The fellowship will commence in September 2013, and the candidate will undertake research training at AHO in Oslo (45 ECTS), and will be affiliated with The Barents Institute at the University of Tromsø in Kirkenes, under the chief supervision of its leader Aileen A. Espiritu, with support from the rest of the Future North team. Residency in Kirkenes is expected, but the extend may be negotiated. Article based publication is encouraged as a form of thesis production. The position requires full time residency for the full 3 year period. Research stay at a relevant international academic institution is a possibility.


Requirements:
* Applicants must hold a relevant master’s degree within one of the following: social sciences, landscape, architecture or design studies.
* The successful candidate should be able to formulate and resolve questions of methodology and theory with regards to the ethnography of landscape, and have experience and/or training in ethnographic methods.
* Within the ambition of Future North to focus on the material and action-oriented formation of landscape, the successful candidate should be able to experiment with methods of mapping, including participatory approaches.
* To take full advantage of the affiliation with The Barents Institute, the PhD project should focus on the Northern regions of Norway, Russia, Finland and Sweden, or other relevant comparative situations in the Circumpolar North.* Applicants should have knowledge of one or several of the fields of collaborative ethnography, GIS, and mapping in general.

For more information on the Future North project, see http://www.futurenorth.no<http://www.futurenorth.no/>

The application must include:
* A fully completed electronic application form, including an application letter – describing relevant background, research experience and network.
* A tentative project description of maximum 5 pages, formulating research problem and aim, as well as an overview of relevant approaches and methods (including motivation for possible research stay).
* Curriculum vitae (max 4 pages)
* Copies of educational certificates (foreign applicants must attach an explanation of their university’s grading system).
* 2 references or recommendations explaining why, in the referee’s opinion, the candidate is qualified to undertake the prospective research at AHO (max 3 pages).
* If relevant: List of publications and/or academic or design work (max 3 pages).
* If research stay is intended, include invitation letters from relevant academic institution.

Applicants who do not have English or a Scandinavian language as their mother tongue must also provide formal documentation of English proficiency (TOEFL-test or similar).
All applications have to be submitted via our electronic application form
All documentation for the application should be in English or a Scandinavian language, and uploaded as pdf-files.

* The material for the PhD application will be assessed according to the following criteria: The quality of the project description and its relevance for the research project
* The academic competence of the applicant
* The applicant’s suitability within the research project

Position & salary:
The PhD research fellow position (SKO 1017) has the pay grade: 50 (NOK 421.100.- per year). Normal employment conditions for state employees apply to the position. AHO has its own company health service. There is a compulsory 2 % deduction to the State pension fund. The positions adhere to the Norwegian Government’s policy of balanced ethnicity, age and gender. Persons with immigrant background and women are encouraged to apply.

The employment period is three years, and will start 1st September 2013.
More information about PhD fellowships at AHO can be found at www.aho.no/en/RD/The-PhD-program/<http://www.aho.no/en/RD/The-PhD-program/>

For further information, please contact:
* Research administrator Steinar Heldal (steinar.heldal@adm.aho.no) or
* Project leader Janike Kampevold Larsen (janike.larsen@aho.no) or
* Director of the Barents Institute Aileen A. Espiritu (aileen.a.espiritu@uit.no)