The position

A PhD position is available at the Department of Medical Biology (IMB), The Faculty of Health Sciences with the project “Rejuvenating Cardiomyocytes to heal hearts with better scars”. The position is in The Hortells lab, associated with the Cardiovascular Research Group.

The position is available for commencement from January 2026 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 UiT in Tromsø. You must be able to start in the position within a reasonable time after receiving the offer.

The project / The position’s field of research

The PhD candidate will participate in the research project titled “Rejuvenating Cardiomyocytes to heal hearts with better scars”. The project will be supervised by Associate Professor Luis Hortells. The cardiovascular research group is specialized in the study of cardiovascular pathophysiology and the Hortells lab is focused on cell communication in the heart and the peripheral nervous system in the context of disease and aging. Specifically, this project focus on improving the outcome after a myocardial infarction.

Ischemic heart disease and myocardial infarction affect thousands of people in Norway, and an estimate of 126 million individuals around the world. While improved acute care protocols have reduced the initial risk of death, the long-term consequences of a heart attack remain severe. A significant number of individuals live with cardiac complications derived from MI, creating a huge health burden and straining healthcare systems globally.

Our project steps away from the traditional remuscularization approach to treating myocardial infarction and instead proposes making “better scars” by targeting cardiac fibroblasts, the scar-making cells. Specifically, the aim of the position and the research project is to clarify the mechanisms by which “rejuvenated” cardiomyocytes reduce fibroblast activation in vitro and evaluate the potential of cardiomyocyte rejuvenation through small molecule inhibitors in vivo to reduce post myocardial infarction scar formation and improve cardiac function.

The candidate will collaborate with other researchers and be involved in supervision of master- and bachelor students in on-going projects. Relevant techniques include laboratory experiments utilizing human cell cultures (2D and organoids), advanced fluorescent imaging, live imaging, FACS, RNAseq + bioinformatic analysis, Click-IT technology, RT-qPCR, Western Blot, and possibly animal experiments using mouse models.

Contact

For further information about the position, please contact Associate professor Luis Hortells:

email: Luis.hortells@uit.no
phone: +47 77644517

Qualifications

Required qualifications:

Master’s degree in biomedical sciences will be given priority, but other life sciences masters will be also taken into consideration (medicine, biology, biotechnology, pharmacology, neurosciences, veterinary medicine).
Documented experience in molecular/cellular biology is required.
Experience with cardiac cell work (including cardiac cell isolation), qPCR, histology, antibody-based techniques, confocal microscopy, small molecules/nanoparticles-based therapies, and live imaging are a must.
Applicants must document fluency of in English and be able to work in an international environment. Nordic applicants can document their English capabilities by attaching their high school diploma.

Desired qualifications

It is beneficial, but not mandatory, if the candidate has a FELASA-approval for work with research animals.
Experience with hiPSC cells, organoids, shRNA, cell transfection, transcriptomics, transgenic mice, and bioinformatics are advantageous.
Publication record in peer-reviewed serious journals will be considered.

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

We are seeking a creative and enthusiastic candidate with a high degree of self-motivation and possesses the ability to work in a structured manner. The candidate should also have high organizational skills and ability to perform clean work in the lab. Both a strong academic track record and a genuine interest in conducting research are essential to qualify for the position. The candidates Master’s thesis, academic track record, and other application materials must demonstrate this. We will emphasize personal suitability in our assessment.

Consequently, applicants are required to submit a statement detailing their motivation for joining the research project and group, how they intend to contribute to and enhance the research within the project and group, and their research ambitions. This statement should be confined to a maximum of one page.

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, other experience of significance for the completion of the doctoral programme may be given consideration.

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.

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 equal standard. As an employee you will become member of the National Insurance Scheme which also include health care services.

More practical information about working and living in Norway can be found here: https://uit.no/staffmobility

Application 

Your application must include:

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.

All documentation to be considered must be in a Scandinavian language or English. Diplomas and transcripts must also be submitted in the original language, if not in English or Scandinavian. If English proficiency is not documented in the application, it must be documented before starting in the position. We only accept applications and documentation sent via Jobbnorge within the application deadline.

Assessment

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.

Publication record in peer-reviewed serious journals will be considered.

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.

General information

The appointment is made in accordance with State regulations and guidelines at UiT. At our website, you will find more information for applicants.

Remuneration for the position of PhD Fellow is in accordance with the State salary scale code 1017. A compulsory contribution of 2 % to the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund will be deducted. You will become a member of the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund, which gives you many benefits in addition to a lifelong pension: You may be entitled to financial support if you become ill or disabled, your family may be entitled to financial support when you die, you become insured against occupational injury or occupational disease, and you can get good terms on a mortgage. Read more about your employee benefits at: spk.no.

A shorter period of appointment may be decided when the PhD Fellow has already completed parts of their research training programme or when the appointment is based on a previous qualifying position PhD Fellow, research assistant, or the like in such a way that the total time used for research training amounts to three years.

We process personal data given in an application or CV in accordance with the Personal Data Act (Offentleglova). According to the Personal Data Act information about the applicant may be included in the public applicant list, also in cases where the applicant has requested non-disclosure. You will receive advance notification in the event of such publication, if you have requested non-disclosure.

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