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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 «Evaluation Optics of the Nation State: The Past, Present and Future of Public Documentation» (EVALUNATION). The project is financed by the Research Council of Norway and led by Hilde Reinertsen.

More about the position

The candidate will be part of a project group consisting of the project leader, the PhD candidate and external research partners in Oslo, Borås, Copenhagen and Seattle. 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 TIK’s wider academic community. The candidate is expected to contribute actively and productively to the academic and social environment at the centre.

The PhD candidate is expected to take responsibility for research undertaken as part of EVALUNATION’s work packages 2 and 3, as described in the project proposal . This includes prolonged field work in Oslo among institutions and expert communities within audit and evaluation, in addition to experimenting with new and emerging digital research methods. 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.

About the project

The research project EVALUNATION investigates the relationship between evaluation practices and society. Independent evaluation and audit are cornerstones of Norwegian democracy. Yet how are evaluations undertaken in practice? How has this professional field developed over time, and how has society changed its expectations to what evaluations may tell us? How may digital evaluation methods contribute to transform what and how we as a society evaluate? The project consists of four work packages, including (1) the history of evaluation methods in Norway, (2) current practices of evaluation in Norway, (3) the emergence of digital evaluation methods and public debate areas, and (4) experiments with alternative evaluation tools. EVALUNATION has a three-part ambition of producing and sharing new knowledge about the significance of evaluation methods; developing interdisciplinary research methods for analyzing evaluation; and contributing to reflexive dialogues about evaluation practices through a combination of thorough analyses and active research communication.

Qualifications

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 EVALUNATION. The project’s interdisciplinary approach makes a variety of academic backgrounds potentially interesting, including Science and Technology Studies (STS), History, Rhetoric, Social Anthropology, Techno-Anthropology, Sociology, Political Science, Human Geography, Innovation Studies, the Study of Professions, and other interdisciplinary combinations across the Humanities, Social Sciences and Informatics.

Applicants must speak both Norwegian and English languages fluently, as the hired candidate must be able to undertake fieldwork and document analysis in Norwegian and participate actively in English-language PhD courses and academic seminars.

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 points:

• Experience with fieldwork, document analysis, interviews, historical methods, dogotal methods or other research methods of relevance for EVALUNATION
• Experience with evaluation, public administration, research communication, public media, document production, organizational work or other work experience of relevance to EVALUNATION

Assessment criteria

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

• The project proposal’s academic quality, methodological innovation, and relevance for EVALUNATION
• The applicants’ relevance regarding 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 479 600 - 523 200 per annum, depending on qualifications
• An academically stimulating working environment
• The possibility of undertaking a prolonged international mobility stay
• Attractive welfare benefits and a generous pension agreement, in addition to Oslo’s family-friendly environment with its rich opportunities for culture and outdoor activities

How to apply

The application must include

• Letter of application describing motivation and experience of relevance to EVALUNATION (max. 2 pages)
• Project proposal (in English) describing how the applicant intends to develop a PhD project within the frame of EVALUNATION (cf. Faculty guidelines)
• CV w/ list of publications (academic and other)
• 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).

An expert committee will assess the applicants based on the qualification and assessment criteria above. The highest ranked applicants will be invited 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.

Contact information

• Project Leader Hilde Reinertsen
• Centre Director Fulvio Castellacci

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