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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.

Faculty of law – Read more about the faculty.

PhD position at the Faculty of Law

There is a vacancy for a PhD position at the Faculty of Law, University of Bergen. The position is connected to the research project “Accounting for maternal deaths in the era of SDGs: Juridification, social practices and implications on maternal death audits in Ethiopia”. The PhD-project is funded by the University of Bergen Global Challenges program, and assumes an interdisciplinary research design. This project combines law, anthropology and medical ethics.

The position is for a fixed-term period of 3 years, with the possibility for a 4th year, consisting of 25 per cent compulsory work distributed across the employment period. A 4th year is contingent on the qualifications of the candidate.

About the project/work tasks:

Maternal mortality is a key development indicator used to compare the quality of clinical care, health systems in general, gender equality and women’s standing between and within countries. The process of reviewing maternal deaths entails a broad range of ethical and legal issues regarding the legal regulations of health care provision, the principle of no name no blame in the review process, confidentiality, participant consent and data access. Ethiopia has limited legal regulations surrounding health care provision. In the absence of an adequate legal framework, health workers risk to be charged with first-degree murder in the legal system in the aftermath of a maternal death. The rapid increase in juridification, including legal malpractice claims the last year, has led to the first-time introduction of indemnity insurances for medical practitioners. Health workers and bureaucrats strive to balance conflicting demands when on the one hand reporting and reviewing all deaths openly and on the other hand seeking to avoid personalized accountability for deaths. Based on participatory research methods involving professional associations, it will more specifically aim to develop recommendations for a legal framework balancing the needs for health worker protection and the needs for increased health worker responsibility for poor birth outcomes in the Ethiopian setting.

For further information about the project, see this link. However, methodology and research questions are open for modification depending on the interests and qualifications of the selected candidate.

Qualifications and personal qualities:

The successful applicant is expected to have his/her workplace at the University of Bergen and conform to the regulations that apply to the position at all times.

The applicant:

• Must hold a master's degree in law or equivalent, or must have submitted his/her master's thesis for assessment prior to the application deadline. It is a condition of employment that the master's degree has been awarded. Given the interdisciplinary nature of the project, also candidates with master degrees from social- and health sciences may be considered qualified
• Must through the grades received in the master’s degree or equivalent and/or written works, have demonstrated a high professional level that qualifies for legal work
• Is expected to work independently and in a structured manner, and have the ability to cooperate with others
• Is expected to contribute in the development of the discipline
• Is expected to participate in the development of a good academic environment
• Must be proficient in both written and oral English

About the PhD position:

The PhD programme in Law is taught and administrated mainly in Norwegian. Any teaching by the PhD candidate will be conducted within the mandatory courses at the Faculty.

The project description should be approximately 10 pages long, and must contain a plan for the implementation of the project and the doctoral course. The project must be relevant to European legal issues, either by addressing national issues (including Norwegian) or international issues of relevance to several European countries. The project description must meet the requirements in the guidelines for applicants for PhD positions.

About the research training:Applicants must meet the formal admission requirements for the PhD programme at the Faculty of Law. It is mandatory to fill out the application form for admission to doctoral programme and attach it to the application.

We can offer:

• An excellent and professionally challenging working environment.
• Salary at pay grade 53-58 (Code 1017/Pay range 20) according to the state salary scale upon appointment. This constitutes a gross annual salary of NOK 464 800 to 505 800 per year. For particularly highly qualified applicants, a higher salary may be considered
• Enrolment in the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund.
• A position in an inclusive workplace (IA enterprise)
• Good welfare benefits

Your application must include:

• Project description and time schedule for the completion of your project
• CV
• Application form for admission to the PhD Programme
• A list of any works of a scientific nature (publication list)
• Relevant certificates/references
• Transcripts and diplomas showing completion of the bachelor's and master's degrees, or official confirmation that the master's thesis has been submitted.
• Applicants with education from outside Norway must enclose certified translation into English or Scandinavian if the original diploma and transcripts is in any of these languages. The applicant must also enclose an approval from NOKUT. Please see www.nokut.no for information regarding general approval of education. They are also advised to attach an explanation of their university’s grading system.

The application and appendices with certified translations into English or a Scandinavian language must be uploaded at Jobbnorge.

General information:

The best qualified candidates will be called in for an interview.

Detailed information about the position can be obtained by contacting:

• HR Adviser Anita H. Garden at the Faculty of Law, tel. +47 55 58 96 76, e-mail: Anita.Garden@uib.no or
  
• Vice-Dean Anne Marie Frøseth, tel. +47 55 58 95 49, e-mail: Anne.Froseth@uib.no

The state labour force shall reflect the diversity of Norwegian society to the greatest extent possible. Age and gender balance among employees is therefore a goal. It is also a goal to recruit people with immigrant backgrounds. People with immigrant backgrounds and people with disabilities are encouraged to apply for the position.

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.

For further information, see: guidelines for applicants for PhD positions

Apply for position