The University of Bergen is a renowned educational and research institution, organised into seven faculties and approximately 54 institutes and academic centres. Campus is located in the centre of Bergen with university areas at Nygårdshøyden, Haukeland, Marineholmen, Møllendalsveien and Årstad.
Through robust and close interaction with the world around us – globally, nationally and locally – we shall be instrumental in building a society based on knowledge, skills and attitudes.
Do you want to take part in shaping the future?
PhD position
We have four vacant PhD positions in political science for two ERC projects at The Department of Administration and Organization Theory at the University of Bergen. The positions are for a fixed-term period of 4 years, of which 75% (3 years) will be dedicated to research for a PhD project within the themes of one of the two ERC projects and 25% (1 year) will be dedicated to required coursework, teaching, and administrative tasks in the field of political science.
Applicants are asked to specify in their application if they want their application to be considered for a position in one or both of the two ERC projects, SUCCESS or INCLUDE. They are asked to submit a PhD project proposal only for the most preferred project.
About the project/work tasks:
The Gender Gaps in Political Endurance Project (SUCCESS): Gender imbalance in political office has been a recurring topic in political science the last decades. This project takes a fresh look at this debate by arguing that if we cannot just look at variation in numbers of men and women elected to office, we must also take a closer look at how political careers unfold. The project aims to expand our knowledge about not just how political careers starts, but how they proceed and how quickly they end. Of interest is research into where, why and how gender gaps in political careers occur. The project will carry out qualitative interviews with parliamentarians and their allies in five countries, conduct representative and citizen surveys with experiments in a selection of these countries, and develop a dataset on political endurance across the world. Cases selected for the first round of the project is France, Norway, and the United States. Later two additional cases will be selected based on the findings from the first round, most likely cases in other world regions. The project leader is professor in Political Science, Ragnhild L. Muriaas. Read more about the SUCCESS project here.
The Inclusive Politics Project (INCLUDE): The objective is to take research on public opinion and the politics of cultural and religious diversity in a new direction. With few exceptions, research has understandably targeted exclusion—opposition to immigration, prejudice towards minorities, the surge in support for the far right. This project aims to expand the scope of inquiry and to examine instead openings to the inclusion of minorities in contemporary established liberal representative democracies. The INCLUDE project will bring conceptual and empirical attention to different aspects of public opinion and different segments within the public than are currently at the center of attention in research on intergroup attitudes and support for the far right. The team will collect data in sequences of survey experiments in Norway, Germany, France, the UK, the Netherlands, and Sweden. The project leader is Professor in Political Science, Elisabeth Ivarsflaten. Read more about the Inclusive Politics Project here.
Qualifications and personal qualities:
The applicant must hold a master's degree or the equivalent in political science, or submitted the master thesis before application deadline. The position has to be completed before accession to the position.
One of the PhD positions in the INCLUDE project is also open to applicants who hold a Master’s degree (or equivalent) in psychology (preferably with a specialization in political psychology, social psychology, or personality psychology).
As an applicant, you should be able to work independently, have a considerable work capacity as well as an enthusiasm for research.
The requirements are generally a grade B or better on the Master thesis and for the Master degree in total
For the INCLUDE project, skills in statistical analysis is a requirement.
For the SUCCESS project, some training in quantitative methods is a requirement.
For the SUCCESS project, please specify if you have some knowledge of French.
Shortlisted candidates will be invited for an interview.
The teaching language is usually Norwegian, but some of teaching is given in English.
About the PhD position:
The duration of the PhD position is 4 years, of which 25 per cent of the time each year comprises required duties associated with research, teaching and dissemination of results. The employment period may be reduced if you have previously been employed in a recruitment position.
About the PhD training:
As a PhD research fellow, you will take part in the PhD programme at the Faculty of Social Sciences, UiB. The programme corresponds to a period of three years and leads to the PhD degree. To be eligible for admission you must normally have an educational background corresponding to a master’s degree with a scope of 120 ECTS credits, which builds on a bachelor’s degree with a scope of 180 ECTS credits (normally 2 + 3 years), or an integrated master’s degree with a scope of 300 ECTS credits (5 years). Master’s degrees must normally include an independent work of a minimum of 30 ECTS credits. It is expected that the topic of the master’s degree is connected to the academic field to which you are seeking admission.
We can offer:
The opportunity to be part of an exciting, ambitious, vibrant and well-connected research environment at the University of Bergen, where two ERC Consolidator Projects in political science will start simultaneously and hire a total of four PhD candidates and four postdoctoral research fellows.
Salary at pay grade 54 upon appointment (Code 1017) on the government salary scale (equivalent to NOK 491 200 per year). Further promotions are made according to length of service in the position.
A good and professionally challenging working environment
Enrolment in the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund
A project proposal of 5-8 pages must accompany the application. We only require that you write one research proposal even if you want your application to be considered for both ERC projects. The proposal should present the topic, the research problem(s) and choice of theory and methods. The proposal should also include a progress plan for the different parts of the project. The proposal will be considered in the evaluation of applications, but candidates selected for the positions are expected to revise their project proposal within 6 months. Admittance to the PhD programme will be based on the revised research proposal.
Project proposal—project-specific requirements:
The SUCCESS project seeks two types of projects:
(1) A Ph D project within the area of gender and politics that is interested in studying why and how career strategies affect political endurance in elected office. The Ph D will be a part of a research group that conducts qualitative interviews and surveys among parliamentarians and their allies as well as citizens surveys in Norway, France and the United States.
(2) A Ph D project that studies why and how the gender-gap in political endurance vary across time, region and political systems. SUCCESS will develop a dataset of political endurance that includes information about gender and other institutional and socioeconomic factors identified as relevant for explaining variation over time and between countries. Of interest are Ph D project that engage in developing an analytical framework and a data set that can be used to explain cross-national variation on gender-gaps.
The INCLUDE project seeks two types of projects:
(1) A Ph D project within the field of political science/public opinion. Of interest are project proposals seeking to further, through independent contributions, the new research agenda on openness among non-Muslims in established European democracies to the inclusion of Muslim minorities. Projects may choose to focus exclusively on public opinion towards Muslim minorities, or may choose a comparative approach contrasting this field of public opinion to other relevant fields. The Ph D project will be part of a research group that will collect experimental survey data in Norway, Germany, France, the UK, the Netherlands, and Sweden. Incorporating plans for survey data collection in these countries in the project proposal will be an advantage.
(2) A Ph D project within the field of political psychology. Of interest are project proposals seeking to bridge (a) the literatures, measurements and empirical approaches in the field of intergroup attitudes in social psychology with (b) the overall research agenda on openness to inclusion of Muslim minorities among non-Muslim citizens in European democracies. The Ph D project will be part of a research group that will collect experimental survey data in Norway, Germany, France, the UK, the Netherlands, and Sweden. Incorporating plans for survey data collection in these countries in the project proposal will be an advantage.
Your application must include:
A cover letter including a brief account of your research interests, motivation for applying for the position and if you want to be considered for only the most preferred project or both of the projects.
The names and contact information for two reference persons. One of them must be the main advisor for the master's thesis or equivalent thesis
A Project proposal of 5-8 pages.
CV
Transcripts and diplomas showing completion of the bachelor's and master's degrees.
Relevant certificates/references
A list of academic publications (if any)
Academic publications that you want to submit for assessment (including your master’s thesis or equivalent)
If you have a master's degree from an institution outside of the Nordic countries, or a 2-year discipline- based master's degree (or the equivalent) in a subject area other than the one associated with the application, you may later in the application process be asked to submit an overview of the syllabus for the degree you have completed
The application and appendices with certified translations into English or a Scandinavian language must be uploaded at Jobbnorge following the link on this page marked “Apply for this job”.
Closing date: 1 September 2021.
The application has to be marked: 21/8911
Applications submitted without a project description or applications sent as e-mails will not be considered. Only submitted documents will be subjected to an expert assessment.
General information:
For more information about the two ERC projects, you can get in contact with:
Practical questions regarding the application procedures should be directed to HR manager Bjørn Arild Petersen, bjorn.petersen@uib.no
Appointed research fellows will be admitted to the PhD programme at the Faculty of Social Sciences. Questions about the programme may be directed to Adviser-PhD: Hanne.Gravermoen@uib.no.
The state labour force shall reflect the diversity of Norwegian society to the greatest extent possible. People with immigrant backgrounds and people with disabilities are encouraged to apply for the position.
The University of Bergen applies the principle of public access to information when recruiting staff for academic positions.
Information about applicants may be made public even if the applicant has asked not to be named on the list of persons who have applied. The applicant must be notified if the request to be omitted is not met.
The successful applicant must comply with the guidelines that apply to the position at all times.
For further information about the recruitment process, click here.
