PhD – Social Science – Norway

Nord University’s Faculty of Social Sciences invites applications for 1-2 temporary full-time positions as PhD Research Fellow in Social Science, with a thematic focus on Flexibility in Working Life. The position is affiliated with the Research group for Society, Organization, Leadership, and Working life (SOLA), and linked to the specialization Governance and Democracy in Transition in the PhD programme.

The appointment period is normally three years without teaching duties, but a four-year period with 25 % duties may be considered. Duties may include teaching and/or research-related tasks depending on the candidate’s competence and faculty needs.

Flexibility and flexibilization, such as increasing use of flexible working time arrangements, flexible work organization, and flexible forms of employment, constitute key features of today’s working life. A new trend is the introduction of various flexible working time arrangements and time management strategies to address organizational challenges such as high sickness absence, employee burnout, or as a tool to improve recruitment in vulnerable sectors.

They invite candidates to develop a PhD project related to flexibilization in working life. Potential topics for a PhD project may include:

• Negotiations about time between managers and employees
• Different management strategies used to synchronize time allocation and tasks within organizations
• Challenges arising from new ways of organizing time, including the implementation of new forms of time management in various organizations
• Implications of flexibilization for personnel policies, including mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion in working life

Requirements

• To be admitted to the PhD programme, applicants must hold a bachelor’s and master’s degree (120 ECTS), or equivalent, in a relevant social science discipline and/or history. Applicants with degrees in the humanities or other relevant fields may be considered on an individual basis.
• Candidates must demonstrate solid knowledge of relevant social science theories and methods necessary to carry out the proposed PhD project.
• Admission to the faculty’s PhD programme is a prerequisite.
• Applicants must meet the grade requirements for PhD admission (typically a B average in the master’s degree).
• Strong English skills, both written and oral, are required. For applicants from outside the Nordic countries, documentation may be required. The dissertation may be written in English or Norwegian (or another Scandinavian language).
• A final project proposal must be approved and formalized within three months of employment.
• Candidates who already hold a PhD are not eligible.

Benefits

Salary according to the Norwegian government’s pay scale, position code 1017, currently NOK 550,800 (46.585,39 €) per year.

• Excellent loan, insurance, and pension schemes
• A creative and collegial work environment
• A workplace in continuous development
• Flexible working hours
• Active university sports teams

Organisation/Company –Nord University.

Field of research –Sociology » Sociology of enterprise

Research profile – First Stage Researcher (R1).

Country – Norway.

Application deadline – 20 Jan 2026 – 23:59 (Europe/Oslo).

More information: Euraxess

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