PhD in Economic Geography, specializing in geographies of labour markets in the energy transition

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At NTNU, 9,000 employees and 43,000 students work to create knowledge for a better world.

You will find more information about working at NTNU and the application process here.

About the position

For a position as a PhD Candidate, the goal is a completed doctoral education up to an obtained doctoral degree.

The Department of Geography at NTNU has a 3-year vacancy for a PhD position in economic geography, contributing to the project Making the Green Shift Work for Regions (GSW). Funded by the Research Council of Norway's Welfare, Culture and Society programme, the GSW project seeks to better integrate localities and regions, labour markets and working lives as central elements within the green shift, rather than merely as outcomes of the energy transition. The overall objective is to help develop a new understanding of how regional labour markets are adapting to the challenge of green shift, using the example of Oil & Gas specialised regions.

Drawing on a geographical labour markets perspective, the GSW project aims to better understand how labour markets processes vary between places, operating and performing differently based on their industrial histories, social and institutional contexts, and regulatory settings. In particular, the research will explore and develop the regional skills ecosystem as an analytical framework to help develop both theory and policy prescription. As the green shift unfolds, the ways in which different regional skills ecosystems adapt and change will vary and have important implications for processes of regional competitiveness and labour market inclusion.

In collaboration with the project’s research partners Newcastle University, Sintef Digital and FAFO, the NTNU-led PhD will provide research insights into the evolution and adaptation of the regional skills ecosystems within and across the O&G and green energy sectors. Particularly important will be identifying the evolving institutional contexts, structure and configuration of regional Oil and Gas labour markets and the extent to which key actors’ develop adaptive strategies and responses to the shifting market and emerging growth of green energy activities. Within which, the PhD will contribute to the project’s novel international comparative analysis of energy transition in carbon intensive regions across Norway (Rogaland, Trøndelag) and Scotland (Aberdeen and North East Scotland). Applicants are encouraged to conduct research stays abroad and acquire mobility funds from Research Council Norway.

Applicants are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the project description. This can be obtained by contacting Asbjørn Karlsen (asbjorn.karlsen@ntnu.no)

Your immediate leader is the Head of Department of Geography, NTNU

Duties of the position

• Complete the doctoral education up to an obtained doctoral degree.
• Conduct high-quality research within the framework described above.
• Be a part of the Just and Sustainable Transition research group at the Department of Geography.
• Academic publishing and popular science dissemination
• Participate in international activities such as conference attendance and/or research stays at collaborating institutions abroad preferably at our research partner Newcastle University/CURDS.

Required selection criteria

• A master’s degree in human geography, or another relevant master’s degree in social science
• Your master’s degree should correspond to a Norwegian five-year master's education, where 120 credits are obtained at the master's level.
• You must have a strong academic background from your previous studies and an average grade from the master's degree program, or equivalent education, which is equal to B or better compared with NTNU's grading scale. If you do not have letter grades from previous studies, you must have an equally good academic basis. If you have a weaker grade background, you may be assessed if you can document that you are particularly suitable for a PhD education and the current position.
• Candidates who are in the final stage of their master’s degree can apply and will be considered, but cannot be hired until they have completed the master’s degree.
• You must meet the requirements for admission to the PhD program in social science, specializing in geography: Social Sciences – PhD programme - Trondheim - NTNU
• Experience from qualitative research methods.
• Good quality of the research proposal and research plan
• The research proposals must be relevant for the GSW project and for existing research at the Department.
• Good written and oral skills in English.

The appointment is to be made in accordance with Regulations on terms of employment for positions such as postdoctoral fellow, Phd candidate, research assistant and specialist candidate and Regulations concerning the degrees of Philosophiae Doctor (PhD) and Philosodophiae Doctor (PhD) in artistic research national guidelines for appointment as PhD, post doctor and research assistant

Preferred selection criteria

• Relevance of professional background.
• Ability to spend periods of time in the field working on data collection.
• Experience in field-based research.
• Other relevant methodological experiences
• Skills in a Scandinavian language is preferable

Personal characteristics

Emphasis will be placed on personal and interpersonal qualities such as:

• Willingness to learn and work independently and with others.
• Good communication skills in a range of contexts.
• Motivation to contribute to a positive working environment.
• Ability to adapt to changing conditions and situations.

We offer

• exciting and stimulating tasks in a strong international academic environment
• an open and inclusive work environment with dedicated colleagues
• favourable terms in the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund
• employee benefits - PhD candidates in Norway are not considered as students but as employees
• there are no tuition fees

Salary and conditions

As a PhD candidate (code 1017) you are normally paid from gross NOK 532 200 per annum before tax, depending on qualifications and seniority. From the salary, 2% is deducted as a contribution to the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund.

The period of employment is 3 years.

Appointment to a PhD position requires that you are admitted to the PhD programme in Social Sciences - PhD programme - Trondheim - NTNU specializing in geography within three months of employment, and that you participate in an organized PhD programme during the employment period.

The engagement is to be made in accordance with the regulations in force concerning State Employees and Civil Servants, and the acts relating to Control of the Export of Strategic Goods, Services and Technology. Candidates who by assessment of the application and attachment are seen to conflict with the criteria in the latter law will be prohibited from recruitment to NTNU.

After the appointment you must assume that there may be changes in the area of work.

The position is subject to external funding from Research Council Norway.

It is a prerequisite you can be present at and accessible to the institution on a daily basis

About the application

The application must be written in English whereas supporting documentation to be used as the basis for the assessment could be in English, German or Scandinavian languages.

Publications and other scientific work must follow the application. Please note that your application will be considered based solely on information submitted by the application deadline. You must therefore ensure that your application clearly demonstrates how your skills and experience fulfil the criteria specified above.

The application must include:

• CV and certificates
• transcripts and diplomas for bachelor's and master's degrees. If you have not completed the master's degree, you must submit a confirmation that the master's thesis has been submitted.
• A copy of the master's thesis. If you recently have submitted your master's thesis, you can attach a draft of the thesis.
• Project proposal (maximum 2000 words), which focuses on the research plan.
• Application letter, which should include your research background, motivation for the position
• Publications or other relevant research work if you have (maximum five works)
• Name and contact information of three referees

If all, or parts, of your education has been taken abroad, we also ask you to attach documentation of the scope and quality of your entire education, both bachelor's and master's education, in addition to other higher education. Description of the documentation required can be found here. If you already have a statement from the Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills - HK-dir (formerly NOKUT), please attach this as well.

Joint work will be considered. If it is difficult to identify your efforts in the joint work, you must enclose a short description of your participation.

In the evaluation of which candidate is best qualified, emphasis will be placed on education, experience and personal and interpersonal qualities. Motivation, ambitions, and potential will also count in the assessment of the candidates.

NTNU is obliged by the evaluation criteria for research quality in accordance with The San Fransisco Declaration on Research Assessment – DORA and The obligations in the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment ( CoARA) on responsible assessment of research and recognition of a wider range of academic contributions to science and society.

General information

Working at NTNU

NTNU believes that inclusion and diversity is our strength. We want to recruit people with different competencies, educational backgrounds, life experiences and perspectives to contribute to solving our social responsibilities within education and research. We will facilitate for our employees’ needs.

The city of Trondheim is a modern European city with a rich cultural scene. Trondheim is the innovation capital of Norway with a population of 200,000. The Norwegian welfare state, including healthcare, schools, kindergartens and overall equality, is probably the best of its kind in the world. Professional subsidized day-care for children is easily available. Furthermore, Trondheim offers great opportunities for education (including international schools) and possibilities to enjoy nature, culture and family life and has low crime rates and clean air quality.

As an employee at NTNU, you must at all times adhere to the changes that the development in the subject entails and the organizational changes that are adopted.

A public list of applicants with name, age, job title and municipality of residence is prepared after the application deadline. If you want to reserve yourself from entry on the public applicant list, this must be justified. Assessment will be made in accordance with current legislation. You will be notified if the reservation is not accepted.

If you have any questions about the position, please contact Asbjørn Karlsen, email Asbjorn.Karlsen@ntnu.no. If you have any questions about the recruitment process, please contact Renate Lillian Johansen, e-mail: renate.johansen@ntnu.no

If you think this looks interesting and in line with your qualifications, please submit your application electronically via jobbnorge.no with your CV, diplomas and certificates attached. Applications submitted elsewhere will not be considered. Upon request, you must be able to obtain certified copies of your documentation.

Application deadline: 15.08.2024