PhD Fellowship position at the Department of Journalism and Media Studies - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

About the position  

The Department of Media and Journalism Studies at OsloMet University offers a fully funded position as a PhD-candidate. The position is connected to the project DD-MAC (Decoding Digital Media in African regions of Conflict), which is funded by the Norwegian Research Council. The project is a cooperation between OsloMet, Leiden University, Utrecht University, Researchers at Addis Ababa University, and in Bamako, Mali as well as SIMULA, Norway.  

The candidate will receive supervision from one or two professors in the project and will be based at OsloMet, while research stays at partner institution (s) may be possible.  

 Read more about the project and department here.

About the project  

Conflicts and insurgencies threaten to reverse development progress made in recent decades, not least in regions of Sub-Saharan Africa. Digital communication is assumed to have a severe impact both on how conflicts develop and how they are mediated.  

Addressing this challenge, the aim of the DD-MAC project is to:  

• gather empirical evidence 
• defining and demonstrating the use, spread, content and agenda-setting role of social media in regions of conflicts in sub-Saharan Africa. 

Ethiopia and Mali have been selected as focal points of research as they represent two important regions of exacerbating conflicts, namely the Horn of Africa and the Sahel. Experiences from Ethiopia and Mali could help illuminate our perceptions of digital media's role in ongoing conflicts. Concomitantly two very different countries, they are both historically tied to weak social contracts, have large diasporas, complex realities of inequalities and conflicts between polarized groups on ethnic lines.  

Through an interdisciplinary approach, project partners will carry out focus groups interviews in Ethiopia and Mali, be 'scraping' large amounts of social media data, undertaking network analysis, media content tracking, and discourse analysis.  

The project aims to gain important new knowledge of:  

• citizens' social media use 
• how disinformation and hate speech spread through digital networks and fan conflicts
• the role of diasporas in conflicts 
• and the relationship between digital media and traditional media (radio) in regions with relatively low internet connectivity. 

  The PhD project will be an empirical project that relates to the overall theme for the DD-MAC project. The PhD research fellow will be part of a team of senior researchers to achieve the aims of the projects. 

Applicants must prepare a project outline that is relevant to (some of) DD-MAC’s overall objectives. The person who is employed in the position will be part of the DD-MAC research team and the research group MEKK at the Department of Journalism and Media Studies at OsloMet. If relevant, research stays in Ethiopia, Mali and/or the Netherlands may be included. The PhD period is three years without teaching obligations.  

Qualifications and conditions  

The applicant must have:  

• education at master's degreelevel (120 ECTS credits) or an equivalent education in social sciences, the humanities, and/or fields relevant to journalism and media studies or information science. In special cases, master's degrees of 90 ECTS can also be assessed.
• good communication skills and proficiency in both written and spoken English.  
• the ability to both workindependently and targeted, as well as having good collaboration skills.  
• strong interest in research. 

  We are looking for a candidate who is ambitious, dedicated, and highly motivated.  

  It is an advantage if the applicant has:

• relevant research/work experience 
• knowledge of Sahel and/or the Horn of Africa 
• knowledge of French or other local languages of Ethiopia or Mali
• experience with international research cooperation  

Conditions : 

• admission to the PhD program in Social Science at OsloMet is a prerequisite for joining the position as PhD fellow. 
• a project plan for the fellowship period must be completed and accepted within 3 months after enrolment. 

When assessing applicants, emphasis will be placed on the quality of the submitted PhD project proposal and the project’s relevance to the DD-MAC project. The PhD project proposal must indicate that the project will realistically lead to a doctoral degree within the three-year period.  

   The proposal should consist of a maximum of 10 pages and must include the following elements:  

• research questions, theory and methods
• relevant knowledge within the research area 
• schedule for the research plan 

It is important to OsloMet to reflect the population of our region, and all qualified candidates are welcome to apply. We make active endeavors to further develop OsloMet as an inclusive workplace and to adapt the workplace if required. You are also welcome to apply for a position with us if you have experienced periods where you have not been in work, education or training.  

Expert evaluation  

An expert committee will assess the applicants. You must upload the following documents together with your application by the final date for applications:  

• cv, references, and all pages of certificates/ diplomas. The certificates/diplomas must include ECTS grades (A-F). Foreign diplomas must be translated into English by the degree-conferring institution. 
• master`s thesis
• a project description proposal written in English, of max 10 pages including references 
• other scholarly work that you wish the expert committee to take into consideration 
• a list of your publications (if relevant) 

You must upload all these documents. Original documents and valid passport must be presented if you are invited for an interview. OsloMet performs document inspection in order to give the candidates a proper evaluation and ensure fair competition.  

Please note that incomplete applications will not be considered. If you have documents that cannot be uploaded electronically, please contact Hanne Landen, e-mail hanne.landen@oslomet.no

 If there are more than 20 qualified applicants for the position, a committee will be established to screen for the best qualifies applicants before an expert committee assesses the applicants.  

We can offer  

• a unique and purposeful research experience at the international research front 
• an exciting job opportunity as part of a truly international project based at Norway’s third largest and most urban university 
• good employee welfare facilities   
• opportunities for professional development in Norwegian and international research institutions with expert supervision 
• pension conditions in the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund 

The position is paid in accordance with the Government´s salary regulations, position code 1017. State salary wage scale 54, 491 200 NOK per year.   

For further information about the position, contact project leader Professor Kristin Skare Orgeret (Kristin.orgeret@oslomet.no), acting head of department Anne Hege Simonsen (annehege@oslomet.no) or PhD coordinator at the department Professor Steen Steensen (steen.steensen@oslomet.no).  

Application deadline: 19.12.2021.