About the position

The Faculty of Humanities, Sports and Educational Science has a vacancy for a position as PhD Research Fellow in the project Conversation Analytic Innovation for Teacher Education (CAiTE) - Research-based Training for Enhancing Assessment and Feedback Quality from 01.10.2019.

University of South-Eastern Norway

University of South-Eastern Norway has about 18 000 students and about 1500 employees. The university is organized in four faculties, with instruction and R&D activities on eight campuses. The main profile of the university is to provide socially relevant education, geared towards specific professions, and adapted to the requirements of the workplace, as well as to produce applied research and development.

The project is funded by The Research Council of Norway. The vacant position is related to a sub-project on oral examinations in secondary school (final oral exam grade 10, and VG3) and a corpus of video-recorded test talk and interviews with the participants involved (examiners/teachers and candidates/students). The aim with the project is to gain more knowledge of the oral examination, its structures and interactional features, and to transform new knowledge into research based instruction methods for teachers and student teachers. The PhD project must address the broader research objectives defined in the project description and the applicant is welcome to propose research questions and methodological approaches within this framework. Research questions could concern how oral tests are constructed, what competences they measure and to what extent they measure competence in a valid manner. The project may be based on both qualitative and quantitative methods.The position involves close collaboration with the project groups CAiTE and NIA (Network for interaction analysis, USN).

The position is attached to the Department of Languages and Literature studies and reports to the Head of Department. The place of employment is Campus Vestfold, but the position may also include assignments on other campuses of USN.

The appointment is for a term of three years with a possibility of four years with 25% teaching duties, depending on the applicant’s qualifications for teaching.

For further information concerning the position please contact:

• Associate Professor Karianne Skovholt (phone: +47 912 43 036) or
• Head of Department Else Marie Korsæth (phone: +47 31 00 97 84)

Qualifications

Applicants to the PhD position must have a Master’s degree or equivalent higher education in pedagogy, linguistics, social sciences, communication, discourse analysis or conversation analysis (CA). CA training is an advantage, but not a requirement. According to the formal PhD regulations, an average grade B or better from the Master degree, in addition to a grade B or better of the final master project, is required. The applicant must have gained the degree within the application deadline.

Experience from either teacher education or school and education within nordic languages and literature or pedagogy is an advantage. The applicant must have fluent skills in Norwegian or another Scandinavian language.

It is a requirement that the successful applicant is granted admission to the university’s doctoral programme in Pedagogical Resources and Learning Processes in Kindergarten and School (PEDRES).

Co-operation between staff members is an integrated part of the working atmosphere at the University of South-Eastern Norway. The candidate must be motivated and demonstrate a proven ability to work effectively within a team and in a collegiate manner to formulate and realise common objectives. The candidate must be motivated to share his or her knowledge and to collaborate closely with the research group in CAiTE.

Personal suitability for the position will be emphasized.

Department of Languages and Literature Studies represents a dynamic community. The division at Campus Vestfold contains 32 staff members in the school subject Norwegian and seven members in English as a second language. The department has provided research and development within CA and classroom discourse, in addition to the fields of textbook science, multimodality and discourse analysis. The department offers an interdisciplinary research group (“Network for interaction analysis”), with a broad international network within CA, pedagogy and educational researchers. Professor of Social Interaction, Elizabeth Stokoe from Loughborough University, holds a Professor II-position at USN and will be an important resource for the PhD-candidate.

We offer

• A professionally stimulating working environment.
• Good opportunities to develop your career and your academic skills
• A good social environment
• Attractive welfare benefits in the State Pension Plan
• Opportunity for physical activities within working hours

Salary

PhD Research Fellow (code 1017): NOK 479 600 a year. Further promotion will be based on service in the position. In special cases, employment in code 1378 may be considered. Salary NOK 479 600 – 600 200 a year. A statutory contribution will be made from the employee’s salary to the state pension plan.

Additional information

Appointment to the position will be carried out by The Appointments Board for PhD Research Fellows. An expert assessment of applicants will be carried out. Short-listed candidates will be called in for interviews and must be prepared to present and discuss their projects.

The successful applicant must comply with the laws, regulations and agreements that apply to the position.

As an equal opportunities employer we welcome applicants from all sections of the community regardless of gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation and transgender status. All appointments are made on merit.

There are few men employed in research positions at the Department, and consequently men are especially encouraged to apply.

According to the Norwegian Freedom of Information act § 25 2 paragraph, information about the applicant may be included in the public applicant list, even though the applicant has requested non-disclosure. The applicant will be informed if his/her request has been declined.

How to apply

University of South-Eastern Norway uses online applications. We therefore ask applicants to register their application and CV online by clicking on the “Send application” link to the right. The application must include the following documents:

• Certified diplomas and certificates from university college/university
• Master’s thesis
• A 5-page (maximum) project description
• Any scientific publications and a list of these
• Three references (contact information)

Please note that all documents must be translated into English or a Scandinavian language by an authorized translator.

Send application