Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in global, comparative, and qualitative life-course criminology
Deadline: 30.04.2026
Publisert
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 Department of Criminology and Sociology of Law is situated at the Faculty of Law. The Department is Norway's only department for research and education in Criminology and Sociology of Law. Research, teaching and dissemination activities within both fields are at the highest international level. The Department has about 40 staff members and 300 students.
Job description
A Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (SKO 1352) is available as part of the project Life-Course Trajectories to Crime Globally (CRIMLIFE), funded by the European Research Council (ERC). The fellow will be responsible for his or her own research and work closely with Professor Sveinung Sandberg at the Department of Criminology and Sociology of Law. The project started in 2026 and there will be a project team of six people in Oslo.
The appointment period lasts three years without teaching and administrative duties, or four years with teaching and administrative duties making up 25% of the total workload. A four-year fellowship requires that the candidate can contribute to the Faculty of Law's current teaching needs. 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.
More about the position
CRIMLIFE combines studies of life-courses with life-stories to study how the two combined shape criminal paths. The project aims to develop a global comparative life-course criminology that emphasizes the particular social, cultural, economic, and institutional factors of crime. Six countries are included – Norway, the Czech Republic, Türkiye, Nigeria, India, and Colombia.
The project focuses especially on the role of the state, family, employment, and culture and studies, with a mixed-method approach, how these institutions influence criminal trajectories and marginalization in different societal contexts. Read more about the project here.
The main research questions will be addressed through repeat qualitative life-story interviews with prisoners, as well as questionnaire surveys, in six countries on four continents. The qualitative study has 300 participants and 900 interview sessions.
Contemporary research on crime relies mainly on perspectives and data from the Global North and especially Western Anglophone countries. Important overlooked sites include Asia, Africa, and even locations within Europe such as Eastern Europe and Türkiye. There has also not yet been attempts at comparative global studies of life-course trajectories – and few attempts at combining insights from studies of life-stories with those of criminal life-courses.
CRIMLIFE builds upon and expands the previous project Crime in Latin America (CRIMLA) which studied the role of the State, labour market, family, culture and religion for crime in Latin America.
The aim in CRIMLIFE is to:
Study life-courses that lead to crime and desistance
Study the role of life-histories in these life-courses
Study contextual factors such as the state, culture, family etc. in criminal life-courses.
Compare (both qualitatively and quantitatively) life-courses, life-stories, and institutional factors for crime in different societal contexts.
This postdoc position is primarily part of the international, qualitative and comparative part of the project. It will involve extensive cooperation with researchers in the other partner countries as well as fieldwork in these countries. Project description can be obtained by contacting the Project Leader (sveinung.sandberg@jus.uio.no)
The candidate is expected to join and actively participate in the research community at the Department of Criminology and Sociology of Law. There will be close and extensive collaboration with the core project group at the University of Oslo, which consists of project leader (PI) Sveinung Sandberg, researcher David Goyes, two postdoctoral fellows, a PhD fellow and a research assistant. The candidate will also participate in the CRIMLIFE group's activities together with the international team, for example online and offline seminars and workshops. The candidate is expected to engage in international dissemination activities and collaborate with key scholars in the field outside the project group.
The candidate will:
Do global comparative qualitative research based on data from the Czech Republic, Türkiye, Nigeria, India, Colombia and Norway.
The candidate is also expected to:
Write research articles
Assist the PI in the daily operation of the project
Be co-responsible in the operation of TSD (Services for sensitive data)
Participate in the dissemination of the project
Participate in coding of data and organization of coding
Participate in work with ethical approvals and data management plan
Participate in the ongoing reporting from the project
Qualification requirements
Qualification requirements
The applicant must hold a degree equivalent to a Norwegian doctoral degree (PhD) in Criminology, Sociology, Psychology, Political Science or other relevant social science background.
The doctoral dissertation must have been submitted for evaluation at the time of application and approved by the time of appointment. Applicants must submit a project description of 4-7 pages explaining how they would conduct their research task in the given time period.
The project language is English and the applicants should have an excellent command of it, written and spoken.
Applicants must have knowledge and understanding of research ethics processes in the fields covered by CRIMLIFE.
Preferable qualifications:
A demonstrated knowledge of, experience with and interest for life-history interviews, narrative analysis and life-course criminology is desirable.
Knowledge of, or experience from, any of the involved countries or regions, including relevant language skills, is desirable.
Experience with or interest for international comparative qualitative research is desirable.
Personal skills:
Applicants must be able to work independently and in a structured manner.
Applicants should possess good collaboration skills and demonstrate the ability, willingness, and commitment to contribute to the development of the research field.
Applicant should be able to take initiative and actively participate in an international and multidisciplinary research team.
Assessment of the applicants
In assessing applicants, priority will be given to their academic achievements, previous relevant publications, the project description, and their professional and personal qualifications, especially regarding their ability to complete the proposed project within the specified timeframe.
Applicants who progress through the selection process will be invited to interview for the position, either in person or digitally.Applicants are assessed by an assessment committee that ranks them according to the above criteria and interviews the most suitable candidates. A separate interview committee may be used. The final decision is made by the faculty's appointment board.
The final project description will be developed in consultation with the project leader following the appointment.
We offer
Exciting and meaningful tasks in an organization with an important societal mission, contributing to knowledge development, education, and enlightenment that promote sustainable, fair, and knowledge-based societal development.
A workplace with good development and career opportunities.
Opportunity of up to 1.5 hours a week of exercise during working hours.
Committed colleagues and an inspiring, friendly, and inclusive working environment. Pension scheme in the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund.
Good welfare schemes.
Salary in position as Postdoctoral Research Fellow (SKO 1352) in the range NOK 595 000 – 680 000 depending on competence and experience. From the salary, 2 percent is deducted in statutory contributions to the State Pension Fund.
The applications must include:
A cover letter describing the applicant’s qualifications and motivation for the position.
A project description of 4-7 pages (excluding the list of references) outlining how they would approach their research tasks within a 3-year project plan. This should include a description of the theoretical background, objectives, methodologies (including suggestions for participant recruitment), and reflections on potential ethical challenges. The proposal must clearly demonstrate how the research will contribute to the aims of the CRIMLIFE project. Interested applicants are strongly encouraged to review the project proposal before submitting their project description.
A CV providing a comprehensive overview of education, previous positions, teaching experience, list of publications, and other relevant activities.
Copies of diplomas with all grades included in the degree and certificates (if the original language of diplomas/certificates is not English or a Scandinavian language, an English language translation must be provided in addition to a copy of the original). Foreign diplomas must include official documentation about the grading system, together with the official grading scale.
Up to three academic works that the applicant wishes to be considered. If a publication has been authored by multiple individuals, the division of work must be documented with a declaration from the co-author(s).
Names and contact details for at least two references.
A written assessment of the doctoral dissertation may also be submitted. If the assessment is not ready in time for the application deadline, the assessment can be submitted after deadline.
Please note that all documents must be in English or a Scandinavian language. The application with attachments must be submitted through our electronic recruitment system; please follow the link “apply for this job”. The tentative starting date is spring 2026.
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.
Formal regulations
Please see the guidelines concerning appointment to recruitment positions at the University of Oslo. No one can be appointed for more than one Postdoctoral Fellowship period at the University of Oslo.
According to the Norwegian Freedom of Information Act § 25 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 a transfer agreement with all employees that is intended to secure the rights to all research results etc.
