Postdoctoral Researcher in Ecosystem Mapping and Modelling

About the position

Applicants are invited for a 4-year position as a postdoctoral researcher in Ecosystem Mapping and Modeling to be based at the Natural History Museum, University of Oslo. The four-year employment includes 25% career enhancing work, such as teaching, curation of collections and research support.

Employment is scheduled to start no earlier than February 1, 2026.

More about the position / Project description

The postdoctoral fellow will be a part of the “REMap” project funded by the Research Council of Norway and led by Professor Anders Bryn (PI). Ecosystems are under increasing pressure from land use and climate change. To mitigate the loss of areas of high conservation value, ecosystem maps are used to monitor changes in ecosystems and assess the environmental impacts of human activity (urbanization, infrastructure etc.) through ecosystem accounting and spatial planning. However, current methods for thematically detailed ecosystem mapping are insufficient to produce reliable maps, thus limiting the use of such maps for conservation and decision-making. REMap aims to address this challenge by bringing together stakeholders from industry, science, and policy management to co-develop ecosystem mapping methods that are better suited for decision-making by raising map quality, practical relevance and applicability. Building on these insights, the project will advance methodologies for ecosystem mapping through both field-based (WP1) and model-based (WP2) approaches. REMap will develop frameworks for integrating ecosystem maps into ecosystem accounting and spatial planning, while explicitly accounting for methodological uncertainty. Finally, all data, methods, and results will be published following best practices, with key findings communicated to stakeholders and incorporated into guidelines for ecosystem mapping and application. The main foci of REMap are development of accuracy-driven methods for ecosystem mapping and robust frameworks for ecosystem-based decision-making that explicitly account for uncertainty. By incorporating uncertainty into ecosystem maps, REMap will improve the quality of ecosystem accounting and spatial planning and thus contribute to more sustainable land management.

REMap is an interdisciplinary project that includes ecology, spatial modeling, spatial planning and sociology. State-of-the art methods and tools will be used for distribution modeling and analysis of experiments, and new tools may be developed. The main tasks of the postdoctoral fellow will be within field-based (WP1) and model-based (WP2) approaches. The postdoctoral fellow will be integrated into a national network of researchers, companies and stakeholders.

During the 4-year postdoctoral period, the successful candidate shall allocate 25% of normal working hours (i.e. a total of 1 year’s work) to career-enhancing work that is not directly relevant for the REMap project. This career-promoting work, which is funded by the Natural History Museum at the University of Oslo, will include training in transferable skills related to research in a museum environment, such as participation in field work, teaching, outreach and curation of collections.

The postdoctoral fellow will be integrated into the Geo-Ecology Research Group (GEco) at the Natural History Museum.

What skills are important in this role?

We are seeking a skilled early-career researcher with a strong interest in experimental designs of field-based ecosystem mapping and distribution modelling of ecosystem types. Candidates will be evaluated with particular emphasis on their ability to investigate ecosystem map and model uncertainty, and to incorporate this in spatial planning, within a Norwegian context.

The ambition of REMap is to generate new research-based knowledge that will, at the same time, benefit society and advance the candidates’ academic career with publications in high-profile journals.

Required qualifications:
•    A PhD-degree (or documented skills equivalent to a Norwegian PhD degree) in the interface between biology (ecology) and geography;
•    Documented expertise in experimental field-based ecosystem mapping research and relevant modelling methodology (most notably, distribution modelling); 
•    Documented experience and skills in coding for statistical and spatial analyses by relevant tools (e.g. R, QGIS and Python), as well as ability to manage large datasets of wall-to-wall environmental data.
•    Excellent oral and written communication skills in English.

Qualifications considered an advantage:
•    Documented knowledge of and experience with the Norwegian ecosystem typology and mapping guidelines, Nature in Norway (NiN), which will be used as platform for REMap research;
•    Basic knowledge of Norwegian flora, climate, landscape and natural variation in general;
•    Basic knowledge of nature management in a Norwegian context – and the use of ecosystem maps for this purpose.
•    Excellent oral and written communication skills in Norwegian, for communication with stakeholders and institutions, and to access NiN-documentation in Norwegian.

Personal skills

The successful candidate should also have:
•    good communicational and relational skills;
•    ability and willingness to collaborate with other members of the project team and communicate with other staff, as well as with Norwegian companies, stakeholders and institutions; and
•    interest in contributing to a well-functioning, inclusive and productive research environment.

We need different perspectives in our work 

UiO is an open and internationally oriented comprehensive university that strives to be an inclusive and diverse workplace and academic environment. You can read more about UiO’s work on equality, inclusion, and diversity at uio.no.

We fulfill our mission most effectively when we draw upon our variety of experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives. We are looking for great colleagues—could you be the next one?

We will do our best to accommodate your needs. Relevant adjustments may include modifications to working hours, task adaptations, digital, technical, or physical adjustments, or other practical measures.

If you have an immigrant background, a disability, or CV gaps (Norwegian), we encourage you to indicate this in the job application portal. We always invite at least one qualified candidate from each group for an interview. In this context, disability is defined as an applicant who identifies as having a disability that requires workplace or employment-related accommodations. For more details about the requirements, please refer to the Employer portal (Norwegian).

The selections made in the job application portal are used for anonymized statistics that all state employers include in their annual reports.

More information about gender equality initiatives at UiO can be found here.

We hope you will apply for the position with us. 

How to apply

The application must include:
•    an application letter;
•    a CV that summarizes and documents education, previous and current positions, research profile and merits, pedagogical qualifications, and other qualifying activities; and that includes a list of all scientific publications, highlighting the most relevant ones and the applicant’s contribution to these;
•    a one-page statement explaining the candidate’s motivation for the position and how the position fits into the applicant’s career plan
•    contact information for two reference persons (name, affiliation, e-mail address, and relation to candidate – no reference letters should be submitted)
Application with attachments must be submitted via our recruitment system Jobbnorge, click "Apply for this job".

When applying for the position, we ask you to retrieve your education results from Vitnemålsportalen.no. If your education results are not available through Vitnemålsportalen, we ask you to upload copies of your transcripts or grades. Please note that all documentation must be in English or a Scandinavian language.

We offer

•    salary NOK 595 000 – 676 900  per annum depending on qualifications in a position as Postdoctoral Research Fellow (position code 1352);
•    a dynamic and friendly working environment;
•    localization close to the city center of Oslo, a vibrant and internationally oriented city, and to nature parks and mountains;
•    full funding of the project’s research-related activities, including fieldwork;
•    opportunities for presentation of results from the project at international conferences, etc.;
•    opportunities for co-supervision of a PhD- and/or a MSc student;
•    membership in the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund; and
•    attractive welfare benefits

General information

For formal regulations, see guidelines and regulations for appointments to Postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Oslo. No one can be appointed for more than one Postdoctoral Fellow period at the University of Oslo.

Applicant lists can be published in accordance with Norwegian Freedom of Information Act § 25. When you apply for a position with us, your name will appear on the public applicant list. It is possible to request to be excluded from this list. You must justify why you want an exemption from publication and we will then decide whether we can grant your request. If we cannot, you will hear from us.

Please refer to Regulations for the Act on universities and colleges chapter 3 (Norwegian).

The University of Oslo has a transfer agreement with all employees that is intended to secure the rights to all research results etc.