The University of Stavanger (UiS) has about 10,700 students and 1,560 employees. The University is located in the third largest urban region in Norway, with a dynamic labor market and exciting cultural and leisure activities. We are the only Norwegian member of the European Consortium of Innovative Universities. The university has high ambitions. We will be a driving force in the development of knowledge in the region, and an international research university with an emphasis on innovation. Together with our staff and students, we will challenge the well-known and explore the unknown.

UiS Business School, which is part of Faculty of Social Sciences, carries out research and offers study programs in Economics, Finance, Marketing, Law, Organization and Management. The study options include bachelor programs in Business Administration, Auditing and Accounting, as well as Law. The department also offers a master's degree in Business Administration, an experience-based master program aimed at the business sector, and research education (PhD). Centre for Innovation Research and Center for Entrepreneurship are both part of the business school. There are currently 70 employees and 1,000 students at the school.

PhD Scholarships in Innovation Studies

Application deadline: 15.10.2016

The University of Stavanger invites applications for two PhD Scholarships in Innovation Studies at the Faculty of Social Sciences, UiS Business School.

This is a trainee position that mainly aims to give promising researchers an opportunity for professional development leading to a doctoral degree.

The PhD scholars will be appointed for three years, starting 1 February 2017.

The PhD positions are funded by the EU-financed Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network “The Role of Universities in Innovation and Regional Development” (http://www.innoresource.org/runin/). The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions ensure excellent and innovative research training as well as attractive career and knowledge-exchange opportunities through cross-border and cross-sector mobility of researchers, to better prepare them for current and future societal challenges. The Innovative Training Networks scheme aims to train a new generation of creative, entrepreneurial and innovative early-stage researchers.

As the programme aims to promote cross-border mobility, a condition for eligibility to the scholarship is that the candidate has not resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc) in Norway for more than 12 months of the 3 years immediately before the recruitment date. Furthermore, candidates must be in the first four years of their research careers and cannot hold a doctoral degree.

The project comprises 14 PhD positions associated with nine partners in seven European countries, as well as another nine non-academic partner organisations. This is an interdisciplinary project which examines the multi-faceted roles of universities in contributing to innovation and economic development in different European regions, e.g. through education, industry collaboration and policy-relevant research. The participants in the project are universities associated with the European Consortium of Innovative Universities and regional development agencies in the regions involved.

The project involves a dedicated portfolio of courses aimed at promoting the students’ research as well as developing their transferable skills for future careers in the academic or non-academic sector. Each PhD student will have a co-supervisor from an international institution in the network and a non-academic mentor from a regional partner organization, and will also spend two periods during the PhD on secondment at an international institution.

PhD project 1 will examine the role of universities as regional nodes in global knowledge networks. Academic researchers access new ideas and knowledge generated around the world. For regional industry, it is important to be able to access this broader pool of knowledge, besides the new research produced at the university itself. The study will empirically assess to which extent universities function as regional nodes in such networks by mapping the international and regional networks of university faculty. The project will involve two periods of secondment at the University of Twente and the candidate will be co-supervised by Dr Paul Benneworth at the University of Twente and mentored by Inge Bakker from Regio Twente.

PhD project 2 will examine university-industry collaboration from the perspective of firms participating in an international research project. The study follows the Triangulum project, which is a Horizon 2020 project on Smart Cities. The study will examine which strategies actors use to successfully communicate within the project, and how well university researchers are able to match their production and dissemination of knowledge to firms and user partners in the project. This PhD project is a collaboration with Greater Stavanger Economic Development, and the PhD scholar will spend regular working days at the Greater Stavanger offices and be mentored by May Endresen at Greater Stavanger. The project will also involve two periods of secondment at Aalborg University and the candidate will be co-supervised by Dr Christian Østergaard at Aalborg University.

Applicants must have a strong academic background with a five-year master degree within a relevant social science discipline, preferably recently, or equivalent qualifications which could provide a basis for successfully completing a doctorate. Both the grade for the master’s thesis and the weighted average grade of the master’s degree must individually be equivalent to or better than a B grade.

The evaluation of candidates will be based on the applicant’s potential for research in the field, as well as individual prerequisites for research education.

The appointee must be able to work independently and as a member of a team, be creative and innovative, and have good command of both oral and written English.

The University of Stavanger is an equal opportunities employer and the candidates will be recruited under gender-neutral recruitment processes. The project aims for gender balance among the researchers recruited to the network. Female candidates are in particular encouraged to apply.

The scholarship position is considered an important recruitment position for scientific occupations at universities.

The doctorate will mainly be carried out at the University of Stavanger, apart from a period of study abroad as part of the project’s secondment arrangements.

The PhD scholar is salaried according to the State Salary Code, l.pl 17.515, code 1017, LR 20, NOK 430.500 per annum.

The position provides for automatic membership in the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund, which guarantees favourable retirement benefits. Members may also apply for home investment loans at favourable interest rates.

Project description and further information about the position can be obtained from Professor Rune Dahl Fitjar, telephone +47 90186352, email rune.d.fitjar@uis.no

Information about the appointment procedures can be obtained from Kirsten Sikveland, telephone +47 51 83 37 01, email kirsten.sikveland@uis.no

Certificates/diplomas, references, list of publications and other documentation that you consider relevant should be submitted as attachments to the application. Please upload all attachments as separate files. If the attachments exceed 15 MB in total, they will have to be compressed before uploading.

Apply for position

Søknadsfrist: 15.10.2016
Web: www.uis.no

Kontakt: Professor Rune Dahl Fitjar
Telefon: +47 90186352
E-post: rune.d.fitjar@uis.no

Kontakt 2: Kirsten Sikveland
Telefon: +47 51 83 37 01
E-post: kirsten.sikveland@uis.no