Job description

The Department of Political Science hereby announces a vacant position for a PhD Research Fellowship (SKO 1017). The appointment is for a period of four years with a 25% teaching requirement. In the Department, teaching is organised into five sections: public policy and administration, comparative politics, political theory, international politics, and research methods. The successful applicant will work as a PhD Fellow on the project ‘Public leadership, organizational performance, and trust in government’ (PART) funded by the Norwegian Research Council. Candidates will be part of the Faculty's PhD programme, and the work performed will be expected to lead to a PhD in Political Science.

The PART project assesses the impact of administrative leadership on organizational performance and on citizens’ trust in government. PART studies how the professional background of administrative leaders affects (1) organizational performance; (2) employee motivation and task prioritization; and (3) citizens’ trust in bureaucracy. The focus will be on the heads of agencies (regulatory, executive) and state-owned enterprises, comparing leadership backgrounds in politics and business to public sector backgrounds. PART will collect and analyse multiple types of data, including biographical data, survey data, and survey experiments with bureaucrats and citizens. The project primarily focuses on Norway, but also includes cross-country analyses.

The project is headed by Professor Tobias Bach and funded under the ‘Young Researcher Talents’ scheme of the Norwegian Research council. PART runs for four years from 2020-2024. The project will be part of the department’s research group on Policy, Bureaucracy, and Organization (PBO).

Qualification requirements

• To be appointed to the position, the prior education must be equivalent of five years at the university level in Norway in a relevant field, with two years (120 credits) at the master's level.
• The education must include relevant education in research methods. In evaluating applications, academic qualifications and the project outline will be given more weight than other disciplinary and general qualifications. The intention is to recruit the person that has the best prospects for developing into an excellent researcher and for contributing to the project’s research outputs over the coming 4-year period.
• Successful candidates must document top grades and an MA Thesis of very high quality (at least half a year’s workload/30ECTS). Short-listed applicants may be called for an interview.
• Applicants must submit a project description of up to 3000 words outlining one or more of the topics studied in PART; the specific problems to be studied, the sources of data to be used, the choice of scientific theory and method, relevance to the research project and a realistic schedule that details how the project will be completed within the fellowship period. Successful applicants may expect to further develop their project with inputs from the research team. For more information please see Guidelines for application and admission: (https://www.sv.uio.no/english/research/phd/application/phd-fellowship.html)
• Further, the following skills will be considered in the evaluation: (1) English language skills, (2) methodological competencies, particularly statistical software and analysis skills, and (3) personal suitability and motivation for working with the project

We offer

• Salary NOK 479 600-523 200 per annum depending on qualifications in a position as PhD Research fellow (position code 1017)
• A pleasant and stimulating working environment
• Attractive welfare benefits and a generous pension agreement, in addition to Oslo’s family-friendly environment with its rich opportunities for cultural and outdoor activities
• A travel and research budget.

How to apply

The application must include

• A cover letter statement of motivation and research interests
• A project description, including progress plan (max. 3000 words)
• A CV (summarising education, positions, and academic work)
• A Copy of the Master's dissertation
• Copies of transcripts: All applicants must submit their Master’s degree diploma and transcript(s), preferably together with a class distribution of grades. The transcript must specify the grade achieved on the Master’s thesis.
• An official explanation of the grading and credit system at your university translated into ECTS-credits
• A complete list of publications and academic works that the applicant wishes to be considered by the evaluation committee
• A list of reference persons: 2 or 3 references (name, relation to candidate, e-mail, and phone number)

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).

When evaluating the application, emphasis will be given to the “project description” and the applicant’s academic and personal prerequisites to carry out the project. Applicants may be called in for an interview.

Formal regulations

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

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

According to the Norwegian Freedom of 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

• Principal Investigator of PART Professor Tobias Bach: Tel. +47 22 85 47 62
• Head of Department Professor Bjørn Erik Rasch: Tel. +47 22 85 51 83
• Head of Administration Dagfinn Hagen: Tel. +47 22 85 04 61

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