About this role
About the Department The Department of Physical Performance contributes through education, research, and dissemination, to an understanding of what determines physical performance with a focus on exercise physiology, biomechanics and technology. The department is responsible for teaching and conducting research within areas of how physical performance is influenced by optimal training and technique in both a sport and health perspective as well as in rehabilitation of patients. The department's activities take place in "state of the art" laboratories, equipped for studying human motions. The department's target groups incorporate various populations; youth, elite athletes, the elderly population and patients. We carry specific responsibility for research within the sports of cross-country skiing, alpine skiing, swimming, orienteering, and track and field. The position and the research project The Department of Physical Performance at NIH offers a three- to four-year PhD fellowship from September/October 2026, four-year if teaching 25%. The fellowship is in Exercise Physiology, with the PhD project focusing on: biological sex differences in performance-limiting factors durability metabolism fatigue development and the influence of nutritional strategies in well-trained individuals to elite athletes in endurance sports. This will be achieved through a combination of laboratory- and field-based studies. The exact research questions and methodological approaches will be further refined in collaboration with the successful candidate. The PhD candidate will play an active role in all aspects of the project, including planning and development of study design, participant recruitment, data collection (assessments of performance, indirect calorimetry and gas exchanges, metabolic measurements, muscle biopsy allocation and analysis, etc.), data analysis, and dissemination of findings. The candidate will work closely with researchers at NIH and external collaborators. There will be opportunities for international collaboration, and periods of research exchange at international institutions are encouraged, although not mandatory. The project will be under the supervision of Associate Professor Øyvind Skattebo, Associate Professor Kristin Lundanes Jonvik and Professor Jostein Hallén. The successful candidate will be requested to formally apply for enrolment as a PhD student at NIH. Employment as a PhD fellow will be conditional on successful enrolment in the PhD program. Job Description Your main tasks as a PhD fellow at NIH are to: Complete an independent research project under supervision. Complete PhD courses or other equivalent educational activities corresponding to 30 ECTS points. Actively participate in research environments, including collaboration with fellow researchers. Dissemination of results from your PhD project, both at international conferences and in scientific journals. Write a PhD thesis based on your project. Optional: The candidate may gain teaching experience, depending on the department's teaching needs and the candidate's competencies. Qualification requirements and the Selection Process The applicant must be eligible for admission to the doctoral program at NIH: PhD program - Norwegian School of Sport Sciences . Applicants should hold a two-year master’s degree in Sport Sciences or equivalent with the grade B or better. It is the candidate responsibility to document and eventually transform the grade. Selection Criteria Experience in human studies and experience in scientific writing, i.e. publications in scientific peer reviewed journals, are considered an advantage. Demonstrate competence/experience and motivation to conduct independent research using advanced methods to investigate determinants of endurance performance such as, but not limited to, the study of metabolism and cardiorespiratory fitness using indirect calorimetry, the measurements of hemoglobin mass and blood volume using carbon monoxide rebreathing, and the analysis of metabolic markers in blood and muscle. Experience with performance- and cardiopulmonary exercise testing of well-trained individuals or highly trained athletes is considered a requisite Familiarity with handling and interpreting complex datasets is an advantage. Programming experience is advantageous but not required; willingness to learn will be considered a strength Quality of the master's thesis and the relevance of the master's thesis to the project topic, both academically and methodologically. Good collaboration skills, and ability to independently find innovative solutions. Good written and oral skills in English is required. Structured, reliable, and motivated to contribute to all phases of a research project. The purpose of the recruitment position is for the candidate to achieve a PhD during the fellowship period. Admission to the doctoral program is therefore a condition for employment as a research fellow. The candidate must be able to complete the project during the fellowship period. The employment period is three or four years, depending on teaching qualifications and needs. The fellow will have their workplace at the Department of Physical Performance, NIH, Oslo, Norway. The candidate is required to submit an admission to the PhD program no later than six weeks after employment. A complete project description, including a proposal for the plan for the doctoral education/progress plan, will be developed in consultation with supervisors with the aim of formal admission to the doctoral program at the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences. The application will be processed in accordance with applicable guidelines for employment in fellowship positions, and employment is contingent upon admission to the PhD program. The study plan for all required coursework must be approved no later than three months after commencement. NIH offers Salary as a doctoral research fellow in position code 1017 (starting salary