PhD Fellow in Linguistics

The objective of the position is to complete research training to the level of a doctoral degree. Admission to the PhD programme is a prerequisite for employment, and the programme period starts on commencement of the position. The PhD fellow position is for a period of three years and full time studies with the possibility of an extension of the appointment period. If the doctoral dissertation is submitted for appraisal within 3 years or within 3.5 years, the PhD candidate is qualified for a completion grant for either 12 or 6 months. The completion grant should be used to further qualification measures such as courses in teaching in higher education, lecturing and other relevant work at the faculty. More information about the completion grant scheme can be found here.

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

The Department of Language and Culture

The Department of Language and Culture has a very active and diverse research profile. The Department’s core activities are research, teaching, and dissemination within linguistics, literature, art history, and media and documentation studies. The Department hosts about 140 employees the majority of which are situated at the Tromsø campus, but some are at the Alta campus. There are about 500 students at the department.

The Department houses one of the world’s foremost research communities in linguistics represented by Center for Language, Brain and Learning (C-LaBL). I addition, there are research groups within acquisition (AcqVA-Nor), cognitive linguistics (CLEAR), Sami language technology (Giellatekno and Divvun), and sociolinguistics, multilingualism, and revitalization (MultiNor).

The Department’s research communities within literature, art history, and media and documentation studies are nationally highly competitive, and are organised into research groups such as Arctic Voices, Engaging Conflicts in a Digital Era (ENCODE), Health, Art and Society (HAS), Interdisciplinary Phenomenology (IP), Pax Slavia in FLux: European Contexts (PSIF) and Worlding Northern Art (WONA).

ISK offers teaching in the following fields: linguistics, literature, art history, media and documentation studies, English, Kven, Finnish, Norwegian, Russian, Sami, Spanish, and German, as one-year programmes, as well as full Bachelor and Master programmes (including three international programmes). The department is also involved in teacher education level 8-13 and provides teaching in North Sami, Spanish, English, Nordic, Russian and German. In addition, the department is responsible for all the Sami language teaching (mother tongue and second language) at UiT. It also offers PhD programmes in linguistics, cultural/literary studies, art history, as well as media and documentation studies.

About the Academic Environment

The department's research environments in linguistics are primarily organized within the Center for Language, Brain, and Learning (C-LaBL) and the following research groups: Acquisition, Variation and Attrition with focus on Norwegian contexts (AcqVA-Nor), Cognitive Linguistics: Empirical Approaches to Russian (CLEAR), Giellatekno, and Multilingual North – Diversity, Education and Revitalisation (MultiNor). Additionally, the department hosts a center for Sámi Lexicography.

The Department of Language and Culture boasts a strong and diverse academic environment in linguistics, conducting research on a wide range of languages, including English, Finnish, Kven, Norwegian, Russian, Spanish, German, and Sámi languages. The research groups also work on many other languages, and projects focusing on languages not listed above are also welcome. Each research group has a distinct focus, and potential applicants are encouraged to visit the research groups' websites and contact relevant supervisors for more information.

About the Project

The candidate is free to develop their own project within the field of linguistics but must ensure that it can be linked to one of the department's research groups.

The project must align thematically with UiT's strategy and the faculty's strategic long-term plan and be connected to a research group or center at the department. The project should be academically relevant to the department's research activities and feasible to supervise by staff at the department. Topics related to Kven and Sámi languages are particularly encouraged.

For information about the research centers and groups at the Department of Language and Culture (ISK), please visit their websites:

• Center for Language, Brain and Learning (C-LaBL)
• Acquisition, Variation and Attrition with focus on Norwegian contexts (AcqVA-Nor)
• Cognitive Linguistics: Empirical Approaches to Russian (CLEAR)
• Giellatekno (including Sámi lexicography)
• Multilingual North – Diversity, Education and Revitalisation (MultiNor)

The applicants must present a description outlining the academic basis of the PhD project. The project description shall not exceed5 pages. Literature references must be attached and are not included in the page count. It must include a description of the topic, research question(s) and a reasoning of the choices. It should also indicate the methodologies to be used. The final project description will be developed in cooperation with the supervisor. Template for project description can be found here.

Contact

For further information about the position, please contact Head of Department Cathrine Theodorsen:

• telephone: +47 77 64 55 89
• email: cathrine.theodorsen@uit.no

or Merete Anderssen, Professor of English Linguistics:

• telephone: +47 77 64 42 54
• email: merete.anderssen@uit.no

Qualifications

Required qualifications:

• A Master's degree or equivalent in a field relevant to the project, such as a Master's in linguistics, a Master's in a specific language with a thesis on a language-related topic, or in areas such as language acquisition, psycholinguistics, or applied linguistics. Qualification with a master’s degree is required before commencement in the position. If you are near completion of your master’s degree, you may still apply and submit a draft version of the thesis and a statement from your supervisor or institution indicating when the degree will be obtained. You must still submit your transcript of grades for the master’s degree with your application.
• Proficiency in English. Nordic applicants can document their English capabilities by attaching their high school diploma.

Desired qualifications:

• Proficiency in Norwegian or another Scandinavian language.

The emphasis is on the applicant's potential to complete a research education based on the master's thesis or equivalent, and any other scientific work. (The project description will also be considered.) In addition, professional experience and other experience of significance for the completion of the doctoral programme will be taken into consideration.

We will also emphasize motivation 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

As many people as possible should have the opportunity to undertake organized research training. If you already hold a PhD or have equivalent competence, we will not appoint you to this position.

Admission to the PhD programme

For employment in the PhD position, you must be qualified for admission to the PhD programme at the Faculty of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education and participate in organized doctoral studies within the employment period.

Admission normally requires:

• A bachelor's degree of 180 ECTS and a master's degree of 120 ECTS, or an integrated master's degree of 300 ECTS.
• A master's thesis with a scope corresponding to at least 30 ECTS for a master's degree of 120 ECTS.
• A master's thesis with a scope corresponding to at least 20 ECTS for an integrated master's degree of 300 ECTS.

All applicants should have a grade point average of B (or equivalent) on their master’s degree in order to be admitted to the PhD programme. The grade point average also applies to 300 ECTS points integrated five-year master’s degrees, in which all courses are to be included in the grade point average. A more detailed description of admission requirements can be found here.

If you are employed in the position, you will be provisionally admitted to the PhD programme. Application for final admission must be submitted no later than two months after taking up the position.

Applicants with a foreign education will be subjected to an evaluation of whether the educational background is equal to Norwegian higher education, following national guidelines from Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills. Depending on which country the education is from, one or two additional years of university education may be required to fulfil admission requirements, e.g. a 4-year bachelor's degree and a 2-year master's degree. UiT normally accepts higher education from countries that are part of the Lisbon Recognition Convention.

Inclusion and diversity

UiT The Arctic University of 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 are 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 at 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 project
• 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
• PhD Fellows are normally given a salary of 550 800 NOK/year with a 3% yearly increase
• Opportunity to apply for a scholarship for an extended research stay abroad

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 about working and living in Norway can be found here: https://uit.no/staffmobility

Application

Please note that the application will only be assessed based on the information submitted by the application deadline via Jobbnorge. It is therefore important that you include all necessary documents demonstrating your qualifications for the position.

Your application must include:

• Cover letter explaining your motivation and research interests
• The application must include information about the applicant's connection to a relevant research group at the Department of Language and Culture (ISK). Please document who the applicant has been in contact with in the research group, and in what way
• CV
• Official diplomas for Bachelor's and Master's degree in the original language
• Official transcripts of grades/academic record for Bachelor's and Master's degree in the original language
• Official translation of diplomas and transcripts of records (ToR) to English or a Scandinavian language, if applicable
• Explanation of the grading system for foreign education (Diploma Supplement if available)
• Documentation of English proficiency
• Documentation of proficiency in Norwegian (or a Scandinavian language), if available
• References with contact information
• Master’s thesis, and any other academic works
• Project description (max 5 pages. Literature references must be attached, and are not included in the page count)

Qualification with a master’s degree is required before commencement in the position. If you are near completion of your master’s degree, you may still apply and submit a draft version of the thesis and a statement from your supervisor or institution indicating when the degree will be obtained. You must still submit your transcript of grades for the master’s degree with your application.

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.

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.

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.

Remuneration for the position of PhD Fellow is in accordance with the State salary scale code 1017. 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.

A shorter period of appointment may be decided when the PhD Fellow has already completed parts of their research training programme or when the appointment is based on a previous qualifying position PhD Fellow, research assistant, or the like in such a way that the total time used for research training amounts to three years.

We process personal data given in an application or CV in accordance with the Personal Data Act (Offentleglova). According to the Personal Data Act information about the applicant may be included in the public applicant list, also in cases where the applicant has requested non-disclosure. You will receive advance notification in the event of such publication, if you have requested non-disclosure.

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

Where to apply

Website: https://www.jobbnorge.no/en/available-jobs/job/300357/phd-fellow-in-linguistics

Requirements

Research Field: Language sciences

Education Level: Master Degree or equivalent

Work Location(s)

Number of offers available: 1

Company/Institute: Department of Language and Culture, Faculty of Humanitites, Social Sciences and Education

Country: Norway

State/Province: Troms

City: Tromsø

Website: https://en.uit.no/startsida

Street: Hansine Hansens veg 18

Postal Code: 9019