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Postdoctoral Research Fellow position

University of Bergen

The University of Bergen is a renowned educational and research institution, organised into seven faculties and approximately 54 institutes and academic centres. Campus is located in the centre of Bergen with university areas at Nygårdshøyden, Haukeland, Marineholmen, Møllendalsveien and Årstad.

There are four departments and four centres at Faculty of Humanities. Read more about the faculty and departments.

A post doctoral researcher position is available at the Department of Linguistic, Literary and Aesthetic Studies, Faculty of Humanities, University of Bergen from 1 January 2020. The position is part of the ERC project Machine Vision in Everyday Life: Playful Interactions with Visual Technologies in Digital Art, Games, Narratives and Social Media. The position is for a fixed-term period of three years.

About the project/work tasks:

MACHINE VISION is a five-year project led by Professor Jill Walker Rettberg. The objective of the three-year post.doc. project is to develop an understanding of the experiences of users and developers of machine vision technologies in smartphones and social media, e.g. selfie filters, image enhancement algorithms and object recognition algorithms. Anthropological/ethnographic methods including fieldwork and interviews will be used.The successful candidate will have submitted a preliminary project outline with the application, and will develop a more specific research design after being hired, in collaboration with MACHINE VISION’s project leader, Professor Jill Walker Rettberg. The post.doc. project must address the project’s main research questions, which relate to agency, objectivity and values/bias in machine vision, but will also be tailored to the candidate’s particular strengths and interests. Research outputs should include a monograph and/or peer-reviewed articles, conference presentations, public outreach, and co-organizing one or more workshops. The post.doc. will join a team consisting of the project leader, three PhD students researching representations of machine vision in art, narratives and games, a research assistant and a database developer, hosted by the Department of Linguistic, Literary and Aesthetic Studies at the University of Bergen. The successful candidate will be expected to relocate to Bergen, Norway. Funding will be provided for fieldwork, research visits and conference visits. The starting date would be in or around January 2020. A project summary is available from the MACHINE VISION website: https://www.uib.no/en/machinevision

Qualifications and personal qualities

• The applicants must have a Norwegian PhD or equivalent in anthropology, digital culture, media studies or a related discipline, or have submitted their PhD dissertation before the application deadline. The PhD must be approved before the starting date.
• Candidates must have experience with anthropological/ethnographic methods such as interviews and participant observation.
• Experience with research on digital or technological phenomena is preferred.
• Research experience in non-Western settings, or of marginalized groups, is also preferred.
• The most important factor in the ranking of candidates will be the relevance of the candiate’s experience and proposed project to the overall objectives of the MACHINE VISION project, as formulated in the publicly available project summary (see https://www.uib.no/en/machinevision).
• The applicant must be able to work independently and in a structured manner, and have the ability to cooperate with others.
• The position requires proficiency in both written and oral English

We can offer:

• A part in a high prestige, cutting-edge research project.
• A good and professionally challenging working environment.

• Salary at pay grade 59 (code 1352/pay range 24) on the state salary scale. This currently amounts to an annual salary of NOK 514 800 before taxes.
• Enrolment in the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund.

• A position in an inclusive workplace (IA enterprise).

• Good welfare benefits.

How to apply

Please apply electronically in the online system Jobbnorge via the link “APPLY FOR THIS JOB”.

Your application must include:

• A cover letter describing your general research interests and expertise, and how these make you a good fit for the MACHINE VISION project.
• A 1-2 page project outline describing your preliminary ideas for developing an understanding of the experiences of users and developers of machine vision technologies in smartphones and social media
• CV - please use the online form at Jobbnorge.

• Transcripts and diplomas

• The names and contact information for two reference persons.
• Publications (max 3)
• A list of research publications.

The enclosures can be submitted as Word- or pdf-files.The application and appendices with certified translations into English or a Scandinavian language must be uploaded at Jobbnorge.For further information about the recruitment process, click hereAny queries concerning the electronic application procedure should be directed to the Faculty of Humanities. Email: fakadm@hf.uib.no

Reference number: 19/3885

Application deadline: 31.05.2019

General information:

Detailed information about the position can be provided by:

• Professor Jill Walker Rettberg Department of Linguistic, Literary and Aesthetic Studies, Email: Jill.Walker.Rettberg@uib.no, Telephone number: +47 55 58 84 31

The state labor force shall reflect the diversity of Norwegian society to the greatest extent possible. Age and gender balance among employees is therefore an aim. Candidates with immigrant backgrounds and people with disabilities are encouraged to apply.

The University of Bergen applies the principle of public access to information when recruiting staff for academic positions.

Information about applicants may be made public even if the applicant has asked not to be named on the list of persons who have applied. The applicant must be notified if the request to be omitted is not met.

Further information about our employment process can be found here.

APPLY FOR THIS JOB