LEDIG STILLING VED UIT NORGES ARKTISKE UNIVERSITET

PhD Fellow in Health Services Research

Deadline: 03.12.2023

UiT The Arctic University of Norway

UiT The Arctic University of Norway is a multi-campus research university and the northernmost university of the world. Our central location in the High North, our broad and diverse research and study portfolio, and our interdisciplinary qualities make us uniquely suited to meet the challenges of the future. At UiT you can explore global issues from a close-up perspective.

Credibility, academic freedom, closeness, creativity and commitment shall be hallmarks of the relationship between our employees, between our employees and our students and between UiT and our partners.


The Faculty of Health Sciences at UiT The Arctic University of Norway represents a newly created entity gathering almost all possible health study programs. This facilitates an unique interdisciplinarity and innovation in health education and research. We work closely with the services in the North to solve tomorrow's challenges. 

Read more about us at uit.no/helsefak

Faculty of Health Sciences

The position

A PhD position is available at the Department of Community Medicine, the Faculty of Health Sciences affiliated with the research group Health Services Research. The research group for Health Services Research focuses on questions related to priority setting in health, measurement of quality of life and loss after a disease and social inequality.

The position is a fixed term position for a duration of four years. The nominal length of the PhD programme is three years. The fourth year is distributed as 25 % each year and will consist of teaching and other duties for the department.

The objective of the position is to complete research training to the level of a doctoral degree. Admission to the PhD programme is a prerequisite for employment, and the programme period starts on commencement of the position.

The workplace is at UiT in Tromsø. You must be able to start in the position within a reasonable time after receiving the offer.

The project

The project focuses on chronic diseases (multiple sclerosis, dementia, inflammatory bowel disease). We will combine information from health register data and questionnaires to answer important questions such as: What is the effect of chronic diseases on income and ability to work? What are important predictive factors for disease development and later heavy use of health-services - and do these reveal geographic or social inequalities? Can machine learning methods help to predict chronic diseases like dementia based on drawings? The project will involve the use of computer programming to analyse data (Python, R), methods of causal inference, and machine learning.

The candidate will receive training and supervision in methods.

Contact

For further information about the position and research project, please contact:

  • Professor and research group leader Hans Olav Melberg, e-mail: hans.o.melberg@uit.no, telephone: +47 77 64 91 62

Qualifications

Required qualifications:

  • A master’s degree within a relevant field (health, economics, statistics). If you are near completion of your master’s degree, you may still apply and submit a draft version of the thesis. You must document completion of your degree before commencement in the position. 
  • English proficiency 
  • Experience working with data analysis. 
  • Knowledge of methods (statistics, programming in R or Python).

Norwegian or Scandinavian language skills is considered advantageous. Candidates without skills in Norwegian/Scandinavian language can also be considered. For those candidates it will be a prerequisite for an employment to enroll in courses to learn Norwegian at UiT.

We will also put emphasis on the ability to work both independently and in groups as well as motivation and ability to conduct research. To demonstrate this, the application should include a short project description (maximum one page) focusing on an idea or research the candidate would like to conduct within the topics relevant to the overall project.

In the assessment, the emphasis is on the applicant's potential to complete a research education based on the master's thesis or equivalent, and any other scientific work. The project description will also be considered. In addition, other experience of significance for the completion of the doctoral programme may be given consideration.

We will also emphasize personal suitability for the position.

As many people as possible should have the opportunity to undertake organized research training. If you already hold a PhD or have equivalent competence, we will not appoint you to this position.

Admission to the PhD programme 

For employment in the PhD position, you must be qualified for admission to the PhD programme at the Faculty of Health Sciences and participate in organized doctoral studies within the employment period.

Admission normally requires:

  • A bachelor's degree of 180 ECTS and a master's degree of 120 ECTS, or an integrated master's degree of 300 ECTS. 
  • A master's thesis with a scope corresponding to at least 30 ECTS for a master's degree of 120 ECTS. 
  • A master's thesis with a scope corresponding to at least 20 ECTS for an integrated master's degree of 300 ECTS. 

UiT normally accepts higher education from countries that are part of the Lisbon Recognition Convention.

Applicants must have a grade of C or better on the master's thesis and have a grade point average of C or better for the master's degree. A more detailed description of admission requirements can be found here.

Applicants with a foreign education will be subjected to an evaluation of whether the educational background is equal to Norwegian higher education, following national guidelines from NOKUT. Depending on which country the education is from, one or two additional years of university education may be required to fulfil admission requirements, e.g. a 4-year bachelor's degree and a 2-year master's degree. 

If you are employed in the position, you will be provisionally admitted to the PhD programme. Application for final admission must be submitted no later than two months after taking up the position. 

Inclusion and diversity

UiT The Arctic University of Norway is working actively to promote equality, gender balance and diversity among employees and students, and to create an inclusive and safe working environment. We believe that inclusion and diversity are a strength, and we want employees with different competencies, professional experience, life experience and perspectives.

If you have a disability, a gap in your CV or immigrant background, we encourage you to tick the box for this in your application. If there are qualified applicants, we invite at least one in each group for an interview. If you get the job, we will adapt the working conditions if you need it. Apart from selecting the right candidates, we will only use the information for anonymous statistics.

We offer

  • Involvement in an interesting research project 
  • Good career opportunities 
  • A good academic environment with dedicated colleagues
  • Flexible working hours and a state collective pay agreement
  • Pension scheme through the state pension fund 
  • PhD Fellows are normally given a salary of 532 200 NOK/year with a 3% yearly increase

Norwegian health policy aims to ensure that everyone, irrespective of their personal finances and where they live, has access to good health and care services of equal standard. As an employee you will become member of the National Insurance Scheme which also include health care services.

More practical information about working and living in Norway can be found here.

General information 

The appointment is made in accordance with State regulations and guidelines at UiT. At our website, you will find more information for applicants

Remuneration for the position of PhD Fellow is in accordance with the State salary scale code 1017. A compulsory contribution of 2 % to the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund will be deducted. You will become a member of the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund, which gives you many benefits in addition to a lifelong pension: You may be entitled to financial support if you become ill or disabled, your family may be entitled to financial support when you die, you become insured against occupational injury or occupational disease, and you can get good terms on a mortgage. Read more about your employee benefits at: spk.no.

A shorter period of appointment may be decided when the PhD Fellow has already completed parts of their research training programme or when the appointment is based on a previous qualifying position PhD Fellow, research assistant, or the like in such a way that the total time used for research training amounts to three years. 

We process personal data given in an application or CV in accordance with the Personal Data Act (Offentleglova). According to the Personal Data Act information about the applicant may be included in the public applicant list, also in cases where the applicant has requested non-disclosure. You will receive advance notification in the event of such publication, if you have requested non-disclosure. 

Application 

Your application must include: 

  • Cover letter explaining your motivation and research interests
  • CV
  • Diploma for bachelor's and master's degree
  • Transcript of grades/academic record for bachelor's and master's degree
  • Explanation of the grading system for foreign education (Diploma Supplement if available)
  • Documentation of English proficiency
  • Documentation of proficiency in Norwegian (or a Scandinavian language), if you have
  • Two references (main supervisor for students)
  • Master’s thesis 
  • Any other academic works
  • Project description (maximum one page)

Qualification with a master’s degree is required before commencement in the position. You may still apply if you are in the final stages of the master’s degree, but the master’s thesis must be submitted for evaluation within the application deadline. You must submit the thesis and transcript of grades for the master’s degree with your application.

All documentation to be considered must be in a Scandinavian language or English. Diplomas and transcripts must also be submitted in the original language, if not in English or Scandinavian. If English proficiency is not documented in the application, it must be documented before starting in the position. We only accept applications and documentation sent via Jobbnorge within the application deadline. 

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