项目介绍

2025年5月15日

About the position

Are you passionate about natural or cultural history, and science? Do you want to contribute to sustainable development through research, public outreach, and education? 

The NTNU University Museum is seeking highly qualified, ambitious, and motivated PhD candidates for two positions within the Museum’s research areas (archaeology, cultural and natural history).

These PhD positions are for three years for doctoral work, with the possibility of extending up to four years including career-promoting work. You will benefit from an international and interdisciplinary work environment. In addition to the well curated and accessible scientific collections, you will have access to high quality research infrastructures like laboratories for molecular biodiversity and isotopic studies including radiocarbon dating, advanced field equipment for terrestrial and marine studies, research vessels and long-term data-series in biology. 

The NTNU University Museum is the natural and cultural history museum of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim. 

The Department of Archaeology and Cultural History conducts research on cultures and societies from the earliest Stone Age to recent times. Some focal areas are archaeological methods and advanced technologies, interdisciplinarity and environmental archaeology, and material culture from a long-term perspective. 

The Department of Natural History conducts research in systematics and taxonomy, evolutionary genomics, phylogeography, population genetics, and ecology with an emphasis on conservation biology. 

The National Laboratory for Age Determination conducts research about methodology and applications of stable isotope analyses, radiocarbon dating and dendrochronology.

Our research activity is organized into twelve research groups.

The successful candidates will be employed at the NTNU University Museum’s Department of Archaeology and Cultural History, Department of Natural History, or The National Laboratory for Age Determination. 

Your immediate leader will be the Head of Department in the same department as your main supervisor.

About the project

When applying for a PhD position with open-ended PhD projects, you will need to develop and attach a 4-6 page project description according to our guidelines and template. Your PhD project must align thematically with one of the Museum’s twelve research groups. 

We encourage you to explain how your project connects with the relevant research group and the department’s academic activities. To ensure a strong application, we recommend reaching out to the research group early in the process.

The research groups, along with the potential main supervisors for these positions, are listed on our website for this call.

Duties of the position

For a position as a PhD candidate, the goal is a completed doctoral education up to an obtained doctoral degree within the employment period. Publication of the project results in peer-reviewed journals is expected. Duties of the position will include: 

• Carry out research of high quality within the framework described above
• Academic publications and popular science dissemination
• Present and discuss your research with other professionals
• Participate in the research group 
• Participate in international activities such as conferences 

Be prepared for changes to your work duties after employment. Other career-promoting work such as teaching, outreach activities, field work, or laboratory work, depending on the University Museum’s needs and the applicant’s qualifications and interests, might also be included in the position. 

Required selection criteria

• You must have an academically relevant background within one of the museum’s research areas.  
• You must have a Master’s degree in relevant subject areas, and your course of study must correspond to a five-year Norwegian course, where 120 credits have been obtained at master’s level. Master’s students can apply, but the master’s degree must be obtained and documented before the application deadline.
• You must have a strong academic background from your previous studies and have an average grade from your Master’s degree study, or equivalent education, which is equal to B or better compared to NTNU’s grading scale. If you do not have letter grades from previous studies, you must have an equally good academic background. If you have a weaker grade background, you may be considered if you can document that you are particularly suitable for a PhD education.
• You must meet the requirements for admission to a PhD Programme either at the Faculty of Natural Sciences or The Faculty of Humanities. The most relevant PhD programmes are the one in Biology or Historical and Cultural Studies.
• Your project description must be linked to one of the research groups mentioned above, and the suggested main supervisor must be among those listed on our website for this call.
• Good oral and written presentation skills in English 

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The appointment is to be made in accordance with the Act relating to Universities and University Colleges (uhl.) (in Norwegian) and associated regulations (in Norwegian).

Preferred selection criteria

• Research-relevant experience such as publications in peer-reviewed journals and being involved in research processes.

Personal characteristics

To complete a doctoral degree (PhD), it is important that you are able to: 

• Work independently
• Work in a structured way, set goals and make plans to achieve them
• Present and discuss your research with other professionals
• Get involved and contribute constructively with feedback
• Work constructively under pressure or in the face of adversity 
• Show curiosity and a strong motivation for the subject
• Analyze data, assess different perspectives and draw well-founded conclusions 
• Be flexible and open to adjusting the plan for the project as needed

Emphasis will be placed on personal qualities.

We offer

• An exciting job with an important mission in society
• Developing tasks in a strong and international professional environment
• Career guidance and follow-up during the PhD period
• Open and inclusive working environment with committed colleagues
• Working capital that can be used to implement the project
• Mentor programme as a new employee at NTNU
• As a public employee, you have favourable benefits as a member of the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund (SPK)

You will be employed as a PhD Candidate at NTNU and will have access to employee benefits and discounts. 

Diversity

Diversity is a strength, and at NTNU we aim to be an employer that reflects the diversity in society and that makes use of the potential of the population’s collective skills. Our vision is Knowledge for a better world and our values ​​are creative, critical, constructive and respectful. We believe that an organization that is equal, diverse and gender-balanced is essential for us to achieve our goals. 

We strive to attract employees with different skills, life experiences and perspectives to contribute to even better problem solving of our societal mission in research and education. 

If you think this position is relevant and interesting, we encourage you to apply, regardless of gender, functional ability and cultural background, or whether you have been out of work for a period of time.

At NTNU we want to increase the proportion of women in scientific positions. We have a number of measures to promote equality. 

Salary and conditions

In the position of PhD Candidate, code 1017, your gross salary will normally be NOK  541 800,-  per annum depending on qualifications and seniority. A 2% statutory contribution to the State Pension Fund is deducted from the salary. 

The employment period is 3 years for the doctoral work, with an opening for additionally up to one year of career promotion work.

For employment as a PhD Candidate, it is a prerequisite that you gain admission to a PhD programme within three months of your employment contract start date, and that you participate in an organized doctoral programme throughout the period of employment.

As an employee at NTNU, it is important that you keep yourself up to date with academic and organizational changes and adapt to them.

For the necessary academic and social interaction, it is a prerequisite that you are physically present and available to the institution on a daily basis.

The appointment is carried out in accordance with the principles of the State Employees Act, and Export control (legislation that regulates the export of knowledge, technology and services). Candidates who, after assessment of the application and attachments, are considered to be in conflict with the criteria in the latter act, will not be able to be employed.

About the application

When evaluating applicants, we will consider the scientific quality of the project and its relevance to the research group’s activities, as well as the candidate’s essential qualifications such as education, experience, and personal suitability. Additionally, motivation for the position, ambitions, and research potential are important factors in our assessment. 

The attachments must accompany the application as these documents form the basis of the application assessment. The documents must be in English or a Norwegian/a Scandinavian language. The project description has to be in English.

The application must include: 

• A short letter of motivation (maximum 400 words/1 page)
• Transcripts and diplomas for Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees
• Certified copies of certificates and diplomas
• CV
• Copy of Master’s thesis. 
• A project description (4-6 pages) according to our guidelines and template 
• Possibly publications and/or other relevant research work
• Names and contact information of two relevant referees

The candidate who is appointed commits to complete the PhD study within the employment period and the current resource framework. Therefore, the applicants must demonstrate that they will have access to the necessary infrastructure for the implementation of the project. The candidate is awarded up to NOK 300,000 in operating funds for the implementation of the project.

The applicant should not complete an application for admission to the PhD programme at this stage.

Please note: the application will only be assessed on the basis of the information we have received by the application deadline. Therefore, make sure that your application clearly shows how your skills and experience meet the criteria described above. The application and all attachments must be sent electronically via Jobbnorge.no. 

If all, or parts, of your education has been taken abroad, we also ask you to attach documentation of the scope and quality of your entire education, both Bachelor’s and Master’s education, in addition to other higher education. If your institution uses “diploma supplement” (normal for most European institutions), you must attach this. A description of the documentation required can also be found here. If you already have a statement from Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills (HK-dir), please attach this as well. 

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

NTNU recognizes a wide range of academic contributions and has committed itself to The San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment and CoARA (responsible assessment of research and recognition of a greater breadth of academic contributions in accordance with NTNU’s social mission).

General information

A public list of applicants with name, age, job title and municipality of residence is prepared after the application deadline. If you wish to be exempt from entry on the public applicant list, this must be justified. Assessment will be made in accordance with current legislation. You will be notified if the exemption is not granted.

If you have any questions about the position, please contact one of the following

• Head of Research and Collections Solveig Bakken (solveig.bakken@ntnu.no)
• Head of Department of Natural History Ingrid Ertshus Mathisen (ingrid.e.mathisen@ntnu.no) 
• Head of Department of Archaeology and Cultural History Bernt Rundberget (bernt.rundberget@ntnu.no) 
• Associate Professor at The National Laboratory for Age Determination Bente Philippsen (bente.philippsen@ntnu.no) 

If you have any questions about the recruitment process, please contact HR Adviser Aaste Line Stand, (aaste.l.strand@ntnu.no)

If you think this position looks interesting and in line with your qualifications, you are welcome to apply.

Application deadline: August 15th, 2025

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For practical information about working at NTNU, please visit this webpage. 
The city of Trondheim is a modern European city with a rich cultural scene. Trondheim is the tech 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.