UiT Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Women's and Gender Research

A Postdoctoral Research Fellow position in woman- and gender research is available at the Centre for Women's and Gender Research (SKK), Faculty of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education (HSL). 

The position is a fixed term position for a duration of 3 years. Appointment to the position of Postdoctoral Research Fellow is mainly intended to provide qualification for work in top academic positions. It is a prerequisite that the applicant can carry out the project over the full course of the employment period. No person may hold more than one fixed term position as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the same institution.

The position will additionally be assigned to teaching and related work for UiT in an amount equivalent to a maximum 25 % of a full-time employment. 75 percent of the time is dedicated to the candidate's self-defined research project and 25 percent to compulsory work. The compulsory work is meritorious for candidates and is linked to the daily operations of the centre, including contributing to teaching, developing the center's research applications, and tasks connected to the centre’s university-wide responsibility to serve all faculties and disciplines. 

The candidate will be a member of SKK's research group Contemporary Gender Research (ConGender).  

The workplace is at UiT in Tromsø. You must be able to start in the position within a reasonable time after receiving the offer.

About the Centre for Women's and Gender Research (SKK)

The Centre for Women's and Gender Research is an interdisciplinary university unit whose overall purpose is to conduct theoretical, methodological and empirical women's and gender research. The centre is the university's unit for building expertise in gender research and gender perspectives in education, among other assisting institutional and faculty management in issues related to gender balance and equality. The mandate is given by the University Board. SKK fulfills its mandate through research, teaching, and collaboration with UiT’s Equality Committee and other departments.  

The research is organized into projects with different empirical research focuses, with feminist theory and method as a common denominator. This research is channelized through the ConGender research group, which recruits researchers across university departments and faculties. The members share an interest in critical theory and feminist perspectives. FemArc is a central activity in ConGender, focused on work in progress, and recruits beyond ConGender.

The teaching consists of a one-year programme at BA level and two PhD courses. The one-year program on Gender Equality offers basic skills in gender as a cultural and social phenomenon with an emphasis on gender theory, equality and feminism, as well as an overview of key issues and concepts within women's and gender research and the public discourse. The PhD courses "Evoking gender" and "Feminist theories, methodologies and epistemologies in research processes" alternate so that one PhD course is offered each year. The courses are part of the national research school of gender research.

Centre’s university-wide responsibility  is related to the dissemination of women's and gender research being carried out across UiT departments and faculties, strengthening the university's overall research activities in this field through the recruitment of researchers and students to women’s and gender research, as well as contributing to UiT's sustainability goals with emphasis on equality, diversity and inclusion.

SKK is organizationally linked to the Department of Philosophy and First Semester Studies (IFF) at the Faculty of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education.

About the Department of Philosophy and First Semester Studies (IFF)

The Institute has an engaged academic environment with broad expertise in both practical and theoretical philosophy, and active research networks in ethics, political philosophy, environmental philosophy, and feminist philosophy. These interests come together in our research group Philosophy for Modern Times (PhilMod). As a postdoctoral research fellow, therefore, you will not only be part of a gender research environment but also, if desired, a professionally stimulating research environment in philosophy. Both SKK and IFF value open dialogue, collegial support and curiosity in the face of complex questions.

IFF offers education in philosophy at all levels from a one-year programme, Bachelors’ and Masters’ degrees up to PhD level. It is also involved in several interdisciplinary teaching programs and other PhD programme across the university.

The project/position's field of research

The applicant defines their own research project and you must therefore submit a project proposal as part of the application. This self-defined research project should strengthen and/or expand existing research at the centre. Although this is an open call, good proposals with a male/masculinity and/or trans and/or sexuality focus will be prioritized. An absolute requirement is that the research project has a clearly defined gender theoretical and/or methodological approach with empirical impact within the field of gender research. This should be outlined in the proposal. The proposal must include a progress plan. The proposal should consist of six to ten pages, including references.

It is expected that the research results will be communicated orally and in writing during the project period and that the scientific results will be disseminated in internationally recognized, open access journals/publishers.

Contact

For further information about the position, please contact Professor and Academic Leader SKK Ann Therese Lotherington: 

• email: ann.t.lotherington@uit.no

or Head of Department Melina Duarte: 

• email: melina.duarte@uit.no 

Qualifications

Required qualifications: 

• A PhD in gender studies or another relevant social science or humanities discipline where the dissertation has taken a critical gender theoretical approach. If you’re at the final stages of your PhD, you may still apply if you have submitted your PhD thesis for doctoral degree evaluation within the application deadline. You must submit the thesis with your application. Documentation of your completed PhD degree must be submitted before commencement.
• Proficiency in English, both written and oral. Nordic applicants can document their capabilities by attaching their high school diploma.

Desired qualifications: 

• Proficiency in Norwegian or a Scandinavian language.

In the assessment the main emphasis will be attached to the submitted works and the project proposal for the qualifying work. Emphasis shall also be attached to experience from popularization/dissemination and academic policy and administrative activity.

As teaching duties or equivalent work is attached to the position, emphasis will also be attached to teaching experience and qualifications.

During the assessment emphasis will be put on the candidate’s motivation, potential for research, and personal suitability for the position. We are looking for candidates who:

• Have good collaboration skills
• Have good communication and interaction with colleagues and students
• Wants to contribute to a good working environment

At UiT we put emphasis on the quality, relevance and significance of the research work and not on where the work is published, in accordance with the principles of The San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA).

If the candidate does not document proficiency in Norwegian, Swedish or Danish at level A2, then the postdoctoral fellow must complete a language course equal to 15 ECTS before the end of the fixed-term period. UiT will facilitate this.  

Inclusion and diversity  

UiT The Arctic University i Norway is working actively to promote equality, gender balance and diversity among employees and students, and to create an inclusive and safe working environment. We believe that inclusion and diversity is a strength, and we want employees with different competencies, professional experience, life experience and perspectives.  

If you have a disability, a gap in your CV or immigrant background, we encourage you to tick the box for this in your application. If there are qualified applicants, we invite least one in each group for an interview. If you get the job, we will adapt the working conditions if you need it. Apart from selecting the right candidates, we will only use the information for anonymous statistics. 

We offer

• Involvement in an interesting research environment
• Good career opportunities 
• A good academic environment with dedicated colleagues  
• Flexible working hours and a state collective pay agreement  
• Pension scheme through the state pension fund 

Norwegian health policy aims to ensure that everyone, irrespective of their personal finances and where they live, has access to good health and care services of equal standard. As an employee you will become member of the National Insurance Scheme which also include health care services.

More practical information for working and living in Norway can be found here: https://uit.no/staffmobility 

Application

Your application must include:

• Application letter
• Project proposal (5-10 pages)
• CV
• Diplomas and transcripts (all degrees)
• Documentation of English proficiency
• Documentation of proficiency in Norwegian, Swedish, or Danish at a minimum of level A2 (if available)
• Contact information to 2-3 references
• Documentation of teaching experience and qualifications, if applicable
• A list of your academic production
• Description of your academic production, stating which works you consider most important
• The applicant must submit the doctoral thesis, as well as up to four other academic works (published or unpublished) that they wish to be considered in the assessment. The submitted works must be described/commented on in a separate document.

If you’re at the final stages of your PhD, you may still apply if you have submitted your PhD thesis for doctoral degree evaluation within the application deadline. You must submit the thesis with your application. Documentation of your completed PhD degree must be submitted before commencement.

All documentation to be considered must be in a Scandinavian language or English. If English proficiency is not documented in the application, it must be documented before starting in the position. We only accept applications and documentation sent via Jobbnorge within the application deadline.

Assessment

The applicants will be assessed by an expert committee. The committee's mandate is to undertake an assessment of the applicants' qualifications based on the written material presented by the applicants, and the detailed description draw up for the position. A copy of the assessment report will be sent to all applicants. 

The applicants who are assessed as best qualified will be called to an interview. The interview should among other things, aim to clarify the applicant’s motivation and personal suitability for the position. A trial lecture may also be held.

General information

The appointment is made in accordance with State regulations and guidelines at UiT. At our website, you will find more information for applicants. 

The remuneration for Postdoctoral research fellow is in accordance with the State salary scale code 1352. A compulsory contribution of 2 % to the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund will be deducted. You will become a member of the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund, which gives you many benefits in addition to a lifelong pension: You may be entitled to financial support if you become ill or disabled, your family may be entitled to financial support when you die, you become insured against occupational injury or occupational disease, and you can get good terms on a mortgage. Read more about your employee benefits at: spk.no.

The successful candidate must be willing to get involved in the ongoing development of their department and the university as a whole.

UiT wishes to promote gender equality. If two or more applicants are found to be equally qualified, the university will rank applicants from the underrepresented gender ahead of others.

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. 

In case of discrepancies between the Norwegian and the English version of this description, the Norwegian version takes precedence.

Eallju - Developing the High North 

UiT The Arctic University of Norway is a multi-campus comprehensive university at the international forefront. Our vision is to be a driving force for developing the High North. The Northern Sami notion eallju, which means eagerness to work, sets the tone for this motive power at UiT. Along with students, staff and the wider community, we aim to utilise our location in Northern Norway and Sápmi, our broad and diverse research and study portfolio and interdisciplinary advantage to shape the future.

Our social mission is to provide research-based education of high quality, perform artistic development and carry out research of the highest international quality standards in the entire range from basic to applied. We will convey knowledge about disciplines and contribute to innovation. Our social mission unites UiT across various studies, research fields and large geographical distances. This demands good cooperation with trade and industry and civil society as well as with international partners. We will strengthen knowledge-based and sustainable development at a regional, national and international level.