The positions

Two positions as Postdoctoral Research Fellow are available at the Department of Archaeology, History, Religious Studies and Theology at UiT – The Arctic University of Tromsø. The positions are associated with the interdisciplinary project ‘Urban Transformation in a Warming Artic: The Continued Effects of Nordic Colonialism in Urban Development and Planning’ (UrbTrans), (2020–2024), which is funded by the Tromsø Research Foundation and the Research Council Norway, and led by Principal Investigator Tone Huse.

UiT The Arctic University of Norway

UiT is a multi-campus research university in Norway 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 appointments are for a fixed term position for a period of four years.

Appointment to the position of Postdoctoral Research Fellow is mainly intended to provide qualification for work in top academic positions. It is a prerequisite that the applicant is able to carry out the project over the full course of the employment period. No person may hold more than one fixed-term position as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the same institution.

The core research group will consist of the two Postdoctoral Fellows, two PhD Fellows and the PI. In addition, the project will engage in collaborations with national and international partners, including curators and artists as well as scholars. Successful applicants will be expected to contribute towards the activities of the group, which will involve common fieldwork, co-organised seminars, and the production of an exhibition. The applicants will furthermore be expected to take responsibility for research tasks specified in the project’s work packages. Briefly, this will entail either (1) archival studies on the historical development of urban planning and development in Nuuk, linking this to political developments in the period 1950–2024, or (2) ethnographic studies of current urban development practices, focusing on new development projects and their link to Nuuk’s capital city strategy. For further information about the positions, please contact Tone Huse.

The appointed Postdoctoral Fellows must have their daily workplace at UiT – The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø.

About UrbTrans

‘The Arctic is burning, and Greenland is melting’, the popular science magazine ScienceNews.org stated after the record-warm month of July 2019. Wildfires ravaged and attention was once again turned to the pronounced effects of climate change in the Arctic. This development is also what sets the stage for UrbTrans, a radically interdisciplinary project that will analyse how the citizens and authorities of Greenland’s capital city, Nuuk, respond to the challenges and opportunities of a warming Arctic. UrbTrans will further work to expand the temporal scope of Arctic studies, towards understanding not only the dramatic shifts of the present, but also how Nuuk’s colonial past is activated in and affects ongoing transformation processes. This will entail close engagement with questions regarding the character and continued effects of Nordic colonialism, as well as innovative methodological work to span the traditional divides of the humanities and the social sciences.

UrbTrans builds on Science and technology Studies (STS), but will also be in close conversation with a diverse set of research fields and disciplines, ranging from Arctic-, postcolonial-, and indigenous studies, to architecture, geography and history. The project will further combine the methods of archival studies, document analysis and ethnography, thus engaging simultaneously with studies of the past of the present. The Postdoctoral Fellows will be expected engage collaboratively in research activities that span these methods, but also to independently carry out research that relies mainly on either archival studies or ethnography.

Contact

For further information about the positions, please contact:

• Researcher Tone Huse, e-mail: tone.huse@tik.uio.no, telephone: +47 47 33 60 65 or
• John McNicol, e-mail john.mcnicol@uit.no, telephone: +47 77 64 43 61

Qualifications

• A PhD degree with relevance to the project and research tasks.
• Ability to communicate in a Scandinavian language and to read Danish, Greenlandic language skills will be an advantage.
• Fluent oral and written communication skills in English.
• Personal suitability and motivation for the position.
• Willingness to adapt her/his research towards the objectives of the project.

Qualification with a PhD is required before commencement in the position. If you’re at the final stages of your PhD, you may still apply if you have submitted your PhD thesis for evaluation within the application deadline. You must submit the thesis with your application. You should have defended your dissertation before the preferred start-up date of the position.

During the assessment emphasis will be put on the candidates potential for research, motivation and personal suitability for the position.

At UiT we put emphasis on the quality, relevance and significance of the research work and not on where the work is published, in accordance with the principles of The San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA).

We offer

• A good academic environment with dedicated colleagues
• Good welfare arrangements for employees
• Good arrangements for pension, insurance and loans in the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund

• Attractive welfare benefits, in addition to Tromsø’s unique qualities. Surrounded by breath-taking nature on all sides, the city of Tromsø is a cultural hub of the north. To read more: https://en.uit.no/sted/tromso

Application

The application must include:

• Application letter. Please state which of the two positions you are interested in and describe your motivation for applying for the position. Explain how your research and experience is relevant to the UrbTrans project.
• CV summarising education, positions and academic work, including a complete list of scientific publications.
• Diplomas and references (academic transcripts only).
• A list of 2–3 references that can be contacted, including name, relation to the applicant, e-mail and phone number.
• Academic works, up to ten. The doctoral thesis is regarded as one work.

Based on an evaluation of the applicants, a short-list of candidates will be invited to submit a project proposal. The documentation must be in English or a Scandinavian language. We only accept applications sent via www.jobbnorge.no.

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. The successful candidate must be willing to get involved in the ongoing development of their department and the university as a whole.

The remuneration for Postdoctoral Research Fellow is in accordance with the State salary scale code 1352. A compulsory contribution of 2 % to the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund will be deducted.

A good work environment is characterized by diversity. We encourage qualified candidates to apply, regardless of their gender, functional capacity or cultural background. UiT and will emphasize making the necessary adaptations to the working conditions for employees with reduced functional ability

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.

More practical information for working and living in Norway can be found here: Welcome to UiT!

Apply for position