and supervision qualifications.

Qualifications and personal qualities:

Applicants must have a doctoral degree or equivalent qualifications within the fields of paleoclimate, Earth system science, or a directly related subject.
Experienced in the application of general circulation/climate models or in collaborating with modellers is a strong advantage.
Experience with marine field work and willingness, and ability, to lead cruises is a strong requirement.
The position requires expertise in advanced analytical approaches that will utilize the existing laboratory and/or modelling infrastructure at GEO/BCCR and clear plans for how they will complement and further extend these capabilities.
Research of high international standard and an international network is a requirement. Applicants should have a strong peer review publication record within the above-mentioned fields commensurate with their career stage.
The successful candidate is expected to contribute to externally financed research activities and should document the ability to acquire external research funding.
Candidates whose work impacts on one or more of the key foci of the centre (Arctic-Atlantic circulation, tipping points and climate hazards, polar climate, or carbon/biogeochemical cycling) will be preferred.
Experience in project management is an advantage.
Ability and interest in contributing to an international interdisciplinary research environment is an advantage.
The ability to demonstrate leadership or the potential to take on a leading position is an advantage.
Applicants must have excellent skills in oral and written English.

In addition, you must have:

Good collaborative and communication skills.
The ability to build open, ethical and generous research environments.
The ability to build networks and create trust externally.

The academic track record of the applicants will be assessed according to career stage and potential. We particularly encourage early to mid-term career scientists to apply.

Personal and relational qualities will be emphasized. Research experience, ambitions and potential will also count when evaluating the candidates.

The University of Bergen is subjected to the regulation for export control system. The regulation will be applied in the processing of the applications.

Educational competence requirements

The following requirements are standard to an associate professor position at UiB. The above mentioned exemption from teaching relates specifically to the period for which the apointee serves as research leader at BCCR, and not to the associate professor position they will hold beyond that term.

Basic teaching training and experience with the supervision of students at university level is a requirement for the position as associate professor. This implies the ability to document:

completed formal pedagogical training (relevant courses in combination with actual teaching experience can in some cases compensate for a completed course in teaching and learning in higher education).
basic skills in planning, implementation, evaluation and development of teaching and supervision.

Educational competence must be documented in an educational portfolio which should include a documented overview of practical experience and competence as well as a brief reflection statement. The statement should primarily describe the applicant’s own teaching philosophy and an evaluation of own teaching in relation to his/her knowledge of students’ learning at a higher education level. You will find more detailed information about criteria and documentation requirements for assessing educational competence here.

Applicants who are unable to document adequate educational competence upon appointment, will have to meet the requirements within two years of assuming office.

The teaching language will normally be Norwegian. The successful applicant will be given the opportunity to attend courses in order to learn Norwegian and must be able to teach in Norwegian or another Scandinavian language within three years of assuming office.

University of Bergen emphasizes educational qualifications for appointment to scientific positions.

We can offer:

A good and professionally stimulating working environment.
Position as associate professor (code 1011 in the basic collective agreement) and a gross annual salary of NOK 708 000 to NOK 777 900 (equivalent to pay grade 71 –76). Further increase in salary are made according to length of service in the position.A higher salary may be considered for a particularly well-qualified applicant.
Enrolment in the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund
Good welfare benefits

Associate professors have the opportunity to apply for personal promotion to a full professorship. For further information: https://www.uib.no/en/matnat/119901/personal-promotion-professor

Your application must include:

CV
diplomas, references
a complete list of publications
a brief outline of the applicant’s interest and motivation to apply for this position, as well as a summary of the most important research results (2-3 pages).
educational competence documented in an educational portfolio (see above).
a list of academic work that the applicant believes should be taken into consideration in the assessment, including information about where this work was published.
the names of three referees, where at least one is familiar with your tutorial skills.

The application and appendices with certified translations into English or a Scandinavian language must be uploaded at Jobbnorge. Applications sent to individuals per email, will not be considered.

General information:

For further details about the position, please contact: Bjerknes Centre Director Helga (Kikki) Kleiven, phone +47 416 06 451 / email: kikki@uib.no or Bjerknes Centre Head of administration Ragnhild Stolt-Nielsen, phone +47 55 58 47 28 / email: Ragnhild.Stolt-Nielsen@uib.no

The state labour force shall reflect the diversity of Norwegian society to the greatest extent possible. People with immigrant backgrounds and people with disabilities are encouraged to apply for the position.

We encourage women to apply. If multiple applicants have approximately equivalent qualifications, the rules pertaining to moderate gender quotas shall apply.

The University of Bergen applies the principle of public access to information when recruiting staff for academic positions.

Information about applicants may be made public even if the applicant has asked not to be named on the list of persons who have applied. The applicant must be notified if the request to be omitted is not met.

For further information about the recruitment process, click here.

About The University of Bergen

The University of Bergen is a renowned educational and research institution, organised into seven faculties and approximately 54 institutes and academic centres. Campus is located in the centre of Bergen with university areas at Nygårdshøyden, Haukeland, Marineholmen, Møllendalsveien and Årstad.

There are seven departments and several centres at Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences. Read more about the faculty and departments.