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Doctoral Research Fellow (Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages)

Deadline 31.01.2019

Brokering China’s Extraversion: An Ethnographic Analysis of Transnational Arbitration (BROKEX)

Universitetet i Oslo

The University of Oslo is Norway’s oldest and highest ranked educational and research institution, with 28 000 students and 7000 employees. With its broad range of academic disciplines and internationally recognised research communities, UiO is an important contributor to society.


The Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages(abbreviated IKOS from its Norwegian name) is one of the seven departments at the Faculty of Humanities. The Department has a broad competency in the study of religion and culture and in language based area studies of South Asia, East Asia and the Middle East and North Africa. The Department has several study programmes at both BA and MA levels. Among the Department's 110 employees about 40 are PhD and Postdoctoral Fellows.

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Job description

A Doctoral Research Fellowship (SKO 1017) is available at the Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages, University of Oslo.

The position is funded by the Faculty of Humanities, and the PhD candidate will be associated with the European Research Council Starting Grant project “Brokering China’s Extraversion: An Ethnographic Analysis of Transnational Arbitration (BROKEX).” The PhD scholar will be supervised by Dr. Heidi Østbø Haugen, who is the principal investigator of the ERC Starting Grant project.

The PhD fellow will develop a case study that fits within the broader project BROKEX. The case study may be contemporary or historical. The case study must draw upon primary data, and it is up to the PhD fellow to suggest which method(s) to employ. The empirical context for the case study carried out by the PhD fellow must include the Pearl River Delta, South China.

BROKEX will generate knowledge about how Chinese global engagements deepen across sectors and geographic regions. The project examines how brokers mediate in transnational fields. The PI and three postdoctoral researchers will carry out ethnographic case studies that yield complementary information on brokering across geographic scales:

1) Connecting low-cost Chinese manufacturing with African markets (PI);

2) Integrating Chinese academic research with global scientific communities;

3) Attracting new foreign investments to China to underpin industrial upgrading (position filled);

4) Transnational architecture production. A PhD student will work on a self-identified case study.

The data collection will take place in the Pearl River Delta, South China. We will build on the empirical findings and literature to develop brokerage theory in the social sciences. Ethnographic case studies combined with critical theorization will generate new knowledge about processes beneath the “rise of China”. For more information, please refer to the project description.

The PhD fellow is expected to collect data in Guangdong Province. For the remainder of the employment period, the fellow is expected to live in Oslo and take active part in the research environment at the Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages.

The person appointed will be affiliated with the Faculty's organized PhD training. The academic work is to result in a doctoral thesis that will be defended at the Faculty of Humanities with a view to obtaining the degree of PhD. The successful candidate is expected to take active part in the research environment at the Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages. Read more about the doctoral degree.

The appointment is for a duration of 3 years. All PhD Candidates who submit their doctoral dissertation for assessment with a written recommendation from their supervisor within 3 years or 3 ½ years after the start of their PhD position, will be offered, respectively, a 12 or 6 month Completion Grant.

Qualification requirements

  • A Master’s degree or equivalent with a relevant specialization within the social sciences or humanities. The degree must have been obtained by the time of application.
  • Chinese language skills necessary for carrying out the proposed project.
  • Fluent oral and written communication skills in English.

To be eligible for admission to the doctoral programmes at the University of Oslo, applicants must, as a minimum, have completed a five-year graduation course (Master’s degree or equivalent), including a Master’s thesis of at least 30 ECTS. In special cases, the Faculty may grant admission on the basis of a one-year Master course following an assessment of the study programme’s scope and quality.

In assessing the applications, emphasis will be placed on:

  • The academic merits of the proposed case study;
  • Potential for intellectual contribution to the overall project;
  • The applicant's estimated academic and personal ability to complete the project within the time frame;
  • The applicant's ability to complete research training;
  • Personal suitability and motivation for the position and working in an interdisciplinary academic environment.
  • Good collaboration skills and an ability to join interdisciplinary academic communities

We offer

How to apply

The application must include:

  • Application letter describing the applicant’s qualifications and motivation for the position;
  • Curriculum Vitae (with a list of education, positions, teaching experience, administrative experience and other qualifying activities, including a complete list of publications);
  • Transcript of records of your Bachelor’s and Master's degrees. Applicants with education from a foreign university must attach an explanation of their university's grading system;
  • Contact information for two academic references (no letters of recommendation);Two writing samples (eg. Masters thesis chapters, course papers, conference presentations) totaling a maximum of 50 pages.
  • Project description. The project description should address the following questions: (1) Theoretical foundation for the case study and your research question(s); (2) details of your methodological approach and how you will deal with potential practical and ethical challenges; (3) How your case study will contribute to the overall project; (4) Progress plan. See Template for project descriptions)

All documents must be in English or a Scandinavian language and uploaded in pdf format.

The application with attachments must be delivered in our electronic recruiting system, please follow the link “Apply for this job”.

Short-listed candidates will be invited for an interview.

Formal regulations

See also regulations as well as guidelines for the application assessment process and appointments to research fellowships.

Following the Freedom of Information Act (Offentleglova) § 25, Chapter 2, demographic information about the applicant may be used in the public list of applicants even if the applicant opts out from the entry in the public application list.

The University of Oslo has an Acquisition of Rights Agreement for the purpose of securing rights to intellectual property created by its employees, including research results.

The University of Oslo aims to achieve a balanced gender composition in the workforce and to recruit people with ethnic minority backgrounds.

Contact information

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