Doctoral Research Fellow in law 

Job description

A position as Doctoral (PhD) Research Fellow is available at the Scandinavian Institute for Maritime Law, Faculty of Law, University of Oslo.

The position is externally funded and forms part of the research project GigaCCS which is a Research Centre for Environmentally Friendly Energy (FME). The host institution for the project is SINTEF Energy in Trondheim. The Doctoral Research Fellow will have his/ her workplace at the Scandinavian Institute for Maritime Law, Department for Energy and Resource law, in Oslo. The Scandinavian Institute of Maritime Law is a partner in the Centre.

The period of appointment is of three years without teaching duties, or, alternately and dependent on internal teaching needs, for a period of four years with 75% research and 25% teaching duties. A four-year fellowship requires that the candidate can contribute to the current teaching needs of the Faculty of Law.

PhD fellowships are recruitment positions intended to lead to a PhD degree at The Faculty of Law.  Applicants must be qualified for admission to the PhD programme at the Faculty of Law. Read more about the Doctoral Degree here.

More about the position 

The Doctoral Research Fellow will contribute to Mission Area 4 (MA4) dedicated to “Value Chains” and is expected to write a doctoral thesis on the contractual framework for carbon capture and storage (CCS) activities. The thesis could focus on horizontal and/or vertical value chains. An example of a horizontal value chain perspective could be cooperation between entities involved in transport and/or storage services, in the form of joint ventures, partnerships or limited liability companies. An example of a vertical perspective could be transport and/or storage services. For both perspectives, the contractual framework may include applicable contract law (background law), standard form contracts and/or specific contracts. These examples are not exhaustive. Other issues and approaches can also be considered, but must relate to the main topic.

MA4 aims to support the development of regulations and governance facilitating efficient CCS deployment and develop novel CCS chains including bioenergy with CCS (BECCS) and industrial clusters. Within MA4, the research to be undertaken will contribute to Work Package 4.1 on Policy, governance, and regulations. The candidate is free to propose a project within these objectives, with the requirement that it relates to the contractual framework for CCUS activities. The doctoral Research Fellow is expected to write a doctoral thesis and collaborates closely with the other project participants involved in MA4 and in WP4.1 specifically. 

The thesis should be based on Norwegian or Nordic contracts and/or contract law and/or contract tradition within relevant fields. The thesis could also be an international comparative analysis, provided that a Norwegian or Nordic perspective forms an essential part thereof.

The thesis can be a monograph or based on 3 to 5 articles.

The main research objective of GigaCCS is to advance Norway’s CCS leadership and support the global implementation of CCS at giga-tonne scale by conducting targeted, interdisciplinary industry-driven research and generating innovation in a centre of excellence dedicated to fostering capacity and world-leading expertise.

For more information about the centre and its research and industrial partners, see https://gigaccs.no/.

Qualification requirements and personal skills 

• A Norwegian five-year master's degree in in law, or equivalent education, is required at the time of application.
• Normally, the applicant should have grades that place them in the top tier. This requirement also applies to the master’s thesis.
• The project's working languages are both Norwegian and English. It is therefore recommended – although not mandatory - to have good command of Norwegian (or another Scandinavian language) in additional to English. The thesis may be written in Norwegian or English.
• The applicant must be able to work independently and in a structured manner.
• The applicant must be committed to contribute to the project and actively participate in project meetings.
• Good collaboration skills, the ability to contribute to professional development and a willingness to actively take part in the development of a good professional environment are required.

How to apply

The application must include:

• Letter of application, describing the applicant’s motivation and suitability for the position.
• CV (complete overview of education, practice and professional work, including an overview of previously published academic/scientific works by the applicant)
• A 5–10 pages project outline, explaining how the applicant envisages approaching the research topic
• Certified copies of diplomas with all grades included in the degree and certificates (if the original language of diplomas/certificates is not English or a Scandinavian language, an English language translation must be provided in addition to a copy of the original. Foreign diplomas must be accompanied by official documentation on the grading system and the corresponding grading scale.
• Up to 3 scientific works. If the works have been written by several authors, the distribution of work between them must be documented with a declaration of co-authorship
• List of referees (minimum 2 persons), with contact information, email and telephone numbers

The application with attachments must be delivered in our electronic recruiting system, please follow the link "Apply for this position".

Assessment basis

The applicant must submit a project description of 5–10 pages in which the research topic, its importance and relevance for Norwegian law and for the GigaCCS project, choice of theory and scientific method. Any research ethical challenges and how the work is planned must be explained.

When assessing the applicants, emphasis will be placed on the project description, the candidate’s academic achievements, including previous written work and their professional and personal qualifications for carrying out the project within the allotted time.

Short-listed candidates will be invited for an interview.

The candidates are evaluated by a Selection Board, which ranks the candidates based on the criteria indicated above and conducts interviews with short-listed candidates. A separate interview committee may be set down. The final decision is taken by the Faculty’s appointment board.

We need different perspectives in our work 

UiO is an open and internationally oriented comprehensive university that strives to be an inclusive and diverse workplace and academic environment. You can read more about UiO’s work on equality, inclusion, and diversity at uio.no.

We fulfill our mission most effectively when we draw upon our variety of experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives. We are looking for great colleagues—could you be the next one?

We will do our best to accommodate your needs. Relevant adjustments may include modifications to working hours, task adaptations, digital, technical, or physical adjustments, or other practical measures.

If you have an immigrant background, a disability, or CV gaps (Norwegian), we encourage you to indicate this in the job application portal. We always invite at least one qualified candidate from each group for an interview. In this context, disability is defined as an applicant who identifies as having a disability that requires workplace or employment-related accommodations. For more details about the requirements, please refer to the Employer portal (Norwegian).

The selections made in the job application portal are used for anonymized statistics that all state employers include in their annual reports.

More information about gender equality initiatives at UiO can be found here.

We hope you will apply for the position with us. 

We offer

• Salary from NOK  550 800 to 595 000 per year (position code 1017), depending on competence and experience. From the salary, 2 percent is deducted in statutory contributions to the State Pension Fund
• A pleasant and inspiring work environment
• Pension scheme in the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund
• Good welfare schemes

Formal regulations

Please see the guidelines and regulations for appointments to Research Fellowships at the University of Oslo.

No one can be appointed for more than one PhD Research Fellowship period at the University of Oslo.

Employed research fellows will be linked to one of the faculty's research groups.

According to the Norwegian Freedom of Information Act  (Offentleglova) § 25 information about the applicant may be included in the public applicant list, also in cases where the applicant has requested non-disclosure.

The University of Oslo has a transfer agreement with all employees that is intended to secure the rights to all research results etc.

Inclusion and diversity is a strength. The University of Oslo has a personnel policy objective of achieving a balanced gender composition. Furthermore, we want employees with diverse professional expertise, life experience and perspectives. 

If there are qualified applicants with a disability,employment gaps or immigrant background, we will invite at least one applicant from each of these categories for an interview.