We have a vacant position at the University of Oslo

About the position 

Applications are invited for one post-doctoral position in social anthropology, to be based at the Department of Social Anthropology, University of Oslo. The positions will be part of the project “Knowledge in Crisis: The Dynamics of Environmental Expertise amidst Rural Change” led by Associate Professor Alessandro Rippa, and funded by the HERA-CHANCE scheme “Crisis – Perspectives from the Humanities.” 

The contract will commence in spring 2025, run for 3 years (see below), and the location of employment is Oslo, Norway.

Project description

RURALEX addresses the cumulative crisis of environmental expertise across rural Europe and investigates how this relates to broader processes of societal disenfranchisement. In recent years, many rural parts of Europe have struggled with the local effects of large demographic and associated ecological changes, including human out-migration and the abandonment of traditional forms of agriculture and other nature-based livelihoods. These shifts have led to significant losses in what we refer to as “environmental expertise”: loss of knowledge of the land, loss of important traditional practices, loss of tacit expertise about local environments, loss of cultural knowhow. 

This crisis is at once intangible and deeply impactful. RURALEX addresses those profound changes in socio-ecological knowledges and practices, held by both scientific “experts” and lay persons, through long-term ethnographic engagement and deep mapping tools that will be developed collaboratively by the project partners. The project will determine what is being lost and its impact, how these changes take place, and what processes might be put in motion to ensure that local knowledge is adequately valued at the policy-making level. To do so the project draws on multispecies perspectives grounded in anthropology, history, literary, cultural and sound studies, and the environmental humanities. 

RURALEX is a consortium of six universities in Finland, Estonia, Romania, the UK, and Spain, beside Norway, and comparative and collaborative methods will be employed throughout the project. 

The position

The successful applicant will form part of a larger research environment comprising the six academic partners and over a dozen researchers, as well as ten associate partners such as local-level NGOs and museums, working across eight European case studies. 

The successful applicant is expected to work on a case study in Bitterfeld-Wolfen in Eastern Germany, in the context of post-mining restoration. 

The successful applicant will have some room to develop an independent project, but will be expected to conduct the following tasks:

• Conduct six months of ethnographic fieldwork, collecting oral histories of former environmental activists and employees of mining and chemical companies; interview experts from and consult the archives of governmental and private agencies involved in restoration; engage with other actors previously or currently involved in the restoration of mining landscapes in the region. 
• Liaison and collaborate with our local Associate Partners to co-develop a public outreach programme. 
• Manage communications with the project’s academic partners.
• Co-organise, together with the PI, the second project workshop.
• Write, publish, and disseminate the research results. 

The ideal candidate for the job will have long-term ethnographic experience in the region, and familiarity with anthropological and environmental humanities literature on landscape restoration, conservation, and post-socialist transition. The candidate must be fluent in both English and German. 

This position also requires an interest in dissemination through non-conventional academic media. Experience with exhibition work and/or visual anthropology or visual art is an advantage. Additionally, the position requires collaborative skills and an interest in editorial tasks. Experience with organizational work, administration, and editing is an advantage, as is experience working as part of collaborative, EU-level projects.

The appointment is a fulltime position and is for the duration of three years.

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

 Qualifications requirements

• Applicants must hold a degree equivalent to a Norwegian doctoral degree in Social Anthropology or a closely related discipline. Doctoral dissertation must be submitted for evaluation by the closing date. Appointment is dependent on the public defence of the doctoral thesis being approved.
• A solid grounding in social anthropology is required, and familiarity with scholarship and methods from the environmental humanities would be useful.

• Applicants must have prior research experience, including long-term ethnographic fieldwork. Research experience in Eastern Germany is an advantage.
• Familiarity with non-conventional academic dissemination genres.
• Fluent oral and written communication skills in English and German. 

We can offer you 

• Salary according to “SKO 1352 Postdoctoral Fellow” in a range between NOK 595000 - 667 700
• Funds for research, travel, conference participation and dissemination, books and equipment
• A stimulating and international research environment
• A friendly and inclusive workplace allowing for a good work-life balance
• Access to Norway’s excellent public services and welfare schemes, including generous parental leave provisions and affordable and accessible childcare (including the university`s kindergartens)
• Norway’s capital with its rich cultural life and easy access to beautiful nature
• Practical support for international staff moving to Norway (international staff may also benefit from tax cuts in their first years)

Inclusive worklife and diversity at UiO

Inclusion and diversity are a strength. The University of Oslo has a personnel policy objective of achieving a balanced gender composition. Furthermore, we want employees with diverse professional expertise, life experience and perspectives.

If there are qualified applicants with disabilities, employment gaps or immigrant background, we will invite at least one applicant from each of these categories to an interview.

We hope that you will apply for the position. 

More information about gender equality initiatives at UiO can be found here.

Application - how to apply

Your application must include:

• A cover letter (statement of motivation and broader research interests, 1-2 pages) 
• CV (including a complete list of education with grades, positions, pedagogical and administrative experience, publications and other qualifying activities) 
• Research plan (maximum 2 pages) outlining how the candidate envisages completing the work to be undertaken during the course of the term of appointment. Given the nature of the position, this should also be used to elaborate on the candidate’s previous experience in the region
• One writing sample (a published article or a dissertation chapter, ideally)
• List of reference persons: 2 references (name, relation to candidate, e-mail and phone number) 
• Copies of educational certificates (academic transcripts only)

Application with attachments must be submitted via our recruitment system Jobbnorge, click "Apply for the position".

When applying for the position, we ask you to retrieve your education results from Vitnemålsportalen.no. If your education results are not available through Vitnemålsportalen, we ask you to upload copies of your transcripts or grades. Please note that all documentation must be in English or a Scandinavian language.

General information

The best qualified candidates will invited for interviews. 

Applicant lists can be published in accordance with Norwegian Freedom of Information Act § 25. When you apply for a position with us, your name will appear on the public applicant list. It is possible to request to be excluded from this list. You must justify why you want an exemption from publication and we will then decide whether we can grant your request. If we can't, you will hear from us.

Please refer to Regulations for the Act on universities and colleges chapter 3 (Norwegian) and Guidelines concerning appointment to post doctoral and research posts at UiO (Norwegian).

The University of Oslo has a transfer agreement with all employees that is intended to secure the rights to all research results etc.

Apply for position

Questions about the position

• Alessandro Rippa (Projectleader), alessandro.rippa@sai.uio.no
• Thorgeir Kolshus (Head of Department), thorgeir.kolshus@sai.uio.no