Value-threads: Tracing the Economy as Technology and Culture in an Emergent Value-Economy

Job description

TIK Centre for Technology, Innovation and Culture, University of Oslo has a vacant three years position as PhD research fellow (SKO 1017) affiliated with the research project «Value-threads: Tracing the Economy as Technology and Culture in an Emergent Value-Economy”. The project is funded by the Research Council of Norway and led by prof. Kristin Asdal.

More about the position

The candidate will be part of a project group with researchers at TIK and at Centre de Sociologie de l’innovation in Paris. The candidate will be enrolled in the PhD program of the Faculty of Social Sciences and the TIK-Centre’s research training program. The purpose of the position is to complete a dissertation within the field of Science and Technology Studies (STS) that qualifies for the Ph.D. degree at the University of Oslo during the hiring period. The candidate will be part of TIK’s research group in Science, Technology and Culture (VTK) and is expected to contribute actively and productively to Value-Threads and the broader academic and social environment at the centre. Residence in or close to Oslo is thus expected.

The PhD candidate is linked to the part of the project that will undertake research on market-making and valuation practices with a particular focus on ‘start-ups’. The candidate will be conducting research on the network of actors, objects and tools involved. Method-wise this may include field-work, interviews and document-analysis,

The exact design of the PhD project, including choice of case, methods and theoretical framework, will depend on the candidate’s academic background and project proposal, and will be determined in collaboration with the project leader. The project may include international mobility. The position might include teaching, grading etc. at TIK in which case the project will be extended accordingly up until maximum 4 years.

About the project

The overriding objective of the research project ‘Value-threads’ is to provide a better understanding of the valuation practices and technologies that underpin efforts to transform our economy into a sustainable post-carbon economy. In doing this the project will provide a comprehensive analysis of the knowledge regimes, tensions and modalities of what the project investigates as an emerging value-economy where different forms of valuations meet.

The project will be executed by way of in-depth analyses at carefully collected sites and of selected cases of which forestry as well as the bioeconomy more broadly are key. Value-threads includes historical as well as contemporary cases. The PhD-project will contribute to the contemporary part of the project.

Qualification requirements

• Applicants must hold a two-year Master’s degree (or equivalent qualifications) and meet the formal requirements for admittance to the Faculty’s PhD program.
• The Master’s degree must be of high quality and within a specialization of relevance to Value-Threads. The project’s interdisciplinary approach makes a variety of academic backgrounds potentially interesting, including Science and Technology Studies (STS), Valuation-studies, Social Studies of Markets, Economic Sociology, Social Anthropology, Innovation-studies and other interdisciplinary combinations across the Humanities and Social Sciences.
• Applicants must document experience with and/or a well-described interest in the field of STS. In addition, applicants must document experience with minimum one of the following research methods: fieldwork, document analysis, interviews. Experience with fieldwork is an advantage as is also knowledge of valuation studies, social studies of markets and/or economic sociology.
• It is an advantage if the applicant speak both a Scandinavian language and English fluently, a Scandinavian language due to fieldwork and document-analysis in a Norwegian setting.

Assessment criteria

In the assessment of applications, we will emphasize the following:

• The project proposal’s academic quality, methodological competence, and relevance for Value-threads.
• The applicants’ relevance with regards to the criteria described under ‘Qualifications’ above.
• The applicants’ academic and personal potential for fulfilling the project within the given timeframe.
• The applicants’ skills in communication, including their sense of text and language.Personal skills: curiosity, sincereness, and good cooperative skills.

We offer

• Salary NOK 482 200 - 526 000 per year, - depending on qualifications.
• An academically stimulating working environment.
• The possibility of undertaking a prolonged international mobility stay.
• 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;

• Letter of application describing motivation and experience of relevance to Value-threads (max. 2 pages)
• Project proposal (in English) describing how the applicant intends to develop a PhD project within the frame of Value-threads (cf. Faculty guidelines)
• CV
• A copy of the master thesis and a list of other scientific publications.
• 2-3 references (including contact information and described relation to the applicant)
• Copy of education diploma (including explanation of degree system for education outside Scandinavia)

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).

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

• Project Leader Kristin Asdal
• Centre Director Fulvio Castellacci

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