Job description

A position as a PhD Research Fellow in Law is available at the Scandinavian Institute of Maritime Law, Faculty of Law, University of Oslo. The position is linked to the PriTEM project on “Privacy Preserving Transactive Energy Management”, and will focus on legal frameworks for peer-to-peer (P2P) electricity trading.

The objective of the fellowship is research training leading to the successful completion of a PhD degree. The applicant must be qualified for admission to the PhD programme at the Faculty of Law at the start of the position. Read about the PhD programme here.

The position is funded by the University of Oslo, through the multidisciplinary UiO Energy Convergence Environment initiative. The PhD candidate will be working within the PriTEM project at the University of Oslo, and have the Scandinavian Institute of Maritime Law, Department of Energy and Resources Law, as working place, in close collaboration with the Norwegian Research Center for Computers and Law (Senter for rettsinformatikk), at the Department of Private Law.

PriTEM is conducting multidisciplinary research on transactive energy management. It takes as a background the paradigm shift from centralized to decentralized and distributed energy systems. More precisely, the project aims to design distributed and trust-enhancing mechanisms for enabling transactive energy management through P2P electricity trading. P2P energy trade demands a major shift in technology where extensive data sharing will be one of the key enabling components. Privacy preservation, secure data sharing and building digital trust are therefore major challenges in enabling this paradigm shift. Moreover, a conducive regulatory framework for data sharing, privacy preservation and energy legislation is crucial. The project intends to create new knowledge at the intersection of energy technology, energy informatics, psychology, and data and energy law.

For more information about the PriTEM project, see  here.

The fellowship runs for three years without teaching duties, or four years with teaching duties constituting 25 % of the overall workload. A four-year fellowship requires that the candidate can contribute to the current teaching needs of the Faculty of Law.

Starting date: Fall/Late 2023 preferably.

More about the position

The PhD candidate's work will contribute to Work Package 3 (WP3) of the PriTEM project on “Regulatory Perspective and Legal Considerations”. The objective of WP3 is to contribute to the development of a regulatory framework to support the design and development of P2P trading through law, both legislation and contracts. P2P trading of energy requires an adaptation of the regulatory framework, which, as of now, is based on a customer-to-distributed-system-operator regulation. Given the capability of private households to adapt their energy consumption, and to become prosumers in the electrical grid, WP3 will assess the regulatory framework for data protection, cybersecurity, energy trading and energy law. Among the relevant topics of research are: design of legislative framework (legislation, contracts) for P2P trading, the place of P2P trading within energy system and energy market regulation, economic incentives through e.g. taxation, IT law aspects (such as digital trust, data security, GDPR), platform regulation for energy exchange, contractual frameworks for P2P trading. The research should focus on the European context, and must be relevant for applications in Norway.

Qualification requirements and other qualities

• The applicant must hold a 5 year Norwegian master's degree in law or equivalent.
• Successful applicants should normally have grades that place them among the top 10–15 percent of graduates. This requirement also applies to the master's thesis.
• Knowledge of the energy sector is an advantage, but not a requirement for being selected. Relevant competence for the position is experience with academic research on energy law from the perspective of Norwegian, European and/or international law.
• The project language is English. A good command of the English language, written and spoken, is therefore required. A good command of a Scandinavian language is an advantage, but not a requirement.
• The applicant must be able to work in an independent and structured manner.
• Good collaboration skills and the skills to contribute to the development of legal research are required.
• The candidate must take an active role in developing the professional environment at the workplace during the employment period.

Assessment 

Applicants must submit a project description of 5 to 7 pages, which gives an account of the research project, its contribution and relevance to legal science in the field and the PriTEM project, choice of theory and scientific methodology, possible scientific ethical challenges, and a work plan for completion. A PhD thesis at the Faculty of Law can be a monograph or a collection of several articles. As part of the project description, the applicant should present a publication strategy for the research done within the project.

In assessing the applicants, emphasis will be placed on the applicants' project description, grades, previous publications in the field of law, and the applicant's professional and personal qualifications for successfully completing the project.

The PhD candidate is expected to complete the project by the end of the fellowship period.

Short-listed applicants will be invited to an interview.

The applications are evaluated by an assessment committee. The committee ranks the applicants based on the criteria indicated above and interviews with short-listed candidates. A separate interview committee may be set down.

The final decision is taken by the Faculty's separate appointment board.

We offer

• Salary NOK 532 200,- to 575 400,- per annum, position code 1017
• An inspiring, friendly and inclusive working environment
• Pension plan in the state pension fund
• Attractive welfare arrangements

How to apply

The application must include:

• A letter of application describing the applicant's qualifications and motivation for the position.
• Project description (5-7 pages), explaining the applicant's PhD research activities in a 3-year period.
• Curriculum vitae with documentation of education, professional work experience, required language skills and academic work.
• Certified copies of certificates, diplomas with all grades, and a complete list of publications. Non-Norwegian diplomas (Master, Bachelor, and the like) must be provided in the original language as well as in an English or Scandinavian translation. Non-Norwegian certificates and diplomas must be accompanied by official documentation that explain the grading system, which makes it possible to assess whether the applicants meet the requirements pertaining to grades.
• Up to 3 scholarly publications. If the publications are written by more than one author, a declaration of authorship that explain the applicant's contribution to the publication should be submitted.
• A list of references (2–3 references that include names, relation to the applicant, and contact details).

All documents must be submitted in English or in a Scandinavian language.

Application with attachments must be submitted via our electronic recruitment system, please click “Apply for this job”.

Formal regulations

Please see the guidelines and regulations for appointments to Doctoral 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 University of Oslo has an agreement for all employees, aiming to secure rights to research results.

Inclusion and diversity are goals in the Faculty's strategy. The University of Oslo has a personnel policy objective of achieving a balanced gender composition. Furthermore, we want employees with diverse professional expertise, life experience and perspectives.

If there are qualified applicants with disabilities, employment gaps or immigrant background, we will invite at least one applicant from each of these categories to an interview.

Contact information

Regarding questions about the research project: 

• Professor Catherine Banet: catherine.banet@jus.uio.no or
•  Professor Lee A. Bygrave l.a.bygrave@jus.uio.no

Regarding questions about the recruitment system and process: HR - advicer Siri Martenson: siri.martenson@jus.uio.no

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