PhD fellow in Child Development

The applicants will be assessed by an expert committee. The committee's mandate is to undertake an assessment of the applicants' qualifications based on the written material presented by the applicants, and the detailed description drawn up for the position. A copy of the assessment report will be sent to all applicants.

The applicants who are assessed as best qualified will be called to an interview. The interview should among other things, aim to clarify the applicant's motivation and personal suitability for the position.

The position is affiliated with the research group of Child Development at the Department of Psychology at UiT The Arctic University of Norway. The position is associated with a project exploring how cultural identity, values, and psychological needs contribute to a sense of meaning in life across diverse communities and how these are transmitted to children through child-rearing practices.

The goal of the project is a comparative ethnography of meaning making, analyzing patterns across different livelihood systems, such as hunter-gatherers, animal herders and subsistence farmers in different parts of the world. This research addresses a critical gap in psychological studies by focusing on small-scale, traditional societies often overlooked in mainstream research.

This position requires:

• Master's degree or equivalent in psychology or a related field (candidates near completion will also be considered)
• Documented fluency in English and be able to work in an international environment. Nordic applicants can document their English capabilities by attaching their high school diploma.

It is considered an advantage if you have:

• Experience with hunter-gatherer, indigenous or other small-scale cultures
• Professional experience in the areas of child-rearing and meaning making
• Experience with ethnographic and observational research methods
• Authored publications
• Cross-cultural experience
• Documented level A2 in Norwegian, Swedish or Danish or the willingness to acquire Norwegian
• Experience from popularization/dissemination and academic policy and administrative activity.

In the assessment, the emphasis is on the applicant's potential to complete a research education based on the master's thesis or equivalent, and any other scientific work. In addition, other experience of significance for the completion of the doctoral programme may be given consideration.

We will also emphasize motivation and personal suitability for the position. We are looking for candidates with:

• Interest in culture, particularly hunter-gatherer, indigenous or other small-scale cultures
• Interest in child-rearing and meaning making
• Interest in ethnographic and observational research and willingness to use these methods
• Willingness to conduct field-work
• Willingness to reside within a commutable distance to our campus in Tromsø
• Good collaboration skills
• Good communication and interaction with colleagues and students
• Desire to contribute to a good working environment

As many people as possible should have the opportunity to undertake organized research training. If you already hold a PhD or have equivalent competence, we will not appoint you to this position.

For employment in the PhD position, you must be qualified for admission to the PhD programme at the Faculty of Health Sciences and participate in organized doctoral studies within the employment period.

Admission normally requires:

• A bachelor's degree of 180 ECTS and a master's degree of 120 ECTS, or an integrated master's degree of 300 ECTS.
• A master's thesis with a scope corresponding to at least 30 ECTS for a master's degree of 120 ECTS.
• A master's thesis with a scope corresponding to at least 20 ECTS for an integrated master's degree of 300 ECTS.

UiT The Arctic University of Norway is working actively to promote equality, gender balance and diversity among employees and students, and to create an inclusive and safe working environment. We believe that inclusion and diversity are a strength, and we want employees with different competencies, professional experience, life experience and perspectives.

If you have a disability, a gap in your CV or immigrant background, we encourage you to tick the box for this in your application. If there are qualified applicants, we invite at least one in each group for an interview. If you get the job, we will adapt the working conditions if you need it. Apart from selecting the right candidates, we will only use the information for anonymous statistics.