Ledig stilling på Universitetet i Oslo

Blindern og Urbygningen (Foto: Wikimedia og Colourbox)

Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Archaeology

Deadline 12.12.2018

Job description

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 Museum of Cultural History at the University of Oslo is one of Norway's largest museums of cultural history and, in addition to being a museum, it is a university department equal in status to UiO's faculties. It houses Norway's largest archaeological collection of artefacts from pre-history and the Middle Ages, including the Viking ships at Bygdøy, a considerabel collection of medieval ecclesiastical art, a collectionof antiques from the Mediterranean region and an archive of runic inscriptions.

Flere stillinger fra Universitetet i Oslo

A position as Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Archaeology is available at the Department of Archaeology, Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo (UiO).

The announced postdoctoral position is for 2 years. The preferred starting date is between January 1st and April 1st, 2019.

The position will be part of the Research Council of Norway Toppforsk project “275191 VIKINGS: Volcanic Eruptions and their Impacts on Climate, Environment, and Viking Society in 500-1250 CE”. This multi-disciplinary project aims to understand the role of volcanic eruptions and climate change in shaping the early history of Europe. The period 500-1250 Common Era (CE) is characterized by societal unrest, Viking expansion, and natural disasters, e.g. large volcanic eruptions evidenced by geochemical markers in natural archives. At present, we have limited knowledge about climate variations in Europe and especially in Scandinavia during this period, and their impact on society. The VIKINGS project seeks to map/investigate the climatic development of the early historic period, and resolve how volcanic eruptions and their environmental impacts facilitated societal changes during the Viking era.

More about the position

The postdoctoral project will have a strong focus on cultural resilience and societal and climatic change during 500-1250 CE. The appointed postdoc is expected to analyse and model temporal variation in demography (e.g. population sizes) and human activity by the use of proxy data such as radiocarbon dates, coupled with archaeo-botanical data from archaeological context in Eastern Norway and Scandinavia as well as regional and local environmental data, and also to cooperate with other KHM-staff in building a radiocarbon database for archaeological research.

The main task for the postdocoral fellow will be to analyse variation in conditions for agricultural activity (i.e., animal husbandry) in relation to topography, climate, and volcanic eruptions, and investigate how this affected the population of the Iron Age societies. Experience in developing landscape models by using LiDAR-data and GiS will be required.

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

Qualification requirements

The Centre for Viking-Age Studies (ViS) at the Museum of Cultural History UiO has a strategic ambition of being a Centre of Excellence.. Candidates for this position will be selected in accordance with this, and expected to be in the upper segment of their class with respect to academic credentials.

  • Applicants must hold a PhD degree or equivalent qualification in Archaeology or in related fields.
  • Candidates with multidisciplinary research experience from landscape-archaeology, geography and history, will be given priority.
  • Technical skills in landscape modelling and in analysis and modelling of large data sets (e.g. radiocarbon dates, paleo-botanical data, climatic data, LiDAR, GiS) are mandatory for this position.
  • Fluent oral and written communication skills in English are required.

Additional qualifications:

  • The Postdoctoral Research Fellow should be highly motivated to work and publish together with a multi-disciplinary research field (archaeology, climate, geology and, dendrochronology) and team, and be willing to exchange with national and international project collaborators including potential research stays abroad.
  • Fluent oral and written communication skills in a Scandinavian language will be advantageous.

Personal skills

  • The applicant's estimated academic and personal ability to complete the project within the time frame
  • Excellent collaboration skills and ability to successfully join in academic teamwork within and across disciplines

We offer

  • salary NOK 512 200 – 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 (short presentation and summarizing scientific work and research interest, and a letter of motivation of maximum 3 pages)
  • CV (summarizing education, positions,administrative experience and other qualifying activity)
  • copies of educational certificates (academic transcripts only)
  • a complete list of publications
  • 4 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, 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.

The appointed postdoc is expected to develop a full project description within 3 months after start-up.

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

For questions about the recruitment system: HR Officer Anita Marie Hanse, e-mail: a.m.hansen@khm.uio.no

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