When can you apply for a research fellowship?
To apply for a research fellowship at the Faculty of Humanities, one or several vacant posts must have been advertised by the Faculty of Humanities.
Research fellowships connected to an academic subject/field, project or unit are advertised by the relevant department and have different application deadlines.
See Vacant academic positions at the Faculty
What is a research fellowship?
A doctoral research fellowship entails a 3-year employment relationship with a workplace at one of the Faculty’s departments or centres. Research fellowships at the Faculty are normally awarded for a period of three years and do not include teaching duties.
How to apply for a research fellowship?
Before you apply for a research fellowship it is important that you read the advertisement carefully as this is where you will find details on how and when to submit the application.
The application should contain:
- a completed application form, incl. a research proposal
- a CV
- a list of published and unpublished work, if any.
Fellowship and admission requirements
To be eligible for a research fellowship and admission to the doctoral programmes at the University of Oslo, applicants must, as a minimum, have completed a five-year graduation course (Master’s degree or equivalent). In special cases, the Faculty may grant admission on the basis of a one-year Master course following an assessment of the study programme’s scope and quality.
A Master’s degree (or equivalent) must have been completed and the final evaluation must be available at the time of application.
Before applying, candidates must familiarise themselves with:
- Regulations for the degree of Philosophiae Doctor (PhD) at the University of Oslo
- Programme plan - PhD at The Faculty of Humanities
- Guidelines for research ethics in the social sciences, law, the humanities and theology (NESH)
Research proposal
The project proposal must not exceed 14,000 characters including spaces. (The bibliography may be included as an addition.) The project description must be prepared in accordance with the guidelines for research proposals.
Template for research proposals
PhD programme
Those who are appointed as research fellows are automatically enrolled in the Faculty’s PhD programme. The PhD programme includes research training in disciplines that are part of the scientific subjects at the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Oslo. The programme is open to cross-disciplinary projects rooted in one or more of the scientific subjects covered by the programme.
Supervisor
Candidates submit their applications without a formal relationship with, or approval from, a supervisor. The department/centre assigns a supervisor (in cooperation with the applicant) to those who have been awarded a research fellowship. The appointment of an applicant to a research fellowship and his/her admission to the PhD programme implies that the Faculty has the necessary supervisory expertise and capacity in the field in which the applicant wishes to write his/her dissertation. Supervisors are normally Faculty staff.
Processing of applications
The applications will be assessed according to the following criteria:
- Suitability: The applicant’s academic background and results, progression of study, time passed since the final examination, and relevant academic activity.
- Project quality: The project’s scientific quality, research-related interest and innovation, relevance for the research community at the Faculty of Humanities, connection with academic networks outside the Faculty and feasibility within the framework of the PhD programme and a research fellowship.
The various evaluation committees make academically strategic assessments and set priorities through their ranking of applicants and fellowship nominations.
The nomination committees may conduct interviews.
The assessments are exempt from public access and will not be sent to the applicant.
When can you start your research fellowship?
Following an appointment the candidate and the department agree on a starting date. Normally, appointees will start after the period of notice has expired in relation to former employment, i.e. within three months. In case you wish to postpone the starting date you will have to submit an application for this purpose. The advertisement for the research fellowship may include the latest starting date for the position.
Admission
When being appointed as a research fellow at the Faculty of Humanities you are automatically enrolled in the PhD programme. The admission is formalised through an admission agreement that will be sent to you as soon as possible after the starting date. The agreement is signed by you as a PhD candidate and by the department and the supervisor, before the department returns the agreement to the Faculty.
The admission period relating to the PhD programme will be equivalent to the duration of the research fellowship. The research fellowship at the Faculty of Humanities is normally three years without any teaching duties. Research fellows at the Faculty of Humanities may receive a completion grant if they submit the dissertation within the prescribed time limit.