Job description

Applicants are invited for a 3-4 years position as Postdoctoral Fellow in the subject area Cognitive Hearing Science, Language and Communication within Special Needs Education.

The position is to be based at the Department of Special Needs Education, University of Oslo (primary affiliation) and will also have an affiliation with the Centre for Research on Equality in Education - CREATE (secondary affiliation).

Using big data from various sources, the position aims to conduct research to explore factors of importance for learning and wellbeing within the population of people with hearing difficulties/hearing loss. Factors of importance can be hearing ability, quality of life, language skills, habilitation situation, mode of communication, type of education and work situation, as well as essential individual and family and characteristics. The research can address all age groups, include all diagnoses leading to difficulty in hearing and both conductional and acquired hearing loss. 

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 neuro developmental disabilities) at the master’s level, in addition to an international master’s program (Master in Special Needs Education). The department is currently building capacity to use registry data and other large-scale data in research. 

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 and an auditory laboratory equipped with the most basic audiometric tools.

CREATE is a Centre of Excellence funded by the Research Council of Norway, Home - CREATE - Centre for Research on Equality in Education (uio.no) with the objective to generate novel knowledge about how to reduce inequalities in education 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.

More about the position

The postdoctoral fellow is expected to work in teams gaining access to and using big data from various sources (e.g., The Norwegian Mother Father and Child Cohort Study, National registries). The main purpose of the fellowship is to qualify researchers for work in top academic positions, and an important task will therefore be to contribute with first- and co-authorships for publications in high quality journals. The postdoctoral fellow will have the opportunity to define and pursue their own research interests within the field of hearing sciences as defined in position description.

The appointment is a fulltime position for a period of minimum three years. If the postdoctoral fellow is hired for three years, the position will include a 10 % teaching component. If there is a good match between the candidate’s competence and the teaching needs at the Department of Special Needs Education, the position may be extended to four years, which will include a 25 % teaching component, devoted to teaching and supervision activities.

Postdoctoral fellows who are appointed for a period of four years are expected to acquire basic educational competence during their fellowship period within the duty component of 25 %.

The main purpose of the fellowship is to qualify researchers for work in higher academic positions within their disciplines. It is expected that the Postdoctoral Fellow will participate in a research group at The Department of Special Needs Education. 

More information about research groups can be found on the faculty’s webpage.

Qualification requirements

• Applicants must hold a degree equivalent to a Norwegian doctoral degree in, one of these areas: in special needs education, social sciences, psychology, or education or medicine. The doctoral dissertation must be submitted for evaluation by the closing date. Appointment is dependent on the public defense of the doctoral thesis being approved
• Strong quantitative research and data management skills (including survey linkages)
• Strong competence in statistical/programming softwares (e.g., R, Stata)
• Experience working with large national developmental cohorts
• Experience with use of big datasets
• Fluent oral and written communication skills in English

The following qualifications will count in the assessment of the applicants:

• Experience within special needs education/research related to rehabilitation/language development/quality of life outcomes
• Knowledge in the fields of hearing sciences is an advantage
• Basic oral and written communication skills in a Scandinavian language is desirable
• Evidence of strong track record of publications in international peer-reviewed journals
• Motivation and experience working in interdisciplinary collaboration/teams with interest in special needs education, language sciences or another relevant field

Personal skills

• A cooperative, friendly, and team-oriented style of work
• Creativity and ability to work independently
• Motivation for the position, including an interest in electrophysiological research methods
• An eagerness to develop quantitative research and data management skills further

We offer

• Salary NOK 584 500 – 657 300 per annum depending on qualifications in position as Postdoctoral Research Fellow (position code 1352)
• A professionally stimulating working environment
• 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

The application must include:

• Cover letter (statement of motivation, summarizing scientific work and research interest)
• CV (summarizing education, positions, pedagogical experience, administrative experience, and other qualifying activity)
• Copy of PhD Diploma or documentation of thesis submission. Applicants who have not yet defended their PhD dissertation need to include an advisor’s letter confirming specific expectations about when the degree will be received
• Copies of educational certificates (academic transcripts only)
• A complete list of publications
• Up to five academic works that the applicant wishes to be considered
• List of reference persons: 2-3 references (name, relation to candidate, e-mail, and phone number)

Incomplete applications will not be assessed.

The application with attachments must be delivered in our electronic recruiting system. Foreign applicants are advised to attach an explanation of their university’s grading system. Please note that all documents should be in English (or a Scandinavian language).

In assessing the applications, special emphasis will be placed on the documented, academic qualifications, the project description (whenever this is required in the call for applicants), and the quality of the project as well as the candidate’s motivation and personal suitability. Interviews with the best qualified candidates will be arranged.

It is expected that the successful candidate will be able to complete the project during the period of employment.

Formal regulations

Please see the guidelines and regulations for appointments to Postdoctoral Fellowships at the University of Oslo.

No one can be appointed for more than one Postdoctoral Fellow period 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 a strength. The University of Oslo has a personnel policy objective of achieving a balanced gender composition. Furthermore, we want employees with diverse professional expertise, life experience and perspectives.

If there are qualified applicants with disabilities, employment gaps or immigrant background, we will invite at least one applicant from each of these categories to an interview.

Apply for position

Questions about the position

• Ona Bø Wie (Head of Department), +47 90920274, o.b.wie@isp.uio.no
• Astrid Marie Jorde Sandsør (Professor), +47 97615822, a.m.j.sandsor@isp.uio.no