About the position

A position in a research fellowship as PhD candidate is available at the Center for Interdisciplinary Education at the University of Oslo, under the direction of associate professor Tor Ole Odden and professor Anders Malthe-Sørenssen. Starting date no later than October 1, 2024.

The fellowship period is 3 years. A fourth year may be considered with a workload of 25 % that normally consists of teaching. This is dependent upon the qualification of the applicant and the current needs of the department.

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

Job description

The candidate for this position will work on a PhD project related to the core mission of the Center for Interdisciplinary Education. Interdisciplinary competence is needed to address the world’s wicked problems, for breakthroughs in science and innovation, and to prepare students for tomorrows work-life. INTED’s ambition is to become an international hub for the research-based integration of interdisciplinary competence in education. INTED seeks to better our understanding of teaching and learning in interdisciplinary education. Specifically, an interdisciplinary group of researchers at INTED is studying teaching and learning of interdisciplinary competences at UiO in study programs such as the Honor’s Program (a BA level interdisciplinary program).

The PhD project will focus on understanding how generative artificial intelligence, like ChatGPT, can be used as a tool for educational research and practice in interdisciplinary education. The project will involve1) development of methods for the analysis of literature, survey and interview data at scale using text embeddings from large language models, and2) the application of these methods to study how students, faculty and stakeholders develop interdisciplinary competence.

Qualification requirements

The Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences has a strategic ambition to be among Europe’s leading communities for research, education and innovation. Candidates for these fellowships will be selected in accordance with this, and expected to be in the upper segment of their class with respect to academic credentials.

Required:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in mathematics or natural sciences, computer science/informatics, data science, or education with a STEM/data science focus.Foreign completed degree (M.Sc.-level) must correspond to a minimum of four years in the Norwegian educational system.
• Interest for education research
• Experience teaching interdisciplinary courses to students from both STEM and non-STEM backgrounds
• Experience developing course materials for both STEM and interdisciplinary courses
• Experience with programming in Python and R

The position's subject area may require licensing under the Norwegian Export Control Act. In order to be considered for the position, it is a prerequisite that UiO must be able to be granted such licence.

Desired qualifications:

• Experience with education in pre-college settings, both formal and informal
• Experience with additional programming languages like C++ and Java
• Coursework in data science, artificial intelligence, and/or natural language processing, as well as non-STEM disciplines like cognitive science and psychology

Candidates without a Master’s degree have until August 31, 2024 to complete the final exam.

Grade requirements:

The norm is as follows:

• The average grade point for courses included in the Bachelor’s degree must be C or better in the Norwegian educational system
• The average grade point for courses included in the Master’s degree must be B or better in the Norwegian educational system
• The Master’s thesis must have the grade B or better in the Norwegian educational system
• Fluent oral and written communication skills in English
• For candidates who would like to apply for a fourth year including teaching, good knowledge of Norwegian or another Scandinavian language is strongly preferred.
• English requirements for applicants from outside of EU/ EEA countries and exemptions from the requirements

The purpose of the fellowship is research training leading to the successful completion of a PhD degree. 

The fellowship requires admission to the PhD programme at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences. The application to the PhD programme must be submitted to the department no later than two months after taking up the position.

For more information see here.

Personal skills

We are seeking a highly motivated, enthusiastic and hard-working candidate with the ambition to gain new insights and publish papers in leading, international journals. Applicants must show good interpersonal skills and be willing to work in close collaboration with the project PIs and other members of the project team, as well as having the ability to work independently.

We offer

• Salary NOK 532 200 – 575 400 per annum depending on qualifications and seniority as PhD Research Fellow (position code 1017)
• Attractive welfare benefits and a generous pension agreement 
• Vibrant international academic environment
• Career development programmes
• Oslo’s family-friendly surroundings with their rich opportunities for culture and outdoor activities

How to apply

The application must include:

• Application cover letter: a brief account (one page, as a separate file) of the applicant’s interest and motivation for applying for the position including a brief description of how the applicant envisions his/her experience could be used to address the project goals
• CV (summarizing education, positions, research experience, pedagogical experience, and other relevant activities)
• A complete list of publications and academic works that the applicant wishes to be considered by the evaluation committee, including exercises or problem sets the applicant has designed
• Copies of educational certificates, academic transcript of records and letters of recommendation
• Documentation of English proficiency
• Names and contact details of 1-2 references (name, relation to candidate, e-mail and telephone number)
• Applicants who are interested in teaching need to add to this application a description of their motivation for and (if any) experience with teaching.

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.

Interviews with the best qualified candidates will be arranged.

Formal regulations

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

According to the Norwegian Freedom and 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.

UiO has an agreement for all employees, aiming to secure rights to research results a.o.

Inclusion and diversity are a strength. 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

For further information please contact: Associate Professor Tor Ole Odden, email: t.o.b.odden@fys.uio.no

For questions regarding Jobbnorge, please contact HR Adviser Elin Thoresen, email: elin.thoresen@mn.uio.no

Apply for this job