SUSTAINIT - Sustainable Health Unit

About the position

A permanent full time position as Associate Professor in Medicine (Critical sustainability studies with relevance to health) is available at The Sustainable Health Unit (SUSTAINIT), The Institute of Health and Society (HELSAM).

SUSTAINIT is a multidisciplinary unit, housing researchers with backgrounds in medicine, public health, social science, and medical humanities. SUSTAINIT is a knowledge cluster which aims to promote interdisciplinary approaches to sustainable health research and education. 

SUSTAINIT employs 23 scientific staff members and 7 administrative staff members. The unit consists of three centres: Centre for Pandemic and One-Health Research (P1H), Centre for Global Health (CGH) and Centre for Sustainable Healthcare Education (SHE). The latter is a Centre for Excellence financed by the Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills (HK-Dir). 

The subject area of the position is Critical sustainability studies with relevance to health. Critical sustainability studies is a relatively new research area, which integrates sustainability science with perspectives from health science, the social sciences and the humanities. SUSTAINIT is developing an innovative methodology for supporting studies in this area, drawing on technological advances in textual and visual analysis, and specifically on the Sustainability and Health (SHE) Corpus. The SHE Corpus is a large suite of electronic corpora of health and health-related texts, accompanied by an open access software interface and visualization tools to support research and education in the fields of critical sustainability, healthcare, and medical humanities. It is designed to feature various mainstream and non-mainstream discourses on sustainability as well as global and public health, allowing scholars to conduct studies on official as well as grassroots discourses. 

We are seeking a candidate with documented experience in critical discourse analysis and corpus-based conceptual analysis, with a focus on methodological innovations and method development, preferably related to the creation and analysis of large corpora and the study of sustainability-related concepts. The successful candidate will have a background in health science, social science and/or the humanities, with a special emphasis on critical analysis of health and development policies, including the Sustainable Development Goals, and methodological competency (preferably in the field of corpus linguistics) with relevance for such analyses. Emphasis will also be placed on the capacity for innovative development of educational programs, teaching and learning resources, preferably combined with some experience in creating and facilitating access to such resources. 

The successful candidate will primarily teach at the two honours certificates at SUSTAINIT –Education for Sustainable Health  and Concepts that Matter – Debating Democracy . The appointee must be able to lead and initiate research, supervise doctoral degree students, participate in teaching and examination work at all levels, and undertake administrative tasks, in accordance with applicable provisions. 

Teaching-related work accounts for 45% of the position, while 10% is calculated for administrative tasks. The successful candidate is expected to be based in Oslo, Norway, and actively contribute to the working environment at SUSTAINIT.

Qualification requirements

• Doctoral degree or equivalent qualifications within health science, social science and/or the humanities
• Research and teaching background in critical discourse analysis and corpus-based conceptual analysis, including methods and techniques of corpus linguistics
• Experience in working with a range of software applications, especially those used in documenting metadata for electronic corpora
• Educational experience, particularly in digital and blended teaching formats will count positively. Originality and innovation will be given priority before volume. Applicants who do not have documented basic university pedagogical competence must acquire this within two years from appointment 
• Experience with writing proposals for external funding will be an advantage
• Documentation of qualifications in dissemination, management and administration will count positively
• Good communication skills, both written and oral, in English and Norwegian (or another Scandinavian language) are a prerequisite for performing all the tasks associated with the position. Applicants who do not master a Scandinavian language at the time of appointment are given a deadline of two years to learn Norwegian.

Personal skills

• Capacity for analytical reasoning, critical and creative thinking 
• Ability to set clear goals and plan ahead to achieve them. 
• Ability to collaborate across scientific disciplines and with groups consisting of various health professions. 
• Ability to create and contribute to a positive environment for collaboration
• Experience with and ability to build international networks
• Skills relevant to engaging in popular dissemination, public outreach, and innovation

We offer

• Salary from kr 708 000 to kr 845 900 depending on competencies, in the position of Associate Professor (position code 1011)
• Good pension schemes
• Good welfare benefits

How to apply

The application must include:

• Application letter
• CV
• Complete list of publications
• Educational portfolio of 3-6 pages documenting educational competence and experience, including a reflection note in which your own practice and learning vision is anchored in the SoTL criteria (focus on student learning, development over time, a research approach and a collegial attitude and practice)
• Description of qualifications in dissemination, management and administration
• Diplomas and references
• Academic works (up to 10 publications) and a brief account of these
• References (list of 2-3 persons with name, title, email and phone number)

Application with attachments must be submitted via our online recruitment system. Please note that all documentation must be in English or a Scandinavian language.

Interviews and trial lecture will form part of the appointment process. The entire breadth of qualifications will be assessed in ranking competent applicants.

Formal regulations

Please refer to the Rules for employment and promotion for Professor and Associate Professor positions at the University of Oslo, the Guide for applicants for Professor and Associate professor positions at the University of Oslo and Rules for practising the requirement for basic university pedagogical competence at the University of Oslo .

Pursuant to section 25(2) of the Freedom of Information Act, information concerning the applicant may be made public, even if the applicant has requested not to appear on the list of applicants.

The University of Oslo has a transfer agreement with all employees that is intended to secure the rights to all research results etc.

Inclusion and diversity are a strength. The University of Oslo has a personnel policy objective of achieving a balanced gender composition. Furthermore, we want employees with diverse professional expertise, life experience and perspectives.

If there are qualified applicants with disabilities, employment gaps or immigrant background, we will invite at least one applicant from each of these categories to an interview.

Contact information

For questions regarding the position:

• Head of unit/Professor Eivind Engebretsen, eivind.engebretsen@medisin.uio.no , phone +47 92425231

For questions regarding how to apply:

• Senior advisor Gina Fraas Henrichsen, g.f.henrichsen@medisin.uio.no , phone +47 91537461

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