Job description

The Museum of Cultural History wishes to recruit a Postdoctoral Research Fellow to take part in a two-year project entitled Human Sacrifice & Value: the Limits of Sacred Violence, (HS&V), funded by The Norwegian Research Council (NRC) as a FRIPRO-project, hosted by the Museum, and comprised of several international scholars. This project aims at understanding why the ideas and practices associated with human sacrifice reappear throughout human history, from prehistory to the present and across cultures. The project focuses on developing both historical and contemporary perspectives on discourses on human sacrifice and the transformations of its perceived value across diverse cultural value systems.

The project will embed this postdoctoral fellowship into an interdisciplinary research team that includes researchers from Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo, The National Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen, and Aarhus University, with an advisory board comprised of scholars from universities and museums in Norway, Denmark and the United Kingdom.

More about the position

The postdoctoral fellow will carry out a systematic research agenda based on case studies of human sacrifice with a temporal focus on Pre-Roman Iron Age in Southern Scandinavia to the Viking Age, as well as more recent permutations of human sacrificial practices.

The chosen Fellow will also be directly involved in the academic coordination of the projects overall research agenda across disciplines including history, anthropology, archaeology and numismatics, all within a broad chronological framework.

The primary objective will be to apply quantitative heuristics methods that can be used to model variation and similarities in various forms of sacrifice traditions and interpret them in cross-cultural perspective, i.e., network approaches and phylogenetic systematics.

The appointment is for a period of two years. During this time the Fellow will work in close collaboration with three Work Package Leaders and the Principal Investigator (PI) on the project, Rane Willerslev, Director of the National Museum of Denmark. This specific position is placed under the supervision of Work Package Leader Mette Lövschal at Aarhus University.

The Fellow will actively participate in dissemination of the project’s research with a mission to contribute to new scientific knowledge and the publication thereof in peer-reviewed journals, conference proceedings and book collections.

The main purpose of the fellowship is to qualify researchers for work in higher academic positions within their disciplines.

Qualification requirements

A comprehensive assessment of the applicant's scientific qualifications forms the basis of appointment. Successful applicants must have handed in their PhD thesis for evaluation before the application deadline, and must have achieved a relevant PhD degree before taking up the post. Moreover, the applicants are expected to have relevant research qualifications at early career researcher level within one or several of the museum’s fields of expertise, i.e. archaeology, anthropology, numismatics, cultural history or similar disciplines.

The applicant should demonstrate a working understanding of quantitative methods for historical analysis, e.g., text-mining, data-management, network methods or phylogenetic systematics.

Experience with systematic cross-cultural analyses and the anthropology/archaeology of ritual violence will be particularly relevant.

In assessing the applications, special emphasis will be placed on the quality of the proposal to work on the project.

Applicants are expected to document experience and results in relation to:

• research management
• papers for publication
• applying for and obtaining external research funds
• collaboration with international networks

The applicants will have built up their experience from previous positions at institutions of higher education, government research institutions, museums or similar institutions.

The applicants are expected to:

• Independently and in collaboration with the project members handle a portfolio of tasks within the framework of the HS&V project.
• Research and write papers for publication which make original contributions to knowledge about the dynamics of human sacrifice across cultures, in close collaboration with international co-authors from different disciplines.
• Possess outstanding cooperation and communication skills.
• Solve tasks to a high quality and with short deadlines.

We offer

• salary NOK 515 200,- to 576 100,- per annum depending on qualifications in position as Postdoctoral Research Fellow (position code 1352)
• a professionally stimulating working environment
• 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

• cover letter (statement of motivation, summarizing scientific work and research interest)
• a research outline, including relevant reserach questions and theoretical and methodological approaches(max. 2-3 pages)
• CV (summarizing education, positions, administrative experience and other qualifying activity)
• copies of educational certificates (academic transcripts only)
• a complete list of publications
• 3 academic works that the applicant wishes to be considered
• list of reference persons: 2-3 references (name, relation to candidate, e-mail and phone number)

The application with attachments must be delivered in our electronic recruiting system. 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).

In assessing the applications, special emphasis will be placed on the documented, academic qualifications, the research outline, and the quality of the project as well as the candidates motivation and personal suitability. Interviews with the best qualified candidates will be arranged.

It is expected that the successful candidate will be able to complete the project in the course of the period of employment.

Formal regulations

Please see the guidelines and regulations for appointments to Postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Oslo.

No one can be appointed as Postdoctoral Fellow for more than one specified period at the same institution.

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.

The University of Oslo has an agreement for all employees, aiming to secure rights to research results etc.

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

Contact information

• Professor Svein Gullbekk, e-mail: s.h.gullbekk@khm.uio.no

For questions regarding the recruitment system please contact HR-adviser Anita Marie Hansen, e-mail: a.m.hansen@khm.uio.no

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