About the position

The Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource Management (MINA) at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) invites applications for a full-time, permanent position as Associate Professor or Professor within forest planning and simulation.

Norwegian University of Life Sciences

NMBU has a special responsibility for research and education that ensures the basis of life for future generations.

Sustainability is rooted in everything we do and we provide knowledge for life.

NMBU has 1700 employees and 5200 students and is organized in seven faculties. NMBU has a campus in Ås and in Oslo. In the autumn of 2020 we are co-located on Ås. Further information on NMBU is available at www.nmbu.no.

About MINA

The Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource Management (MINA) works with nature and the environment, sustainable use of natural resources, biological and geological processes.

MINA’s employees undertake teaching, research and dissemination within the fields of geology, hydrology and limnology, soil science, environmental chemistry, forestry, ecology, natural resource management, renewable energy, and nature-based tourism.

Our vision is to be a key actor in knowledge production and dissemination, and our goal is to deliver research of high, international quality, and varied and excellent teaching. The faculty’s employees are significant participants within their respective fields of expertise, both nationally and internationally. The faculty is dominated by a vital research culture and high levels of scientific production.

The faculty has about 200 employees, 90 PhD students and 650 students.

Read more about MINA here.

Forest growth and development, across spatial scales from individual stands to regional and national level, are fundamental aspects when assessing the role of forests in a circular economy, in mitigating climate change and for biodiversity conservation.

This position will complement and strengthen interdisciplinary education and forest management research within the faculty and will have responsibilities related to developing and applying quantitative forest simulation and optimisation models. These models, concentrating on Norwegian and Nordic conditions, are core tools for forest scenario analyses at the faculty, and should be able to integrate the activities of research groups working on topics such as the carbon cycle, biomass use in the energy sector, and other topical ecosystem services such as wood production, wildlife, biodiversity, tourism and recreation.

Main tasks

We are looking for candidates with a special interest in forest planning, modelling and simulation. This is a scientific subject area which is concerned with integrating different types of information as well as with the development of suitable methods for providing decision support meeting the objectives of e.g. the forest owners, companies, stakeholders or society. It includes economical, ecological as well as social values. Together with colleagues at the faculty, you will therefore develop knowledge and methods to handle research questions of immediate interest to the forest-based sector and the society in general, as well as questions that are considered important for the future.

Based on the required expertise and experience outlined above, the person to be employed will have the following main duties:

• Develop, maintain and apply forest simulation, optimisation and scenario models
• Initiate and undertake research
• Teach, manage and develop courses
• Supervise MSc and PhD students
• Participate in administrative tasks

Qualification requirements, desired experiences, knowledge and personal qualities

Required qualifications

• PhD degree in forest or natural resource management.
• Be able to work with optimisation methods, scenario analysis, multi-criteria decision analysis as well as decision support systems more broadly.
• Experience from work with forest management decision support tools such as Heureka, Mela, Monsu, SIMO, GAYA/T-J, Remsoft or similar.
• A strong academic track record showing internationally competitive research output within relevant subject areas.
• Good skills in English and current skills in a Scandinavian language that will make it possible for the applicant to teach in Norwegian at least two years after appointment.

The following experiences and skills will be emphasized:

• Publication of research results in recognized international journals, with weight on academic work during the past five years.
• Documented expertise in some relevant programming languages/tools.
• Documented ability to initiate and obtain external funding, and complete research projects – preferably interdisciplinary involving forestry, carbon/climate, ecosystem services and/or biomass use in the energy sector.
• International collaboration and experience.
• Pedagogic and administrative proficiency.
• Documented teaching and supervision qualification and experience.

Besides scientific expertise, we put emphasis on teaching experience, pedagogical and administrative expertise. Applicants without formal training in pedagogics commits to, within two years to undertake NMBUs course in university teaching/pedagogics.

You need to:

• Have high working capacity and motivation for cooperation with other research groups at the faculty.
• Have good communication skills, ability to establish new contacts and develop networks.
• Have ability to create a welcoming and productive working environment for colleagues and students.

MINA wishes to increase the share of female employees. Females are specifically encouraged to apply.

Remuneration and further information

The position is placed in government pay scale 1011 Associate Professor, framework 24, salary grade 61-77 (NOK 542.400 – 741.300) or 1013 Professor, salary grade 72 - 80 (NOK 657.900 - 802.200). In the case of particularly highly qualified applicants, a higher salary may be considered.

For further information, please contact:

• Head of section, Professor Torjus F. Bolkesjø (E-mail: torjus.bolkesjo@nmbu.no),
• Professor Terje Gobakken (E-mail: terje.gobakken@nmbu.no) or
• Dean, Professor Hans Fredrik Hoen (E-mail: hans.hoen@nmbu.no)

General Information to applicants

Application

To apply online for this vacancy, please click on the 'Apply for this job' button above. This will route you to the University's Web Recruitment System, where you will need to register an account (if you have not already) and log in before completing the online application form.

Application deadline: 31.03.2020

All applicants must document their teaching competence. Please see the NMBU’s guide for applicants and members of the expert committee for documentation and assessment of educational competence for a position as professor.

Please see the NMBU’s guide for applicants and members of the expert committee for documentation and assessment of educational competence for a position as associate professor.

Up to ten publications selected by the applicant as most relevant must be attached to the application. If it is difficult to identify the contribution of the applicant in multiple-author publications, a short explanation about the applicant’s part of the work is suggested.

Printed material which cannot be sent electronically should be sent by surface mail to Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Faculty of Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource Management, P.O. Box 5003, NO-1432 Ås, within 31.03.2020. Please quote reference number 20/01150.

Applicants invited for an interview will be asked to present verified copies of diplomas and certificates.

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