PhD scholarship within Sustainable Food System Transition
Deadline: 15.03.2025
Publisert
With about 17,000 students, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences is one of the largest higher education institutions in Norway. A broad range of academic programmes are offered at Bachelor, Master and PhD levels, spread out on five campuses Førde, Sogndal, Bergen, Stord og Haugesund.
Our ambition is to build stronger and more solid academic and research environments that will interact nationally and internationally. The aim is to become a recognized actor on the international higher education arena. Increased international cooperation and engagement in externally funded projects will work towards this goal.
The Faculty of Technology, Environmental and Social Sciences offers a wide range of courses both at undergraduate and graduate levels in: Engineering and Natural sciences Economic and Administrative sciences Maritime sciences Social sciences and Humanities.
The Faculty is also responsible for PhD programmes in computer technology, innovation and regional development and in nautical operations.
The HVL Business School is a new department which has approximately 2,000 students and 100 full-time employees, divided between the Bergen, Haugesund and Sogndal campuses.
The HVL Business School has a comprehensive professional environment in Economics and Administration and a range of subjects in the Social sciences and Humanities.
The department is responsible for 11 bachelor's programmes, four master's programmes in addition to one-year programs and part-time studies. The HVL Business School has a strong academic and research environment, and is central to the doctoral programme in Responsible Innovation and Regional Development (RESINNREG).
Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Faculty of Technology, Environmental and Social Sciences has a vacancy for a PhD scholarship within Sustainable Food System Transition
About the position:
The Western Norway University of Applied Sciences has a PhD scholarship available within sustainable food system transition for a period of 3 years. The position is affiliated with the Section for Innovation Studies at the HVL Business School, Faculty of Technology, Environmental and Social Sciences, Campus Bergen.
The candidate will conduct research within the project FOODMISSION - Engaging citizens as agents of change for sustainable food system transition with a novel gamified educational citizen science platform. The project is funded through the call HORIZON-CL6-2024-FARM2FORK-01 ‘Fair, healthy and environmentally-friendly food systems from primary production to consumption’. The project aims to engage citizens in the food system transformation through a gamified educational citizen science virtual platform. The platform will support the collection, sharing, and analysis of data on food practices – here understood as choice, purchase, production, preparation, consumption, and disposal of food – contributed by citizens and from other data sources. At the same time, citizen engagement and motivation for individual and collective behavioural change are facilitated by embedded gamification, learning, and social interaction features. By analysing and visualising data collected by the platform, and by measuring change activated by the platform use over time, the project will provide individuals and communities with evidence on the impact of their decisions and empower them as agents of change for sustainable food system transformation.
The main focus of the PhD candidate will be on sustainable food system transition from a consumer/citizen perspective. In particular, the candidate will be involved in exploring consumers’ attitudes towards sustainable food practices, including the potential barriers and motivations to uptake of sustainable and healthy food practices. In addition, the candidate will contribute to developing a framework for citizen engagement and motivation for individual and collective behavioural change, with various measures including gamification elements.
The PhD scholarships will be a part of the PhD program «Responsible Innovation and Regional Development» at the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, a cross-disciplinary PhD program focusing on intersections between ‘understanding’ (i.e. academic) and ‘doing’ (i.e. practicing) responsible innovation
Key duties- and responsibilities:
The PhD fellow will be part of an approved program for a PhD degree within a period of 3 years.
Qualifications:
Applicants should have a master’s degree of 120 credits in Business, Innovation, Marketing, Consumer Behaviour, or other social science fields with relevance to the subject area of «Sustainable Food System Transition». The master’s thesis must be submitted for assessment by the application deadline, and the master's degree must be approved no later than 4 weeks after the application deadline. The master’s dissertation should be of at least 30 credits.
The application must contain a project description of up to five pages, explaining the topic, the problem, the choice of theory and method, as well as the plan for implementation of a potential project. The project description will be used in the assessment of the applicants’ qualifications. A final project description for the PhD projects will be developed in consultation with the supervisors
In addition to the required educational background, the following criteria will be evaluated: competence and grades on completed course work, quality of the master's thesis (excellent grade, equivalent of grade B or better on the ECTS grading system), publications (if any), communication skills, research and teaching experience, practical software engineering skills and experience.
The candidate must be diligent and display the ability to work independently, supplemented with regular guidance, and is expected to carry out high-quality research and to publish the results in national seminars, international workshops, conferences, and journals.
The PhD research fellow must enroll in the PhD programme «Responsible Innovation and Regional Development» at Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, and must meet the formal admission requirements for this PhD programme.
The PhD candidate will be assigned two academic supervisors at Western Norway University of Applied Sciences. An application for enrolment should first be submitted after an appointment is made and the supervisor(s) will help with this procedure. Normally the candidate apply for enrolment within three (3) months after the start of the employment according to Regulations relating to programmes of study and examniations at Western Norway University of Applied SciencesHVL § 2-4.
The following qualifications will be particularly emphasized:
Academic qualifications within the advertised area.
Quality of the master's thesis.
The project description.
Skills in quantitative and/or qualitative research methods.
Good written and oral communication skills in English.
The PhD scholarship is a recruitment position that will contribute to an active research environment at the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences.
Additionaly qualifications
Additional scientific publications.
Knowledge about citizen science and/or gamification.
An existing network within the Norwegian food industry.
Academic or professional knowledge about the food system and food industry.
Experience in running/organizing stakeholder events.
Norwegian language skills.
The PhD fellow appointed must be able to work independently and as a co-researcher in a multidisciplinary international research group.
Applicants who cannot document proficiency in Norwegian, Swedish, or Danish at level A2 upon employment, must complete Norwegian language training equivalent to at least 15 ECTS credits by the end of the term of appointment. For terms shorter than four years, the term can be extended accordingly.
Application procedure:
Applications will be evaluated by an expert panel of three members.
Applicants are asked to submit their application and CV online. Please use the link “Apply for this job” (“Søk stillingen”).
The following documentation should be uploaded as an attachment to the online application:
Master Thesis
Copies of selected academic publications (no more than 15)
A CV with a complete list of academic publications
Diplomas and certificates
Applicants should indicate which publications or parts of publications should be given special consideration in the evaluation. If the documents submitted are not in a Scandinavian language or in English, the applicants must submit certified translations of these. The transcripts must specify the topics, the course works, and the grades at the bachelor`s and master`s degree levels.
Applicants with a degree from a country other than Norway, need to attach a certified translation of the diploma and transcripts of grades to English or a Scandinavian language, in addition to the original documents, if the original is not in any of these languages. It is required that the applicant encloses a recognition document showing that their degree is equivalent to a Norwegian bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, or PhD. You can read more about applying for recognition of foreign higher education here.
The Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills (HK-dir) offers an automatic recognition document for certain degrees from selected countries. If the applicant’s degree is covered by the automatic recognition, it will be sufficient to attach this document. Read more about automatic recognition here.
As the HK-dir application process may take some time it is recommended to apply to HK-dir as soon as possible. If you have not received a recognition document from HK- dir within the application deadline, please enclose documentation from HK-dir showing that they have received your application.
Applicants should note that the evaluation will be based on the documentation submitted electronically via Jobbnorge within the submission deadline. The applicants are responsible for ensuring that all the documentation is submitted before the closing date. It is of utmost importance that all publications to be considered in the evaluation are uploaded as an attachment with the application, since these are sent electronically to the expert panel. Applications cannot be sent by e-mail or to individuals at the college.
Salary:
Good occupational pension, insurance and loan schemes from The Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund
Exciting academic environment with the possibility of competence enhancement and development
Opportunities for training within the working hours
The Research Fellow position is compensated according to position code 1017 Research Fellow.
There is a compulsory 2 % deduction to the pension fund (see http://www.spk.no for more information). The successful applicant must comply with the guidelines that apply to the position at any time.
General information:
The appointment will be made in accordance with the regulations for State employees Law in Norway ("Lov om statens ansatte)". Organizational changes and changes in the duties and responsibilities associated with the position must be expected.
State employment shall reflect the multiplicity of the population at large to the highest possible degree. Western Norway University of Applied Sciences Bergen has therefore adopted a personnel policy objective to ensure that we achieve a balanced age and gender composition and the recruitment of persons of various ethnic backgrounds.
Information about the applicant may be made public even though the applicant has requested not to be named in the list of applicants. The applicant will be notified if his/her request is not respected.
Short-listed applicants will be called in for an interview.
Employed on condition that you are granted a work and residence permit (must be considered individually).
Western Norway University of Applied Sciences is subjected to the regulation for export control system. The regulation will be applied in the processing of the applications.
Contacts:
1) Assistant Head of Department, Radina Tregereid, E-mail: rht@hvl.no, Phone: +47 930 56 727
