PhD research fellowships

The School of Business and Law, Department of Economics and Finance at the University of Agder invites applications for 2 full-time, fixed-term appointments as PhD Research Fellows for a period of three years. Depending on applicants’ profile and academic experience, some may be offered four-year positions which will include 25% teaching or other tasks at the School of Business and Law. The positions are located in Kristiansand, Norway.

The School of Business and Law at University of Agder is Norway’s largest university- based business school with 1700 students and around 80 faculty members. The School of Business and Law offers an active research environment with close collaboration between professors and PhD students.

The positions are related to one of the following disciplines: (1) Financial Accounting, (2) Applied Microeconomics and (3) Finance. The candidates’ research interests should be linked to the competence and research focus of professors at the School of Business and Law, and applicants are advised to propose and explain in their applications which faculty member would fit their research proposal. Candidates are encouraged to contact Associate Professor Anna Alon (anna.alon@uia.no) for further information regarding (1) Financial Accounting, Associate Professor Daniel Göller (daniel.goller@uia.no), regarding (2) Applied Microeconomics and Professor Valeriy Zakamulin (valeri.zakamouline@uia.no) regarding (3) Finance.

The applicants must qualify for admission to the PhD Programme at the School of Business and Law, and must hold a research master’s degree (normally at least 300 ECTS including a master’s thesis) in Economics, Finance, Accounting, or similar business school fields. Further provisions relating to the positions as PhD Research Fellow can be found in the Regulations Concerning Terms and Conditions of Employment for the Post of Post-doctoral Research Fellow, Research Fellow, Research Assistant and Resident.

The appointees must have the ability to work in a goal-oriented, organised, focused and independent manner. During the assessment process, emphasis will be placed on the applicant’s examination results as well as any previous research and development work. Strong qualification in applied research methods is expected and fluency in written and oral English is a prerequisite. Relevant practical and teaching experience, personal suitability and good teamwork skills will also be emphasised. The University, on its side, is committed to securing supervision for the successful applicants. Short-listed applicants will be interviewed before admission.

Applicants must submit a full curriculum including transcripts of grades, academic references, a project description of no more than four pages and a maximum of one page letter of motivation including suggested supervisor. The project description should include a presentation of possible research questions/hypotheses, theoretical framework, potential data sources and a progress plan for the proposed doctoral project. An essential part of the assessment of applicants is the quality of the project description and whether it fits with available supervisors’ research interests.

The successful applicants will have rights and obligations in accordance with the current regulations for the public service.

Appointment is made by the University of Agder’s Appointments Committee for Teaching and Research Positions. If possible the candidates should start around September 2015 and successful candidates from outside the European Union are required to secure a needed Schengen visa in due time.

The Norwegian public service is committed to reflecting the diversity of society in its workforce, and the personnel policy of the University of Agder aims to achieve a balanced workforce. All qualified persons are therefore encouraged to apply for the position, irrespective of cultural background, gender, age or disability. Women are especially encouraged to apply.

The position are remunerated within the State salary scale, salary plan 17.515, code 1017, salary grade 50 (NOK 429.400,-). A 2% compulsory pension contribution will be deducted and paid to the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund according to current statutory provisions.

In accordance with §25 (2) of the Freedom of Information Act, applicants may request that they are not identified in the open list of applicants. The University, however, reserves the right to publish the name of the applicants. Applicants will be advised of the University’s intention to exercise this right.

Before sending in their applications interested candidates are encouraged to contact PhD programme director Roy Mersland (roy.mersland@uia.no)

The full text of this announcement is also available online at www.uia.no/vacancies