University of 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 Special Needs Education is one of the three departments at UiO's Faculty of Education. The department has today approximately 25 permanent employees that work with research, 14 temporary research fellows and postdoctoral fellows, in addition to 12 administrative employees. The department has approximately 800 students distributed between bachelor- and master’s degree studies in Special Needs Education, master’s degree studies in Special Needs Education, as well as PhD-studies.

Job description

A position as a research fellow is vacant in the Department of Special Needs education, The Faculty of Educational Sciences, within the subject area of “Language learning in primary school children with hearing loss”.

The research fellow’s Ph.D. project should be linked to the large scale vocabulary intervention study The vocabulary learning challenge - How can we improve learning efficiency? which concerns typically developing children, children at-risk for reading impairment and children with hearing loss. This intervention study was initiated by the research group Child Language and Learning at the Department of Special Needs Education and involves collaboration with a number of international researchers within the fields of language impairment and assessment.

The research fellow is expected to contribute to the development of assessment and/or intervention materials as well as the data collection and scoring of tests used in the intervention study.

The research fellow will be associated with the research group Child Language and Learning.

More about the position

The appointment is made for a period of up to four years (25% of which is devoted to required duties within the institution).

The appointment can have a more limited scope within the framework of the applicable guidelines on account of any previous employment in academic positions.

Positions as research fellows are fixed-term educational posts where the expectation is that the research fellow completes a doctoral degree (PhD) during the period of employment.

A prerequisite for the employment is admission to the Faculty’s doctoral degree programme, and applicants’ formal and other qualifications for admission will therefore also be assessed. Research fellowship positions are defined as recruitment posts and represent an important instrument in the sector’s work of generating qualified applicants for other academic posts at universities and university colleges in the long-term perspective. The doctoral candidate is expected to participate actively in the organized research training and in the Faculty’s research community.

Qualification requirements

A key assessment criterion in an application for admission to the Faculty's PhD programme is the quality of the project description. As the research fellow’s Ph.D. project is to be incorporate into a larger project led by researchers at the Faculty, the application should include a 4-6 pages academic rapport on the field of vocabulary learning in children with hearing loss. The applicant has a deadline for writing and receiving approval of the project description that is in line with the larger project three months after admission.

Applicants must satisfy the requirements for admission to the Faculty’s PhD programme. This normally includes:

• Successful completion of a Master’s degree programme within Speech, Language and Hearing, or similar higher education programme in special needs education or in another relevant subject area such as psychology.
• Minimum B grade or equivalent for the Master’s degree (ECTS grading scale).
• Fluent oral and written communication skills in Norwegian and English is required

In the assessment of applications, emphasis will be put on:

• The applicant’s academic aptitude for completing the research training program
• The academic rapport on the announced field of research and the approval of the project description
• Experience with assessment of language and literacy skills in children
• The applicant’s personal suitability and motivation for the post, including his/her ability to collaborate and contribute to a cross-disciplinary academic community.
• Other qualifications that meet the objectives which form the basis of this type of post.
• Good Norwegian and English language skills are required.

We offer

• salary NOK 449 400 - 497 000 per annum depending on qualifications in a position as PhD Research fellow, (position code 1017)
• 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 and research interests
• The academic report on the announced field of research
• Completed application form for admission to the doctoral degree program
• Certified copies of diplomas, grade transcripts and any other testimonials
• In the event of diplomas from other countries: printouts of prospectuses or similar that describe the content and framework of the courses of study on which the application is based.
• Master’s thesis and any other academic works that may be of relevance to the application.
• CV that also includes an overview of any previously published academic/scientific works.
• Applicants from countries outside the Nordic countries where English is not the official language must attach a certificate from the TOEFL test with a minimum score of 550 unless they have a diploma from a university in an English-speaking country.

Incomplete applications will under normal circumstances not be assessed.As a rule, interviews will be conducted as part of the appointment process. At the interview the applicant will be asked to present original diplomas and grade transcripts from previous courses of study.

The application with attachments must be delivered in our electronic recruiting system, please follow the link “Apply for this job”. 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).

Formal regulations

Please see the guidelines and regulations for appointments to Research Fellowships at the University of Oslo.

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 appointment may be shortened/given a more limited scope within the framework of the applicable guidelines on account of any previous employment in academic positions.

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

Contact information

• Associate Professor, Ulrika Lövkvist, phone: +47 22 85 91 65, email: ulrika.lofkvist@isp.uio.no

Hjemmeside: University of Oslo

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