The position

A Postdoctoral Research Fellow position is available at the Department of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Engineering Science and Technology.

The position is a fixed term position for a duration of 3 years. It is a prerequisite that the applicant can carry out the project over the full course of the employment period. No person may hold more than one fixed term position as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the same institution.

As a Postdoctoral Research Fellow, you will have the opportunity to advance your scientific career and further qualify for academic positions. If you do not already have the educational competence that meets the requirements for an Associate Professor position in Norway, UiT will arrange such competence during the employment period.

The workplace is at UiT in Narvik. You must be able to start in the position within a reasonable time after receiving the offer.

If you receive a personal overseas research grant from NFR it is possible to apply NFR for an extension of the fellowship period corresponding to the length of the stay abroad (minimum three months, maximum 12 months).

The project

The Faculty of Engineering Science and Technology consists of five departments, where Department of Industrial Engineering is where the position is located. The nearest professional affiliation will be at the Department’s research group “Intelligent Manufacturing and Logistics” and its interrelated Technological Competence Center for Arctic Logistics Operations (ArcLog).

The position of the Postdoctoral Research Fellow is affiliated with the project “Digital Reverse Logistics Twin 5.0: Enabling Human-Centricity in Data-Driven Decision-Making and Flexible Automation”, funded by the Research Council of Norway under the Researcher Project for Young Talents (FRIPRO) programme (Digital Reverse Logistics Twin 5.0 (DigiRL 5.0) | UiT). Recent advances in product-based digital twins offer significant potential for capturing real-time information on product condition, return timing and location, and end-of-life quantities, and these data can substantially reduce uncertainty in reverse logistics systems, enabling more efficient planning of collection, transportation, and recycling activities in order to minimize empty trips and improve overall system performance.

At the same time, emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and humanoid robotics are increasingly being integrated into reverse logistics operations. These technologies support the development of human–machine collaborative systems, where automation handles repetitive tasks while human operators focus on supervision, exception handling, and decision-making in complex situations. This project aims to develop human-centric digital twin solutions that enable effective and responsible human–technology collaboration. The objective is to develop a system-level digital twin to support data-driven decision-making and flexible automation in reverse logistics operations, ultimately enhancing operational efficiency, sustainability, and human-in-the-loop collaboration.

Key Responsibilities

The Postdoctoral Research Fellow is expected to contribute to the following tasks:
• Develop data-driven qualitative/quantitative methods to identify and analyze key factors influencing reverse logistics system planning, including consumer return behavior and electric truck adoption.
• Design and implement a two-stage proactive–reactive optimization framework that integrates exact/metaheuristic methods (proactive stage) with reinforcement learning approaches (reactive stage) for dynamic routing and real-time remanufacturing planning to minimize empty trips, carbon emissions, and idle capacities in reverse logistics systems.
• Test and validate the models and solution methods with real-world case studies.
• Publish research findings in leading scientific journals and present results at major conferences.
• If desired, contribute to the supervision of PhD candidates and Master’s students.
• If desired, support teaching activities within the Master's Programme of Industrial Engineering, including lectures, seminars, and the development of new educational materials.
• Contribute to proposal writing and reporting activities for national and international funding agencies.

Contact

For further information about the position, please contact Professor Hao Yu: 
• email: hao.yu@uit.no

or Head of Department Prof. Wei Deng Solvang:
• email: wei.d.solvang@uit.no

Qualifications

This position requires a Norwegian doctoral degree (PhD), or an equivalent foreign doctoral degree in Industrial Engineering, Logistics Engineering, Transportation Engineering, or a closely related field.

The position also requires:
• Demonstrated experience in applying a combination of data-driven qualitative and quantitative methodologies within logistics systems is required. Relevant methods include, but are not limited to, survey design, data envelopment analysis, machine learning, mathematical optimization, simulation, and case studies. Experience in applying these methods to address environmental and social sustainability challenges in logistics systems will be considered an advantage.
• Experience with competitive research funding applications (e.g., national or international grants) will be considered an advantage.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English are required.
• Applicants must submit a 3–5 page research plan aligned with the scope of the position, clearly outlining objectives, research scope, and proposed methodologies, with strong emphasis on relevance, rigor, and potential impact.

In the assessment the main emphasis will be attached to the submitted works and the research plan for the qualifying work. Emphasis shall also be attached to experience from popularization/dissemination and academic policy and administrative activity.

During the assessment emphasis will be put on the candidate’s motivation, potential for research, and personal suitability for the position. We are looking for candidates who:
• Have good collaboration skills
• Have good communication and interaction with colleagues and students
• Wants to contribute to a good working environment

At UiT we put emphasis on the quality, relevance and significance of the research work and not on where the work is published, in accordance with the principles of The San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA).

Inclusion and diversity  

UiT The Arctic University i Norway is working actively to promote equality, gender balance and diversity among employees and students, and to create an inclusive and safe working environment. We believe that inclusion and diversity is a strength, and we want employees with different competencies, professional experience, life experience and perspectives.  

If you have a disability, a gap in your CV or immigrant background, we encourage you to tick the box for this in your application. If there are qualified applicants, we invite least one in each group for an interview. If you get the job, we will adapt the working conditions if you need it. Apart from selecting the right candidates, we will only use the information for anonymous statistics. 

We offer
• Involvement in an interesting research project 
• Good career opportunities 
• A good academic environment with dedicated colleagues  
• Flexible working hours and a state collective pay agreement  
• Pension scheme through the state pension fund 

Norwegian health policy aims to ensure that everyone, irrespective of their personal finances and where they live, has access to good health and care services of equal standard. As an employee you will become member of the National Insurance Scheme which also include health care services.

More practical information for working and living in Norway can be found here: https://uit.no/staffmobility 

Application

Please note that the application will only be assessed based on the information submitted by the application deadline via Jobbnorge. It is therefore important that you include all necessary documents demonstrating your qualifications for the position.

Your application must include:
• Application letter (max 2 pages)
• Project proposal (max 5 pages)
• CV
• Diplomas and transcripts (all degrees)
• Contact information to 2-3 references
• Documentation of educational competence, if available
• Description of your academic production, stating which works you consider most important
• The academic works (published or not) you wish us to take into consideration in the assessment

If you’re at the final stages of your PhD, you may still apply if you have submitted your PhD thesis for doctoral degree evaluation within the application deadline. You must submit the thesis with your application. Documentation of your completed PhD degree must be submitted before commencement.

All documentation to be considered must be in a Scandinavian language or English.

Assessment

The applicants will be assessed by an expert committee. The committee's mandate is to undertake an assessment of the applicants' qualifications based on the written material presented by the applicants, and the detailed description draw up for the position. A copy of the assessment report will be sent to all applicants. 

The applicants who are assessed as best qualified will be called to an interview. The interview should among other things, aim to clarify the applicant’s motivation and personal suitability for the position. A trial lecture may also be held.

General information

The appointment is made in accordance with State regulations and guidelines at UiT. At our website, you will find more information for applicants. 

The engagement is to be made in accordance with the acts relating to Control of the Export of Strategic Goods, Services and Technology. Candidates who by assessment of the application and attachment are seen to conflict with the criteria in the latter law will be prohibited from recruitment. After the appointment you must assume that there may be changes in the area of work.

The remuneration for Postdoctoral research fellow is in accordance with the State salary scale code 1352, with a gross annual salary of 620 000 NOK/year. In special cases, a higher salary may be granted. A compulsory contribution of 2 % to the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund will be deducted. You will become a member of the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund, which gives you many benefits in addition to a lifelong pension: You may be entitled to financial support if you become ill or disabled, your family may be entitled to financial support when you die, you become insured against occupational injury or occupational disease, and you can get good terms on a mortgage. Read more about your employee benefits at: spk.no.

The successful candidate must be willing to get involved in the ongoing development of their department and the university as a whole.

UiT wishes to promote gender equality. If two or more applicants are found to be equally qualified, the university will rank applicants from the underrepresented gender ahead of others.

According to the Norwegian Freedom and Information Act (Offentleglova) information about the applicant may be included in the public applicant list, also in cases where the applicant has requested non-disclosure.