Postdoctoral Research Fellow position at the Centre for the Science of Learning & Technology UiB

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Postdoctoral Research Fellow position

At the Centre for the Science of Learning & Technology (SLATE), Faculty of Psychology there is a vacancy for a postdoctoral research fellow position within artificial intelligence and education.

The position is for a fixed term of three years with possibilities for a fourth year for career development work (e.g., teaching, project work) accounting for 25% of the entire period, and is financed by University of Bergen. 

The position is open to either an incoming or an outgoing candidate see LEAD AI mobility rules.

Research theme:

The Centre for the Science of Learning and Technology (SLATE) investigates the technological, pedagogical, cultural, ethical, and legal aspects of learning analytics (LA) and artificial intelligence in education (AIEd) and promote the responsible use of technology in education. The recent release of generative AI tools has led to their adoption in research, a phenomenon that is not yet well understood. Together with possibilities of creativity, productivity, and new multimodal tools to support knowledge creation, fundamental questions of epistemic risks and illusions of understanding of scientific knowledge arise. To further our understanding, this position is to carry out research on the adoption of generative AI in doctoral (Ph.D.) education.

Possible research topics:

• How are doctoral candidates incorporating generative AI in the phases of their research?
• Are doctoral candidates producing more, but understanding less (e.g., how is this related to academic integrity)?
• Due to access to generative AI, what competences will the future doctoral candidate need?
• What is the impact on supervision of doctoral candidates?
• What is the impact of generative AI on knowledge creation and academic discourse during the doctoral education?
• What are the ethical implications of generative AI in doctoral research and scholarship?
• What kinds of interfaces and tools can support the use of generative AI use in doctoral education?

The research proposal should aim to study the impact of generative AI in doctoral education in at least three disciplines.

About the LEAD AI fellowship programme

LEAD AI is the University of Bergen's career and mobility fellowship program for training 19 postdoctoral fellows in artificial intelligence.

The program has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No. 101126560.

The LEAD AI programme offers high-quality inter- and transdisciplinary research and training opportunities in the area of artificial intelligence supported by a dedicated supervision and mentoring, encouraging inter-sectoral exposure, in particular

• academic freedom
• benefits from knowledge and skills transfer between disciplines, organisations and sectors
• structured, skill-based training
• high-quality working conditions
• personal career support
• equal opportunities

For more information see the LEAD AI webpage or send an email to leadai@uib.no

Qualifications and personal qualities:

• Applicants must hold a Norwegian PhD or an equivalent degree within the social sciences or humanities or other AI-related areas or must have submitted his/her doctoral thesis for assessment prior to the application deadline. It is a condition of employment that the PhD has been awarded.
• Applicants should have a genuine interest in AI, and the research proposal must be related to artificial intelligence.
• Applicants cannot previously have been employed as a postdoctoral fellow at UiB and they cannot be employed by any other institution for the time of the fellowship.
• Experience with AI-related research and/or innovation is an advantage.
• Experience from social science or humanities related research is a requirement.
• The LEAD AI mobility rules must be followed.
• Outgoing fellowships require an uninterrupted stay of minimum 12 months at an institution outside of Norway, followed by a mandatory return period to the University of Bergen of at least 12 months.
• Applicants must be able to work independently and in a structured manner and have the ability to cooperate with others.
• Applicants must have excellent skills in oral and written English (self-assessed in the CV and demonstrated in the application). 
• The application and relevant documents must be in English.

Personal and relational qualities will be emphasized. Research experience, ambitions and potential will also be considered during candidate evaluation.

Special requirements for the position
The University of Bergen is subjected to the regulation for export control system. The regulation will be applied in the processing of the applications. 

About the position of postdoctoral research fellow:

The postdoctoral position is a fixed term position with the primary objective of qualifying the appointee for work in top academic positions. If the appointee lacks relevant experience, the employment period may be increased to 4 years. Teaching and other tasks will in such cases be added to the position. The position may be extended by up to one year (maximum 4 years in total) if the appointee is granted externally financed research stays abroad. Individuals may not be hired for more than one fixed-term period as a postdoctoral research fellow at the same institution.

For all LEAD AI fellows, a Personal Career Development Plan (PCDP) will be developed jointly by the fellow, supervisor, and co-supervisor by the end of Month 3 of the fellowship, including a plan for the individual research budget, and information on additional funding where applicable.

It is a requirement that the project is completed in the course of the period of employment.

What we offer:

• An engaged and professionally stimulating working environment.
• Position as postdoctoral fellow (code 1352 in the basic collective agreement) and a gross annual salary of NOK 615 700 (equivalent to pay grade 63) upon appointment. Further increases in salary are made according to length of service in the position. A higher salary may be considered for a particularly well-qualified applicant.
• Welfare benefits* and social benefits including pension-saving in the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund, occupational injury insurance, full salary during sick leave for 52 weeks, and paid parental leave**.
• Extension of the position term (work contract) due to sick leave and parental leave.
• Norwegian language courses free of charge.
• High standards for working hours, holidays, place of work, health, and safety.
• Access to specific training activities exclusively provided within the framework of the LEAD AI programme.

*) Subject to membership in the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme. For non-EU outgoing fellows, individual benefit agreement must be considered.

**) Right to paid parental leave requires 6 months paid work before first day of leave. See full requirements.

How to apply:

Before starting the online application process, please familiarise yourself carefully with our application requirements in the Guide for Applicants and Application templates. It is essential that all required attachments (see next section) are uploaded via our electronic recruiting system JobbNorge. Before uploading any documents in the portal (to minimise repetition of information):

• In the ‘JobbNorge-application field’: Only write your name.
• In the ‘JobbNorge-CV form’: Only fill in your 1) personal details, 2) information about your PhD-degree (in the field ‘Academic qualifications’) and 3) recent relevant work experience.
• You do not need to fill in any other sections in the JobbNorge form, as all the information we need will be provided by you when attaching the mandatory elements listed in the next section.

Your application must include:

• A research proposal outlining your contribution towards the thematic area and host research group described above.
• A brief account of your motivation for applying for the position.
• CV with list of any works of scientific nature (publication list).
• Mobility declaration.
• Ethics and security issues: self-assessment form.
• An initial self-assessment of opportunities for mandatory and recommended open science practices.
• Only for outgoing fellowships: Match declaration signed by outgoing phase host institution.
• Names and contact information for two references. One of these should be the main PhD supervisor.
• Letters of recommendation from the graduating university or previous employers are encouraged but not mandatory.
• Transcripts and diplomas. If you have not yet completed your PhD degree, please submit a statement from your institution confirming that the thesis has been submitted and an examination date has been set.
• Relevant certificates/references.

The application and appendices with certified translations into English must be uploaded at JobbNorge. 

Evaluation

We anticipate the whole evaluation procedure to take approximately 4 months from application deadline. Eligible applicants will be evaluated by three internationally renowned experts and assessed against criteria addressing excellence, impact, implementation, quality of the researcher and training, knowledge transfer,  and networking opportunities (outgoing only). Details are stated in the Guide for applicants.

General information:

For further details about the position, please contact:

• Director & Professor Barbara Wasson, barbara.wasson@uib.no, tel +47 55 58 41 20

For HR related questions contact:

• Head of Administration Jorunn Viken, jorunn.viken@uib.no, tel +47 55 58 32 41

The state labour force shall reflect the diversity of Norwegian society to the greatest extent possible. People with immigrant backgrounds and people with disabilities are encouraged to apply for the position.

We encourage women to apply. If multiple applicants have approximately equivalent qualifications, the rules pertaining to moderate gender quotas shall apply.

The University of Bergen applies the principle of public access to information when recruiting staff for academic positions.

Information about applicants may be made public even if the applicant has asked not to be named on the list of persons who have applied. The applicant must be notified if the request to be omitted is not met.

Further information about our employment process can be found here.

About The University of Bergen (UiB) 

The University of Bergen is a renowned educational and research institution, organised into seven faculties and approximately 54 institutes and academic centres. Campus is located in the centre of Bergen with university areas at Nygårdshøyden, Haukeland, Marineholmen, Møllendalsveien and Årstad. 

There are five departments and two centres at Faculty of Psychology. Read more about the faculty and departments.