UiT The Arctic University of Norway has established «The Arctic MSCA-PF program» (uit.no/project/arcticmsca) to recruit excellent young researchers planning to apply for a Marie Skƚodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship (MSCA-PF) to pursue a career in research. We invite applications from promising young researchers within the field of bioprospecting and design of bacterial biosensors (for the discovery of bioactive compounds). The selected candidate will write a proposal for a 24-month MSCA-PF at UiT together with Associate Professor Hans-Matti Blencke. This is an opportunity to accelerate your research career while living in the urban research city of Tromsø, uniquely located at the top of the world surrounded by some of Europe’s last pristine wild nature.

This call is one of 70 from pre-selected supervisors at UiT The Arctic University of Norway through the “Arctic MSCA-PF program”. Successful postdoc candidates will be invited for a three-day MSCA-PF symposium June 4-6, 2024 (hybrid physical/digital event, see details at uit.no/project/arcticmsca/program-structure). At this event, the candidates will present their past research achievements, discuss future plans with their potential supervisor and learn how to write a successful MSCA-PF application. The selected candidates will, jointly with the supervisor, write the MSCA-PF application by the deadline of September 11, 2024.

In this call we search for talented, young researchers within the field of bioprospecting and design of bacterial biosensors as presented by Associate Professor Blencke:

The arctic marine environment is still relatively underexplored, rendering it interesting for discovery of novel bioactive molecules with economically interesting properties. The bioprospecting group at the Norwegian college of fishery science is thus focusing on the isolation and characterization of bioactive compounds from arctic marine invertebrates and microorganisms. We have been using bioassay guided purification based on simple bacterial growth inhibition to identify organisms and to purify compounds with antimicrobial properties. During the discovery process we also employ simple bacterial reporter gen-based biosensors, which are either relying on the specific properties of reporter genes themselves or direct promoter-fusions to genes specifically upregulated by the stressors to identify potential antimicrobial modes of action. I am interested in employing more complex synthetic biology approaches to design biosensors able to detect molecules with specific bioactivities focusing on medical or industrial relevance. I would like to cooperate with a candidate with experience in synthetic biology and/or use of non-traditional reporter genes like light-up aptamers or ligand dependent fluorescent proteins in bacteria to design novel mode of action specific biosensors. The aim is to construct biosensors enabling us to discover novel bioactive molecules, which contribute to solving relevant clinical or industrial challenges caused by microorganisms. 

Please send your CV (max 3 pages) and describe a research project that will strengthen and complement the presented research (max 2 pages) to hans-matti.blencke@uit.no by Feb 16th 2024. Mark your application "Arctic MSCA". Successful candidates will be contacted in late March 2024.