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 Chronobiology, sensory biology. The selected candidate will write a proposal for a 24-month MSCA-PF at UiT together with Dr Alex West. 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 3-5, 2025 (hybrid physical/digital event, see details at https://uit.no/arcticmsca/programstructure). 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 10, 2025. 

In this call we search for talented, young researchers within the field of Chronobiology, sensory biology as presented by Dr Alex West:

"My lab at UiT focuses on two major research areas: imprinting and seasonal timing

1. Imprinting is a process of rapid and irreversible learning that occurs during a critical period of development, leading to a stereotyped pattern of behaviour. In my lab, I focus on olfactory imprinting - the memory of a river's scent that salmon use to navigate back to their natal streams to spawn. While we know that the olfactory imprint is formed early in life, the underlying mechanisms of olfactory imprinting remain largely unknown. How the olfactory critical period is defined, stored and activated during homing, for example, remain major outstanding questions. Using a combination of RNA and histological analysis, in vitro techniques and behavioural tests, my lab works towards a neurobiological and molecular basis to the olfactory imprinting in Atlantic salmon. 

    

2. How animals predict and prepare for the changing seasons is a fascinating question - one that is particularly pertinent in our Arctic environment. While my earlier research has focused on the well-described "photoneuroendocrine cascade", by which mammals and birds interpret and respond to seasonal changes in day length, my lab now investigates seasonal timing in fish, an area where our knowledge remains remarkably limited. My lab specifically works with the Atlantic salmon, an exemplary seasonal model, employing a combination of classical experimental designs with cutting-edge techniques - including snRNAseq, CrispR, in vitro opsin characterisation, to develop a functional understanding of seasonal timing that both complements and supasses that of other vertebrates. 

Please feel free to reach out if you’d like to discuss these topics further or apply directly to the scheme as detailed below. I look forward to hearing from you."

Please send your CV (max 3 pages) and describe a research project that will strengthen and complement the presented research (max 2 pages) to alexander.c.west@uit.no   by Feb 16th 2025. Mark your application "Arctic MSCA". Successful candidates will be contacted in late March 2025.