Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History

Job description

A Doctoral Research Fellowship (SKO 1017) in Archaeology is available at the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History, University of Oslo.

The Doctoral Fellowship is affiliated with the research project “ARCREATE. An Archaeology of Creative Knowledge in Turbulent Times”, funded by the Research Council of Norway (project no. 334377) and led by Professor Per Ditlef Fredriksen.

More about the position

The ARCREATE project offers a novel approach to understanding technological and social change during turbulent times in central and southern Africa. Archaeology’s grand narratives about Bantu migrations, largely derived from studies of ceramics, ignore the creative knowledges of the artisans who made ceramic objects that the archaeologists studied. ARCREATE works closely with local stakeholders to excavate these technological and sensorial knowledges and the networks that transmitted them across space and time. Cognisant of recent-re-thinking about key concepts like mobility, creativity, learning and households, ARCREATE highlights local agency in its investigation of technological knowledge, seeking to understand the social, conceptual, ecological and mineralogical factors that guided craftspeople’s choices of specific materials and techniques.

The doctoral candidate will be part of the project’s core team and will contribute to its main objectives together with the team. The candidate will be included in the project’s Work Package “WP3 The Millennum Case”, devoted to develop a regional synthesis of changes to learning networks and local engagement with the mineral world in central and southern Africa in the period 500–1500 CE.

The candidate should apply with their own project proposal and, while open for the successful candidate to define, the proposed research project must correspond with the overall framework of ARCREATE.

The person appointed will be affiliated with the Faculty's organized research training. The academic work is to result in a doctoral thesis that will be defended at the Faculty with a view to obtaining the degree of PhD. The successful candidate is expected to join the existing research milieu or network and contribute to its development. Read more about the doctoral degree.

The appointment is for a duration of 3 years. All PhD Candidates who submit their doctoral dissertation for assessment with a written recommendation from their supervisor within 3 years or 3 ½ years after the start of their PhD position, will be offered, respectively, a 12 or 6 month Completion Grant.

Qualification requirements

• A Master's degree or equivalent in Archaeology or Historical Linguistics. The Master's degree must have been obtained and the final evaluation must be available by the application deadline.
• Fluent oral and written communication skills in English, see Language requirements
• Personal suitability and motivation for the position.

To be eligible for admission to the doctoral programmes at the University of Oslo, applicants must, as a minimum, have completed a five-year graduation course (Master’s degree or equivalent), including a Master’s thesis of at least 30 ECTS. In special cases, the Faculty may grant admission on the basis of a one-year Master course following an assessment of the study programme’s scope and quality.

In assessing the applications, special emphasis will be placed on:

• The project's scientific merit, research-related relevance and innovation
• The applicant’s ability to contribute to the main project
• Experience with fieldwork or other relevant work experience
• The applicant's estimated academic and personal ability to complete the project within the time frame
• The applicant's ability to complete research training
• Good collaboration skills and an ability to join interdisciplinary academic communities

Applicants who have recently graduated with excellent results may be given preference.

We offer

• Salary NOK 532 200 – 575 400 per annum depending on qualifications
• A professionally stimulating working environment
• Membership in the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund
• Attractive welfare benefits

How to apply

The application must include:

• Application letter describing the applicant’s qualifications and motivation for the position
• Curriculum Vitae (with a list of education, positions, teaching experience, administrative experience and other qualifying activities, including a complete list of publications)
• Transcript of records of your Bachelor’s and Master's degrees. Applicants with education from a foreign university must attach an explanation of their university's grading system
• Documentation of Language requirements (if applicable)
• Project description, including a detailed progress plan for the project (3 - 5 pages, maximum 14,000 characters. See Template for project descriptions)

Please note that all documents must be in English or a Scandinavian language.

Educational certificates, master theses and the like are not to be submitted with the application, but applicants may be asked to submit such information or works later.

The application with attachments must be delivered in our electronic recruiting system, jobbnorge.no.

Short-listed candidates will be invited for an interview.

Formal regulations

See also regulations as well as guidelines for the application assessment process and appointments to research fellowships.

Following the Freedom of Information Act (Offentleglova) § 25, Chapter 2, demographic information about the applicant may be used in the public list of applicants even if the applicant opts out from the entry in the public application list.

The University of Oslo has an Acquisition of Rights Agreement for the purpose of securing rights to intellectual property created by its employees, including research results.

The University of Oslo aims to achieve a balanced gender composition in the workforce and to recruit people with ethnic minority backgrounds.

Contact information

• Professor and PI of ARCREATE Per Ditlef Fredriksen
• HR Adviser Karoline Farbrot (for questions regarding how to apply)

Apply for position