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1-2 Doctoral Research Fellowships in Developmental Pragmatics

Deadline: 14.06.2020

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 Philosophy, Classics, History of Art and Ideas embraces four disciplines: Philosophy, Classical Languages (Greek and Latin), History of Ideas and Art History. The Department is also responsible for the introductory philosophy courses, obligatory for all students attending study programmes at the University of Oslo. The Department has about 110 employees.

Job description

1-2 Doctoral Research Fellowships (SKO 1017) in Developmental Pragmatics are available at the Department of Philosophy, Classics, History of Art and Ideas, University of Oslo. The PhD positions are associated with two different projects and the applications should address the specifics of these (particulars below). The projects will work towards the same overarching goal of providing new theoretical and empirical insights into pragmatic development and non-literal uses of language. Both projects are led by Ingrid Lossius Falkum and there will be a joint project team.

The Doctoral Research Fellowship funded by the Faculty of Humanities is associated with the ERC project DEVCOM - The Developing Communicator: Pragmatics, Sense Conventions and Non-Literal Uses of Language (ERC StG no. 853211), led by Ingrid Lossius Falkum. DEVCOM aims to provide an account of the stages and factors involved in children’s developing pragmatic competence with non-literal uses of language, including 1) lexical innovation, 2) lexical modulation and 3) figurative language, focusing on both production and comprehension. DEVCOM investigates the hypothesis that children’s growing sensitivity to sense conventions, which determine the publicly accepted meaning of words in their language, impedes their pragmatic reasoning with non-literal uses in the pre-school years. The empirical data will be gleaned from experimental studies using eye-tracking, elicitation and behavioral paradigms.

The Doctoral Research Fellowship funded by the Research Council of Norway (RCN) is associated with the project Creativity and Convention in Pragmatic Development: Typical and Atypical Perspectives (FINNUT project no. 302083), also led by Ingrid Lossius Falkum. The overarching framework is shared with DEVCOM but the project focuses more specifically on the atypical pragmatic development in Autism Spectrum Disorder and includes irony and implicature among its objects of study.

The project team will have access to the Socio-Cognitive Laboratory of the Center for Multilingualism in Society across the Lifespan (MultiLing), located in the Department of Linguistics and Scandinavian Studies. MultiLing’s Socio-Cognitive Laboratory has an eye-tracker, an EEG system, and a video studio https://www.hf.uio.no/multiling/english/topics/lab/.

The candidates are expected to propose an individual research project closely related to one or more of the topics studied within the overall framework of DEVCOM and/or Creativity and Convention in Pragmatic Development, and applicants may expect to further develop their project with inputs from the research team if hired.

More about the position

The persons appointed will be affiliated with the Faculty's organized research training. The academic work is to result in a doctoral thesis that will be defended at the Faculty with a view to obtaining the degree of PhD. The successful candidate is expected to join the existing research environment or network and contribute to its development. Read more about the doctoral degree.

The appointments are 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 in linguistics, philosophy, psychology, cognitive science, special needs education or other relevant disciplines.
  • The candidate’s research project must be closely related to DEVCOM and/or Creativity and Convention in Pragmatic Development.
  • Fluent oral and written communication skills in English. Proficiency in a Scandinavian language is an advantage.
  • Personal suitability and motivation for the position.

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 MA course following an assessment of the study programme’s scope and quality.

In assessing the applications, special emphasis will be placed on:

  • The project's scientific merit, research-related relevance and innovation
  • The applicant's estimated academic and personal ability to complete the project within the time frame and contribute to the research of the project team
  • The applicant's ability to complete research training
  • Good collaboration skills and an ability to join interdisciplinary academic communities

Applicants who have recently graduated with excellent results may be given preference.

We offer

How to apply

The application must include:

  • Application letter describing the applicant’s qualifications and motivation for the position. The applicant should explain how his or her research interests fit with those of DEVCOM and/or Creativity and Convention in Pragmatic Development.
  • Curriculum Vitae (with a list of education, positions, teaching experience, administrative experience and other qualifying activities, including a list of publications, if any)
  • 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
  • Project description, including a detailed progress plan for the project (3 - 5 pages, see Template for project descriptions)

Please note that all documents must be in English or a Scandinavian language.

Educational certificates, MA theses and the like are not to be submitted with the application, but applicants may be asked to submit such information or works later.

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

Short-listed candidates will be invited for an interview. The successful candidate is expected to start in the autumn of 2020, although a different starting date may be negotiable.

Formal regulations

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

No one can be appointed for more than one PhD Research Fellowship period at the University of Oslo.

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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