Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Digital Narrative

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Postdoctoral research fellow in Digital Narrative

The Department of Linguistic, Literary and Aesthetic Studies invites applicants to a postdoctoral position in digital narrative.

The position is for a fixed term of 3 years at The Center for Digital Narrative (CDN) as part of the LEAD AI fellowship programme. 

The position is open to an incoming candidate, see the LEAD AI mobility rules. 

About the Center for Digital Narrative:

The Center focuses on algorithmic narrativity, interactive environments, materialities, and shifting cultural contexts in which digital narratives are received and processed. The CDN investigates the ways that the interactions of human authors and non-human agents renew narrative forms, how digital narratives have changed over time, and how textual materialities and cultural contexts are now reshaping the use and function of digital narrative. The activities of the Center include research group meetings, interactions with international research leaders in digital narrative, researcher training, PhD summer schools, frequent symposia and exhibitions. CDN is part of the Centre of Excellence scheme funded by the Research Council of Norway.

Read more about the Center here.

About the LEAD AI fellowship programme:

LEAD AI is the University of Bergen's career and mobility fellowship programme for training 19 postdoctoral fellows in artificial intelligence. 

The programme has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No. 101126560.

The LEAD AI program offers high-quality inter- and transdisciplinary research and training opportunities in the area of artificial intelligence supported by a dedicated supervision and mentoring, encouraging inter-sectoral exposure, in particular:

• Academic freedom
• Benefits from knowledge and skills transfer between disciplines, organisations and sectors
• Structured, skill-based training
• High-quality working conditions
• Personal career support
• Equal opportunities

For more information see the LEAD AI webpage or send an email to leadai@uib.no. 

Qualifications and personal qualities:

• The applicant must provide a project proposal (max. 5 pages) aligned with the goals of the Center for Digital Narrative. The proposal should include a progress plan for the project’s main activities, and a plan for publishing results in recognized international channels.
• The applicant must hold a Norwegian PhD or an equivalent foreign degree in a relevant subject area, such as digital culture, digital humanities, computational media, or a related field, including computer science if the dissertation project had a significant humanistic component. The doctoral dissertation must have been submitted for evaluation within the closing date of the application. The PhD degree must be obtained prior to appointment.
• The applicant should have a genuine interest in artificial intelligence, and the research proposal must be related to AI. 
• The applicant’s project should be related to at least two of the thematic areas of the CDN, which include Games Studies, Computational Narrative Systems, Artistic Research, Social Media Narratives and Ethnographies of Digital Narrative. 
• Applicants cannot previously have been employed as a postdoctoral fellow at UiB and they cannot be employed by any other institution for the time of the fellowship.
• The LEAD AI mobility rules must be followed must be followed.
• Applicants must be able to work independently and in a structured manner and have the ability to cooperate with others.
• Applicants must have excellent skills in oral and written English (self-assessed in the CV and demonstrated in the application).
• The application and relevant documents must be in English.

Personal and relational qualities will be emphasized. Research experience, ambitions and potential will also be considered during candidate evaluation.

Special requirements for the position:

The University of Bergen is subjected to the regulation for export control system. The regulation will be applied in the processing of the applications.

About the position of postdoctoral research fellow:

The postdoctoral position is a fixed term position with the primary objective of qualifying the appointee for work in top academic positions. The position may be extended by up to one year (maximum 4 years in total) if the appointee is granted externally financed research stays abroad. Individuals may not be hired for more than one fixed-term period as a postdoctoral research fellow at the same institution. 

For all LEAD AI fellows, a Personal Career Development Plan (PCDP) will be developed jointly by the fellow, supervisor, and co-supervisor by the end of Month 3 of the fellowship, including a plan for the individual research budget, and information on additional funding where applicable.

It is a requirement that the project is completed in the course of the period of employment.

We can offer:

• An engaged and professionally stimulating working environment.
• Welfare benefits* and social benefits including pension-saving in the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund, occupational injury insurance, full salary during sick leave for 52 weeks, and paid parental leave**.
• Position as a postdoctoral fellow (code 1352 in the basic collective agreement) and a gross annual salary of NOK 624 500 (equivalent to pay grade 64) upon appointment. Further increases in salary are made according to length of service in the position. A higher salary may be considered for a particularly well-qualified applicant.
• Extension of the position term (work contract) due to sick leave and parental leave.
• Norwegian language courses free of charge.
• High standards for working hours, holidays, place of work, health, and safety.
• Access to specific training activities exclusively provided within the framework of the LEAD AI programme.

*) Subject to membership in the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme. For non-EU outgoing fellows, an individual benefits agreement must be considered.

**) Right to paid parental leave requires 6 months of paid work before the first day of leave. See full requirements.

How to apply:

Before starting the online application process, please familiarise yourself carefully with our application requirements in the Guide for Applicants. It is essential that all required attachments (see next section) are uploaded via our electronic recruiting system JobbNorge. Before uploading any documents in the portal (to minimise repetition of information):

• In the ‘JobbNorge-application field’: Only write your name.
• In the ‘JobbNorge-CV form’: Only fill in your 1) personal details, 2) information about your PhD-degree (in the field ‘Academic qualifications’) and 3) recent relevant work experience.
• You do not need to fill in any other sections in the JobbNorge form, as all the information we need will be provided by you when attaching the mandatory elements listed in the next section.

Your application must include:

• Research proposal (max. 5 pages). 
• A brief account of your motivation for applying for the position.
• CV with list of any works of scientific nature (publication list).
• Mobility declaration.
• Ethics and security issues: self-assessment form.
• An initial self-assessment of opportunities for mandatory and recommended open science practices.
• Names and contact information for two referees. One of these should be your main PhD supervisor. 
• Letters of recommendation from the graduating university or previous employers are encouraged but not mandatory. 
• Transcripts and diplomas. If you have not yet completed your PhD degree, please submit a statement from your institution confirming that the thesis has been submitted. 
• Relevant certificates/references

The application and appendices with certified translations into English must be uploaded to JobbNorge within the application deadline.

Evaluation:

We anticipate the whole evaluation procedure to take approximately 4 months from the application deadline. Eligible applicants will be evaluated by three internationally renowned experts and assessed against criteria addressing excellence, impact, implementation, quality of the researcher and training. Details are stated in the Guide for applicants.

General information:

For further details about the position, please contact: 
Professor Jill Walker Rettberg, Co-Director of the Center for Digital Narrative (CDN) at the Department of Linguistic, Literary and Aesthetic Studies, phone number: +47 55 58 84 31 or email jill.walker.rettberg@uib.no.

For HR related questions, please contact:
Senior Executive Officer Turid Høyland at the Faculty of Humanities, phone number: +47 55 58 93 34 or email turid.hoyland@uib.no. 

The University of Bergen applies the principle of public access to information when recruiting staff for academic positions.

Information about applicants may be made public even if the applicant has asked not to be named on the list of persons who have applied. The applicant must be notified if the request to be omitted is not met.

Diversity is a strength that enables us to solve our tasks even better. UiB therefore needs qualified employees regardless of gender, ethnicity, religion, worldview, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, and age.

We encourage women to apply. If multiple applicants have approximately equivalent qualifications, the rules pertaining to moderate gender quotas shall apply.

We encourage applicants with disabilities, immigrant backgrounds, or gaps in their CV to apply. By indicating such circumstances in your application, you may receive favourable consideration. We ensure that at least one qualified applicant from each of these groups is invited for an interview as part of our commitment to inclusivity and equal opportunity. Further information about our employment process can be found here.