Associate professor in Sociology with relevance for Special Needs Education

About the position

The Department of Special Needs Education invites applicants for a permanent position as associate professor in sociology with relevance for special needs education. The position has an affiliation with both ISP - Department of Special Needs Education (primary affiliation) and CREATE- Centre for Research on Equality in Education (secondary affiliation). The hired candidate will have office in the premises of CREATE.

The Department of Special Needs Education offers a bachelor’s degree in special needs education and five special education majors (speech and language therapy, hearing, language and communication, specific learning difficulties, psycho-social difficulties, and developmental disabilities) at the master’s level, in addition to an international master’s program (Master in Special Needs Education).

The department’s lab, Oslo Special Education and Learning Lab (Oslo SPeLL) offers an excellent possibility to incorporate research, innovation and student activities into a clinical context. The lab includes state of the art EEG equipment.

CREATE is a Centre of Excellence funded by the Research Council of Norway with the objective to generate novel knowledge about how to reduce inequalities in education (https://www.uv.uio.no/create/english/ ). The interdisciplinary Centre integrates researchers with substantive expertise from education, psychology, sociology, economics, and genetics, and methodological expertise from educational measurement, psychometrics, econometrics, statistics, and biostatistics.

Job description

The position is central to both The Department of Special Needs Education’s strategic efforts to strengthen the department’s research and teaching in an interdisciplinary approach to exclusion and inclusion in society as well as strengthening the use of Norwegian registry data and causal modelling, and CREATE’s objective to generate novel knowledge about how to reduce inequalities in education. 

The position involves 47 % teaching, 47 % research, and 6 % administrative tasks. 

The teaching is within the area of exclusion and inclusion, as well as research methods, at the bachelor’s, master’s, and PhD levels, focusing on exclusion and inclusion in a lifelong perspective. 

Regarding research, the successful candidate is expected to contribute substantially to research of relevance for both ISP and CREATE.

 Relevant research topics for the position may include:

• Investigate stability and persistence across different aspects of exclusion and inclusion. 
• Forecast which children and youth will experience persistent long-term exclusion and inclusion.
•  Investigate individual differences in sensitivity to developmental contexts (schools, peers) in relation to exclusion and inclusion.
• Investigate mechanisms in the intergenerational transmission of exclusion and inclusion.

The candidate for the position is expected to:

• Participate in the planning, teaching, and development of study programs, supervision and examinations, as well as related tasks at any program level. 
• Promote the subject area through research, publication of academic work (nationally and internationally), and participation in national and international networks. 
• Actively design research projects, apply for external research funding in relevant topics.
• Disseminate research nationally and internationally.
• Conduct administrative tasks.
• Participate in relevant research groups at the faculty.

The department’s lab, Oslo Special Education and Learning Lab (Oslo SpeLL) offers an excellent possibility to incorporate research, innovation and student activities into a clinical context.

Qualification requirements

• Doctoral degree or equivalent qualifications within sociology
• Documented basic university pedagogical competence. Applicants who do not have documented basic university pedagogical competence must acquire this within two years from appointment.
• Advanced skills in quantitative research methods and statistics. 
• Record of international, peer-reviewed publications relevant for the position. 
• Research experience and research interests related to sociological perspectives on exclusion, inclusion, and educational inequalities
• Good communication skills both written and oral in Norwegian or another Scandinavian language and English are a prerequisite for performing all the tasks associated with the position. Applicants who do not master a Norwegian or another Scandinavian language at the time of appointment are given a deadline of two years to learn Norwegian.

The following qualifications are not required but considered an advantage:

• Experience with successful applications for external research funding will count positively.
• Documentation of qualifications in the field of academic management and administration will count positively.
• Advanced experience with research using administrative registry data. 
• Skills within causal inference and programming/method development. 

Personal skills

• A cooperative, friendly, and team-oriented style of work. 
• Motivation for the position, including an interest in interdisciplinary work integrating quantitative sociological research with current research perspectives within ISP and CREATE.

We offer

• Salary from NOK 679 700 – 777 900 per annum depending on competencies, in a position of Associate Professor (position code 1011)
• An interdisciplinary and international work environment, recognized as a Centre of Excellence
• Attractive welfare benefits and a generous pension agreement, in addition to Oslo’s family-friendly environment with its rich opportunities for culture and outdoor activities

How to apply

• Application letter (statement of motivation, summarizing scientific work and research interests – max 2 pages)
• CV 
• Complete list of publications 
• Research plan for the position (max. 4 pages): The plan should outline specific studies addressing the research directions relevant to CREATE, including ambitions for grant applications and 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. (For guidance, see this page)
• Description of qualifications in the field of academic management and administration.
• Diplomas 
• Up to 10 academic works with a brief account of their scientific significance and, in case of co-authorship, a description of the applicants’ contribution to each publication
• References (list of 2-3 persons with name, title, email and phone number)

The application with attachments must be delivered in our electronic recruiting system, please follow the link: “Apply for this job”. 

Incomplete applications will not be assessed. Please note that all documents should be in English (or a Scandinavian language). Foreign applicants must attach an explanation of their university’s grading system.

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 Appointments to Professorships and Associate Professorships at the University of Oslo, the Guide for Applicants and Members of the Assessment Committee and Rules for practicing the requirement for basic university pedagogical competence at the University of Oslo. 

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.

The University of Oslo has an agreement for all employees, aiming to secure rights to research results etc.

Inclusion and diversity are considered strengths. The University of Oslo has a personnel policy objective of achieving a balanced gender composition. Furthermore, we want employees with diverse expertise, combinations of subjects, life experience and perspectives. We will make adjustments for employees who require this. 

If there are qualified applicants with special needs, gaps in their CVs, or immigrant backgrounds, we will invite at least one applicant from each of these categories to an interview. 

Contact information

For questions about the position, please contact:

• Head of Department, Professor Ona Bø Wie 

• Professor Henrik Daae Zachrisson

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