The University of Oslo is Norway’s oldest and highest ranked educational and research institution, with 26 500 students and 7 200 employees. With its broad range of academic disciplines and internationally recognised research communities, UiO is an important contributor to society.
The Faculty of Educational Sciences is composed of three departments and two research centre with a total of nearly 350 employees and 3500 students. We offer three different bachelor degrees and ten masters programmes, as well as Norway's most prestigious teacher-training program and several joint interdisiplinary programmes.
Job description
Applicants are invited for a three to four-year full-time position as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Centre for Research on Equality in Education (CREATE), University of Oslo, Norway.
CREATE is an interdisciplinary Centre of Excellence funded by the Research Council of Norway with the objective of generating novel knowledge about how to reduce social inequality. The interdisciplinary center integrates researchers with substantive expertise from sociology, psychology, education, economics, and genetics, and methodological expertise from educational measurement, psychometrics, econometrics, statistics, and biostatistics. The Postdoctoral Fellowship is affiliated with CREATE’s research strand 1 «Identifying the barriers to equality in education», aiming to disentangle the causal mechanisms that hinder equality and to understand for whom, how, and why these mechanisms operate over time and across the life course.
More about the position
The successful candidate will have the opportunity to define and pursue their own research interests within the scope of Strand 1 research on inequality across the life course. Areas include research on educational inequality, labor market inequality, marginalization and social exclusion, family formation and dynamics, and health inequality. We welcome research into the contextual drivers of these inequalities and outcomes, including family environments, early childhood education and care, and broader school and neighborhood settings.
The Postdoctoral Fellow will be expected to be able to use advanced quantitative methods to draw causal inferences from non-experimental data, using existing data linkages available in CREATE. These include linkages of registry data across several decades, as well as registry data linked to multiple large surveys with longitudinal individual-level data, school-level aggregated data, and genetic data. The successful candidate should have prior knowledge of quasi-experimental methods and, preferably, experience with large data sources, such as registry data.
The Postdoctoral Fellow will be embedded in the interdisciplinary Strand 1 group alongside researchers in sociology, psychology, education, economics, and related fields. We welcome candidates with a strong record of publishing in leading journals within their field and expect active participation in our interdisciplinary center.
The position is a full-time position for a period of three years. If there is a good match between the candidate’s competence and the teaching needs at the Department of Special Needs Education, then the position can be extended to four years with the 25% teaching duties, usually in the form of teaching, supervision, and assessment. 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 neurodevelopmental disabilities) at the master’s level, in addition to an international master’s program (Master's in Special Needs Education).
The main purpose of the fellowship is to build a research profile and competence that qualifies the postdoctoral fellow to apply for a position as associate professor within their disciplines. The position may also provide other competence with relevance for the postdoctoral fellow's further career.
If the Postdoctoral Fellow does not already have educational qualifications that meet the requirements for an associate professor position, UiO shall facilitate the acquisition of such competence during the employment period.
A career plan shall be developed for the Postdoctoral Fellow, specifying the competencies the Postdoctoral Fellow should acquire. UiO is responsible for following up on the career plan and ensuring that the Postdoctoral Fellow has access to career guidance throughout the postdoctoral term.
Qualification requirements
Applicants must hold a degree equivalent to a Norwegian doctoral degree in Sociology, Economics, Psychology, Education, or other relevant fields. Doctoral dissertation must be submitted for evaluation by the closing date. Appointment is dependent on the public defense of the doctoral thesis being approved
Publication record in international high-quality journals
Advanced quantitative research skills
Fluent oral and written communication skills in English
To qualify for a four-year contract with teaching duties at The Department of Special Needs Education, the candidate must have:
Teaching and supervision experience
Knowledge of Norwegian (or another Scandinavian language)
The following qualifications will count in the assessment of the applicants:
The quality of the project description and the research topic’s relevance to Strand 1
Familiarity with quasi-experimental methods for causal inference
Familiarity with administrative register data or other types of big data
Familiarity with Stata, R, or other relevant computing languages
Personal skills
We are looking for a motivated and engaged Postdoctoral Fellow with strong potential for high-quality research. Personal suitability and motivation will be emphasized and assessed based on the following qualities:
Ability to work independently as well as collaboratively in interdisciplinary research teams
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
Good communication and collaboration skills
Jarli & Jordan / UiO
We need different perspectives in our work
UiO is an open and internationally oriented comprehensive university that strives to be an inclusive and diverse workplace and academic environment. You can read more about UiO’s work on equality, inclusion, and diversity at uio.no.
We fulfill our mission most effectively when we draw upon our variety of experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives. We are looking for great colleagues - could you be the next one?
We will do our best to accommodate your needs. Relevant adjustments may include modifications to working hours, task adaptations, digital, technical, or physical adjustments, or other practical measures.
If you have an immigrant background, a disability, or CV gaps (Norwegian), we encourage you to indicate this in the job application portal. We always invite at least one qualified candidate from each group for an interview. In this context, disability is defined as an applicant who identifies as having a disability that requires workplace or employment-related accommodations. For more details about the requirements, please refer to the Employer portal (Norwegian).
The selections made in the job application portal are used for anonymized statistics that all state employers include in their annual reports. More information about gender equality initiatives at UiO can be found here.
We hope you will apply for the position with us.
We offer
Exciting and meaningful tasks in an organization with an important societal mission
Opportunity to work with world-class research data
Dedicated colleagues in a friendly and international research environment, recognized as a Centre of Excellence
A workplace with good development and career opportunities
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
Salary NOK 595 000 - 670 000 per annum depending on qualifications in position as Postdoctoral Research Fellow (position code 1352). From the salary, 2 percent is deducted in statutory contributions to the State Pension Fund
How to apply
The application must include:
Cover letter, including a statement of motivation, a summary of scientific profile, and research interest
Project description (maximum two pages). The description should outline the intended topic, data, and methodological approach
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)
The application with attachments must be delivered in our electronic recruiting system Jobbnorge. 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).
Incomplete applications will not be assessed.
In assessing the applicants, 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 candidates 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 in the course of the period of employment.
No one can be appointed for more than one Postdoctoral Fellow period at the University of Oslo.
Applicant lists can be published in accordance with the Norwegian Freedom and Information Act § 25. When you apply for a position, your name will appear on the public applicant list. It is possible to request to be excluded from this list. You must justify why you want an exemption from publication and we will then decide whether we can grant your request. If we cannot, you will hear from us.
The University of Oslo has an agreement for all employees, aiming to secure rights to research results etc.
