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Blindern og Urbygningen (Foto: Wikimedia og Colourbox)

PhD Fellow in the project UrbTrans

Deadline: 09.05.2021

Universitetet i Oslo

The University of Oslo is Norway’s oldest and highest ranked educational and research institution, with 28 000 students and 7000 employees. With its broad range of academic disciplines and internationally recognised research communities, UiO is an important contributor to society.


TIK Centre for Technology, Innovation and Culture is a cross disciplinary unit at the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Oslo. TIK is home to 40 staff members working in research, education and research communication in innovation and science and technology studies (STS). A major part of TIK’s activity is externally funded research. TIK also offers postgraduate education; a PhD-programme and two Master programmes. The Centre also hosts OSIRIS - Oslo Institute for Research on the Impact of Science.

Urban Transformation in a Warming Artic: The Continued Effects of Nordic Colonialism in Urban Development and Planning

The position

One position as PhD Fellow is available at the TIK Centre for Technology, Innovation and Culture, University of Oslo. The position is associated with the interdisciplinary project UrbTrans (2020–2024), which is funded by the Tromsø Research Foundation and the Research Council Norway, and led by Associate Professor Tone Huse.

The appointment is for a fixed term position for a period of three years.

About UrbTrans

‘The Arctic is burning, and Greenland is melting’, the popular science magazine ScienceNews.org stated after the record-warm month of July 2019. Wildfires ravaged and attention was once again turned to the pronounced effects of climate change in the Arctic. This development is also what sets the stage for UrbTrans, a radically interdisciplinary project that will analyse how the citizens and authorities of Greenland’s capital city, Nuuk, respond to the challenges and opportunities of a warming Arctic. UrbTrans will further work to expand the temporal scope of Arctic studies, towards understanding not only the shifts of the present, but also how Nuuk’s colonial past is activated in and affects ongoing transformation processes. This will entail close engagement with questions regarding the character and continued effects of Nordic colonialism, as well as decoloniality in a Nordic context. The project will furthermore be characterised by innovative methodological work to span the traditional divides of studies of the past and the present, the humanities and the social sciences.

UrbTrans builds on Science and technology Studies (STS), but will also be in close conversation with a diverse set of research fields and disciplines, ranging from Arctic-, decolonial-, and indigenous studies, to architecture, geography and history. The project will further combine the methods of archival studies, document analysis and ethnography, thus engaging simultaneously with studies of the past of the present. The PhD Fellow will be expected engage collaboratively in research activities that span these methods, but also to independently carry out research that relies mainly on archival studies and document analysis and/or interviews and storytelling practices. Reciprocal research practices towards local communities and stakeholders are key to the project, and applicants are asked to demonstrate an understanding of what such practices entail and to explain how you seek to achieve this within the frames of the PhD position.

More about the position

In addition to the PhD candidate to be employed at UiO, the UrbTrans research group will consist of one PhD Fellow, two Postdoctoral Fellows and the PI. These other members of the research group will have their daily workplace at Campus Tromsø, UiT The Arctic University of Norway.

The appointed PhD Fellow will have her/his daily workplace at TIK Centre for Technology, Innovation and Culture, UiO, but will be expected to participate in collaborative research activities at UiT and in Nuuk. In addition, the project will engage in collaborations with Nuuk stakeholders, academic partners, and also curators and artists. Successful applicants will be expected to contribute towards the activities of the group, which will involve common fieldwork, co-organised seminars, non-academic research dissemination and artist collaborations. The applicants will further take responsibility for research tasks specified in the project’s Work Package 1. Briefly, this research will look to the historical development of urban planning and development in Nuuk, in the period from 1950 and onwards. This can entail interviews/storytelling as well as archival studies and document analysis. For further information about the position, please contact Tone Huse.

Qualification requirements

  • Applicants must hold a two years Master’s degree or equivalent and meet the formal requirements to be enrolled in PhD programme at the Faculty of Social Sciences.UrbTrans is interdisciplinary in nature, which means that the PhD can come from a range of fields in social sciences and humanities, including but not limited to science and technology studies (STS), history, social anthropology, human geography, and sociology.
  • Fluent oral and written communication skills in English.Ability to communicate in a Scandinavian language and to read Danish, Greenlandic language skills will be an advantage.

Evaluation of the application

In the evaluation of applicants, the following will be emphasized:

  • The academic level of the project, research relevance and innovation
  • The applicant’s ability to complete the project within the timeframe of the doctoral position.
  • The applicant’s ability to collaborate and work in an interdisciplinary research group, including willingness to adapt her/his research towards the objectives of the UrbTrans project.
  • Personal suitability and motivation for the position, knowledge of indigenous methods and ability to develop and pursue reciprocal and culturally sensitive research practices will be an advantage.

We offer

  • Salary NOK 482 200 - 526 000 per year, - depending on qualifications.
  • An academically stimulating working environment.
  • Attractive welfare benefits including excellent benefits for families (kindergarten, paid paternal/maternal leave etc) and a generous pension agreement. In addition, Oslo offers a family-friendly environment with its rich opportunities for culture and outdoor activities in its immediate surroundings.

How to apply

The application must include

  • Application letter. Please describe your motivation for applying for the position. Explain how your research and experience is relevant to the UrbTrans project.
  • A project proposal, please refer to Guidelines for the project proposal when applying for admission - Faculty of Social Sciences (uio.no). A description of the UrbTrans project is available upon request.
  • CV summarising education, positions and academic work.
  • A copy of the master thesis and a list of other scientific publications
  • A list of 2–3 references that can be contacted, including name, relation to the applicant, e-mail and phone number.
  • Copy of education diploma

The application with attachments must be delivered in our electronic recruiting system, please follow the link “Apply for this job”. 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).

When evaluating the application, emphasis will be given to the eventuelt “project description” and the applicant’s academic and personal prerequisites to carry out the project. Applicants may be called in for an interview.

Formal regulations

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

No one can be appointed for more than one PhD Research Fellowship period at the University of Oslo.

According to the Norwegian Freedom of 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 appointment may be shortened/given a more limited scope within the framework of the applicable guidelines on account of any previous employment in academic positions.

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. We also want to have employees with diverse expertise, combinations of subjects, life experience and perspectives. We will make adjustments for employees who require this.

If there are qualified applicants with special needs, gaps in their CVs or immigrant backgrounds, we will invite at least one applicant in each of these groups to an interview.

Contact information

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