Two fully funded PhD fellowships related to "Symbolic nation-building in Eastern Europe"
at the Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Languages, University of Oslo:

http://uio.easycruit.com/vacancy/1590913/62046?iso=gb

Two positions as Doctoral Research Fellows (SKO 1017) in "Symbolic nation-building in Eastern Europe" are available at the Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Languages, University of Oslo. For further information on the research milieu “Slavic and Eastern European Studies”, please see Research topic: Eastern Europe. The doctoral research fellows will be part of the research milieu focusing on symbolic nation-building in Eastern Europe, including Russia.

Doctoral research projects must be based on analysis of material in a Slavic language, preferably Russian, Polish, Czech, Ukrainian or Bosnian / Croatian / Serbian.

Project descriptions should focus on state-building and nation-building in a historical / contemporary political perspective. In Eastern Europe, the concept of "nation" has traditionally been detached from the concept of "state", partly because "nations" (language groups and nationalities) achieved separate (nation) states only relatively recently. Not even in the Eastern European states that may prove to have existed for centuries (Poland, Russia), the nation was / is conceived as a unitary or fixed entity. Since the disintegrations of Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia and until 2014, state borders in Europe remained unchanged. At the same time, people may experience the "national" community to cross state boundaries.

Research projects should problematize and examine the interface between "nation" and "state", as expressed and created in discursive practices, and examine how actors seek to ground the state in specific historical epochs. The projects may also examine discursive practices that depict the state as something original and pre-modern, that exist before society and nation.

The persons appointed will be affiliated with the Faculty's organized research training. The academic work is to result in a doctoral thesis that will be defended at the Faculty with a view to obtaining the degree of PhD. The successful candidate is expected to join the existing research milieu and contribute to its development. Read more about the doctoral degree.

The appointment is for a duration of three years. All PhD Candidates who submit their doctoral dissertation for assessment with a written recommendation from their supervisor within 3 years or 3 ½ years after the start of their PhD position, will be offered, respectively, a 12 or 6 month Completion Grant.

Requirements

A Master's Degree or equivalent in Slavic or East European studies. The Master's Degree has to have been achieved by the time of application.
Very good knowledge of one of the Slavic languages mentioned above.
Personal suitability and motivation for the position.
In assessing the applications, special emphasis will be placed on:

The project's scientific merit, research-related relevance and innovation
The applicant's estimated academic and personal ability to complete the project within the time frame
The applicant's ability to complete research training
Good collaboration skills and an ability to join interdisciplinary academic communities
We offer

salary level 50 - 56 (NOK 430 500 - 475 400, depending on level of expertise)
a professionally stimulatinging working environment
attractive welfare benefits
Applicants must submit the following attachments with the electronic application, preferably in pdf format:

Application letter describing the applicant’s qualifications and motivation for the position
Curriculum Vitae (complete list of education, positions, teaching experience, administrative experience and other qualifying activities, including a complete list of publications)
Transcript of records of your Master's degree. Applicants with education from a foreign university are advised to attach an explanation of their university's grading system
Project description, including a detailed progress plan for the project (3 - 5 pages, see Template for project descriptions)
Please note that all documents must be in English or a Scandinavian language.

Educational certificates, master theses and the like are not to be submitted with the application, but applicants may be asked to submit such information or works later.

Short-listed candidates may be invited for an interview at the University of Oslo.

See also Guidelines for the application assessment process and appointments to research fellowships.

Following the Freedom of Information Act (Offentleglova) § 25, Chapter 2, demographic information about the applicant may be used in the public list of applicants even if the applicant opts out from the entry in the public application list.

The University of Oslo has an Acquisition of Rights Agreement for the purpose of securing rights to intellectual property created by its employees, including research results.

The University of Oslo aims to achieve a balanced gender composition in the workforce and to recruit people with ethnic minority backgrounds.

Region: Oslo

Job type: Contract

Working hours: Full-time
Application deadline: 21 April 2016

Reference number: 2016/2937

Home page: http://www.hf.uio.no/ilos/

Contacts:

administrativ leder Karina Kleiva
Telephone: +47 22 85 68 27; email:

Instituttleder Karen Gammelgaard
Telephone: +47 22 85 67 95
https://uio.easycruit.com/vacancy/application/1590913/62046?iso=gb