About this role
ABOUT THE POSITIONThe position is part of RoBoZoo, a research project funded by the Research Council of Norway and led by the University of Inland Norway (INN). RoBoZoo takes a One Health approach to understand how food production systems, rodent ecology and climate-related environmental change interact to influence exposure to rodent-borne zoonotic microbes, and how this may relate to long-term fatigue and health outcomes among farmers. RoBoZoo combines nationwide data on small-mammal communities, pathogen occurrence, farm characteristics and environmental conditions with epidemiological surveys, serology and collaboration with farmers, agricultural advisers and health professionals. Follow the links to read more about RoBoZoo (https://www.inn.no/english/research/research-projects/robozoo/) and the University of Inland Norway (https://www.inn.no/english/about-inn/).The PhD candidate will take a central role in RoBoZoo’s research on exposure and preventive practices in food production. The main empirical responsibility will be a large-scale questionnaire study among farmers and a general-population comparison group. In collaboration with researchers, farmers, agricultural organisations and project partners, the candidate will take lead in the implementation and analysis of the questionnaires.The questionnaires will cover farm conditions, pest-control activities, perceived exposure risk, background variables, selected health outcomes such as chronic fatigue, and more. This will allow the project to examine how knowledge, perceived risk and preventive practices correspond with self-reported exposure, farm-level risk factors and measured indicators of previous zoonotic exposure.The candidate will lead the development and testing of a food-production-specific Risk Exposure Index. This index will be used to identify factors associated with zoonotic exposure in different food-production systems and to support prevention and risk communication.Beyond analysis, the PhD candidate will play an active role in translating research findings into practice. Building on the empirical results, the candidate will contribute to the development of mitigation strategies and stakeholder-oriented guidance aimed at reducing zoonotic risk and supporting safer working environments for farmers. The candidate will contribute to stakeholder workshops, scientific publications and communication of results to relevant audiences in agriculture, health and public administration.PhD enrolment: The PhD candidate will be employed by the department of Microbiology, Innlandet Hospital Trust (IHT), Lillehammer and enrolled at the program PhD in Applied Ecology and Biotechnology, University of Inland Norway (INN). The candidate will be supervised by Professor Magne Neby, INN, Associate Professor Cecilie Dyngeland, INN, Professor John Linnell, INN and PhD Karoline Berger, IHT.Workplace: The main workplace will be at Campus Blæstad (INN). Periods of presence at Innlandet Hospital Trust and project-related travel are expected. Planned fellowship period: 01 January 2027 – 31 December 2029.