Kristiania University College

Kristiania University College offers study programs in management, organization, marketing, communication, computer science, information technology, health sciences, innovation and creative arts. Kristiania University College is Norway's largest independent comprehensive university college with its 18,000 students and a large education offering in Oslo, Bergen and online. Our mission is to strongly contribute to the country's social and economic development through problem-driven and applied knowledge development and dissemination, in close cooperation with society at large.

PhD fellowship in Communication and Leadership – ‘Scandinavian political communication during the pandemic’

Kristiania University College, School of Communication, Leadership, and Marketing (SCLM), is offering a fully funded PhD fellowship in Communication and Leadership. We seek candidates with a solid background in social science, media and/or communication, leadership, management, human resources, organisational science, business, sociology, anthropology or marketing. The successful applicant will be included in a team of researchers with ambitious plans to further develop research and pedagogical activities at the university college.

The fellowship is part of the project ‘Scandinavian political communication during the pandemic’. This project will study the use of social media by societal actors - political parties, health institutions, media outlets - during the covid-19 pandemic.

Some possible research topics for this particular PhD position would be: 

• How did leading societal actors communicate on social media about the pandemic in the three Scandinavian countries? 
• What types of communication received comparably higher amounts of engagement in these countries? 
• What characterizes citizen interaction with societal actors online regarding and during the pandemic? 

Full description of the project can be found here.

The PhD programme addresses the relation between communication and leadership in societal and organisational phenomena. Kristiania offers a comprehensive supervision of PhD candidates who will have at least two academic supervisors, one of whom will be the main supervisor. They will also be offered a mentor as a supplement to the supervisor team. PhD candidates will be members of one of Kristiania’s research groups and are expected to participate actively in scientific discussions at meetings and seminars organised by the group. Activities include lunch seminars/coffee breaks and the bi-monthly PhD forum, which support PhD candidates on professional, practical and psychosocial matters. 

Confirmed admission to the PhD programme must be available at the latest three months after signing the employment contract. To be accepted for this programme, it is required that the applicant holds a relevant 180 ECTS bachelor’s degree, and a relevant 120 ECTS master’s degree (or integrated bachelor and master) with minimum 30 ECTS master thesis, and with grade similar to the Norwegian/European grade B or higher in average and for the master thesis. 

The application must include: 

• Motivation letter for the position 
• Approved Diplomas and Transcripts (in Scandinavian or English language) 
• CV  
• At least two references 
• Master thesis in communication or similar degree

• Experience with quantitative social scientific methods
• Working knowledge in a Scandinavian language 
• A proposal for a research project of a maximum of five pages. It must include a brief overview of the specific issue the applicant wishes to focus on; ideas regarding planned subprojects and how they relate to the overarching goal of the project; and reflections on methods and theoretical perspectives.   
• Application form for admission to a PhD programme

Templates for the research proposal and the application form can be found here.

The starting salary is 492,000 NOK a year. 

The PhD research fellowship is 3 years and is scheduled to start as soon as possible.

Place of work is School of Communication, Leadership, and Marketing. Kristiania is located in downtown Oslo, with numerous amenities, recreational spaces, and urban fun right next door.  

Kristiania University College value diversity, and we encourage all qualified applicants to apply for this position.

Application deadline : 15. September 2022.

If you have any questions regarding this position, please contact Professor Anders Olof Larsson at 

AndersOlof.Larsson@kristiania.no (+47 479 68 780).  

We use Semac background checks in our recruitment process.

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