PhD candidate at The Department of Historical and Classical Studies (IHK)

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About the position

The Department of Historical and Classical Studies (IHK) at NTNU is looking for a PhD candidate associated with a new Horizon Europe research project, entitled “REDEMOS – Reconfiguring EU Democracy Support? Towards a sustained demos in the EU’s Eastern Neighbourhood”, commencing on 1 January 2023 or as soon as possible thereafter.

The position is for a period of three years with the possibility of up to one more year for teaching and other duties.

REDEMOS explores the legacy and potential of EU democracy promotion efforts in its eastern neighbourhood, analysing both EU actions and eastern neighbours’ responses, balancing the impact of funding reforms and civil society support against a decade of static and regressive outcomes. The project seeks to demonstrate how revived approaches to understanding democratic norms and values and reinforced implementation of procedures and practices can fully transform outcomes from passive democracy promotion to active democracy collaboration. REDEMOS focuses on the overarching need to reconstitute a workable demos within EU eastern partners in light of significant political challenges, including outright opposition to democratization practices from within and beyond the EU’s eastern neighbourhood. The goal of the project is to suggest and create ways in which the European Union can support the promotion of democracy in its eastern neighbourhood in a tangible and effective way.

The PhD candidate will be provided with the unique opportunity to be affiliated with a research project that brings together scholars, policy makers, civil society actors, and citizens from within the EU and its Member States and Eastern Europe.

For a position as a PhD Candidate, the goal is to obtain a doctoral degree.

You will report to the Head of Department.

Duties of the position

Develop a personal project within the framework of the “REDEMOS – Reconfiguring EU Democracy Support? Towards a sustained demos in the EU’s Eastern Neighbourhood” project. The candidate is encouraged to shape the project according to their own strengths and research interests and further co-develop the process under the supervision of the project leader Dr Madalina Dobrescu.
Conduct independent and collaborative research activities leading to high-quality publications.
Participate in activities and events organized in the framework of the project.
Possibly contribute to administration and teaching activities where required.

Required selection criteria

You must have a professionally relevant background in Political Science, International Relations, European Studies, East European Studies, or related Social Sciences.
Your education must correspond to a five-year Norwegian degree program, where 120 credits are obtained at master’s level.
You must have a strong academic background from your previous studies and an average grade from the master’s degree program, or equivalent education, which is equal to B or better compared with NTNU’s grading scale. If you do not have letter grades from previous studies, you must have an equally good academic basis. If you have a weaker grade background, you may be assessed if you can document that you are particularly suitable for a PhD education.
Master’s students can apply, but the master’s degree must be obtained and documented by 31 December 2022.
You must meet the requirements for admission to the faculty’s doctoral program.
Fluency in English, both written and oral.

Preferred selection criteria

Knowledge of languages pertinent to the target countries covered by the project will be considered an asset.

Personal Characteristics

Independence and initiative
Cooperative skills
High level of personal responsibility.
Willingness and ability to contribute to a good work environment

Emphasis will be placed on personal and interpersonal qualities.

About the application

The application and supporting documentation to be used as the basis for the assessment must be in English. Please note that your application will be considered based solely on information submitted by the application deadline. You must therefore ensure that your application clearly demonstrates how your skills and experience fulfil the criteria specified above.

The application must include:

Cover letter describing your academic interest in, understanding of, and suitability for the Phd position, as well as your objectives in undertaking this Phd degree (max. 3 pages).

In your statement, you may wish to discuss the following:

Motivation for applying for the Phd position
Academic interests, strengths and background relevant to the REDEMOS project
Any professional aspirations, and how the Phd position might help you realise such aspirations
Other relevant information, work or experience that has informed your decision to apply for the Phd position

Transcripts and diplomas for bachelor’s and master’s degrees. If you have not completed the master’s degree, you must submit a confirmation that the master’s thesis has been submitted.
A copy of the master’s thesis. If you have recently submitted your master’s thesis, you can attach a draft of the thesis. Documentation of a completed master’s degree must be presented before taking up the position.
Project proposal (max. 2.000 words) describing your research objectives and focus and how these relate to the REDEMOS project. Your research proposal should present your general topic; the research question(s) you are addressing; the key literature and its limitations; the main hypotheses of the work; the methodology you intend to use; your case studies, if any, and your case selection criteria.
Name and contact information of two referees
Academic works (if any) – published or unpublished – that you would like to be considered in the assessment (up to 5 items).

If all, or parts, of your education has been taken abroad, we also ask you to attach documentation of the scope and quality of your entire education, both bachelor’s and master’s education, in addition to other higher education. Description of the documentation required can be found here. If you already have a statement from NOKUT, please attach this as well.

We will take joint work into account. If it is difficult to identify your efforts in the joint work, you must enclose a short description of your participation.

In the evaluation of which candidate is best qualified, emphasis will be placed on education, experience and personal and interpersonal qualities. Motivation, ambitions, and potential will also count in the assessment of the candidates.

NTNU is committed to following evaluation criteria for research quality according to The San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment – DORA.

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