Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Climate and Environmental Governance

Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Climate and Environmental Governance

Faculty of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education

The position

A Postdoctoral Research Fellow position at the interdisciplinary ERC research project RiverPulse is available at the Department of Language and Culture.

RiverPulse: Reconfiguring human–nature interactions as an assemblage at the Arctic frontline of climate change is an ERC Advanced Grant project at UiT, The Arctic University of Norway. It examines how accelerating climate change transforms Arctic salmon rivers as ecological systems, multispecies environments, lived places and sites of governance. The broader aim is to advance assemblage thinking as an empirically grounded framework for understanding climate change as a crisis of relations and Arctic salmon rivers as assemblages of ecological, social, cultural and political processes.

The project works across three river regions: Reisa in Norway, Tornio in Finland and Sweden, and Kapisillit in Greenland. The communities are multilingual and -cultural, including Sámi and Kalaallit Indigenous communities and Kven and Meänkieli minority contexts. RiverPulse combines ecological and quantitative research with ethnographic, historical, citizen-science and governance approaches to understand how climate-driven changes in rivers and salmon systems reconfigure river–salmon–human relations, knowledge and governance.

RiverPulse is designed as an interdisciplinary research programme, where the announecd postdoctoral research fellow position is one of four positions. Ecological and quantitative evidence will be interpreted alongside qualitative and community-based knowledge, while each researcher retains clear scholarly responsibility for their own area. You will join a team spanning the humanities, social sciences and environmental sciences, with interdisciplinary collaborators and local research assistants across the three river regions.

The position is a fixed term position for a duration of 3 years. It is a prerequisite that the applicant can carry out the project over the full course of the employment period. No person may hold more than one fixed term position as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the same institution.

As a Postdoctoral Research Fellow, you will have the opportunity to advance your scientific career and further qualify for academic positions. If you do not already have the educational competence that meets the requirements for an Associate Professor position in Norway, UiT will arrange such competence during the employment period.

The workplace is at UiT in Tromsø, some travel related to the project must be accounted for. You must be able to start in the position by 1. April 2027.

The Department has a very active and diverse research profile, and hosts about 140 employees the majority of which are situated at the Tromsø campus, but some are at the Alta campus. There are about 500 students at the department.

The project/position's field of research

We are recruiting four postdoctoral research fellows with complementary expertise. Each position has its own research question and responsibilities, while all four fellows will contribute to the interdisciplinary work of RiverPulse across ecological, social, cultural and political processes. Previous Arctic or northern research experience is an advantage, but it is not generally required. We welcome applications from candidates who can explain how their expertise can contribute to RiverPulse. You are not expected to arrive as an expert in every method or discipline used in the project

In addition to their position-specific research responsibilities (please see below), all postdoctoral fellows will contribute to shared RiverPulse activities, including project meetings, workshops and events, research communication and dissemination, and other project-related activities. In addition, the position involves periods of extended fieldwork in one or several of our research sites.

Your role

You will contribute expertise in climate and environmental governance, with particular responsibility for analysing and comparing existing and emerging forms of river and salmon governance across the three RiverPulse rivers. The focus is on how communities, institutions and other actors govern and negotiate changing river relations in response to climate and environmental change and declining salmon populations. You will also contribute to participatory research and the co-design of future governance practices, drawing where relevant on citizen-science observations and other evidence generated across RiverPulse.

The position addresses the question:

How are changing river relations governed, and how do communities, institutions and other actors negotiate responses to climate change across the three RiverPulse rivers?

Duties of the position

• Analyse environmental and climate governance, community and policy responses to changing river relations across the three river regions.
• Examine and compare different governance arrangements, such as Indigenous governance, rights of the nature, and/or co-management where relevant to the cases.
• Contribute to participatory and collaborative research, community engagement and the co-design of governance responses and future pathways, including the use and interpretation of citizen-science evidence where relevant.
• Develop your own analyses and publications within this positions research area and contribute to comparative RiverPulse outputs.

You must submit a project proposal that describes how you scientifically can contribute to the project. The proposal must include a progress plan.

Contact

For further information about the position, please contact Head of department Gustav Jørgen Pedersen:

• phone: 77 64 69 74
• email: Gustav.j.pedersen@uit.no

or Professor Sari Päivikki Pietikäinen:

• phone: 77 64 47 02
• email: Sari.pietikaeinen@uit.no

Qualifications

Required qualifications

• A PhD in political science, governmental studies, environmental governance, environmental law, public policy, sustainability science or another relevant field.
• Demonstrated research expertise in climate, environmental or natural-resource governance.
• Experience with research relevant to environmental governance, policy or institutions.
• Excellent written and spoken English. Nordic applicants can document their capabilities by attaching their high school diploma.

Preferred qualifications

• Experience with Indigenous governance, commons/commoning or co-management, environmental policy analysis, collaborative or participatory research, co-design, participatory methods, or Arctic environmental governance.
• Competence in one or more RiverPulse field-site languages for community engagement.

Relevant field-site languages are: Reisa – Norwegian, Kven and Northern Sámi; Tornio – Finnish, Swedish and Meänkieli; Kapisillit – Kalaallisut and Danish.

In your application, please describe your level of competence and how you are able to use the language in field research.

Assessment criteria

In assessing your application, we will consider both what you already bring to the position and your potential to develop within RiverPulse. In addition to the specific qualifications, we will place emphasis on:

• the quality and relevance of your research and your research potential;
• your analytical skills, intellectual curiosity and motivation for interdisciplinary research on changing Arctic river systems and communities;
• your understanding of the position you are applying for and of how your expertise can contribute to the wider RiverPulse project;
• your ability to conduct research with scholarly independence within the overall framework of RiverPulse, including developing your own analyses and publications, while contributing actively and constructively to the project’s collaborative interdisciplinary research;
• initiative and openness to engaging with perspectives, methods and forms of knowledge beyond your own disciplinary background;
• communication and interpersonal skills that support a collaborative, inclusive and constructive research environment.

At UiT we put emphasis on the quality, relevance and significance of the research work and not on where the work is published, in accordance with the principles of The San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA).

We offer

• Involvement in an interesting research project
• Good career opportunities
• A good academic environment with dedicated colleagues
• Flexible working hours and a state collective pay agreement
• Pension scheme through the state pension fund
• The opportunity to join an ERC Advanced Grant project addressing a major environmental and societal challenge in the Arctic.
• A genuinely interdisciplinary research environment bringing humanities, social sciences and environmental sciences into sustained collaboration.
• A clearly defined research role together with support to develop your own analyses, publications and academic profile within RiverPulse.
• Opportunities to contribute to cutting-edge interdisciplinary research, workshops and wider project activities while building your own research network.
• A collaborative, inclusive and constructive working environment in which different forms of expertise and knowledge are valued.

Norwegian health policy aims to ensure that everyone, irrespective of their personal finances and where they live, has access to good health and care services of equal standard. As an employee you will become member of the National Insurance Scheme which also include health care services.

More practical information for working and living in Norway can be found here: https://uit.no/staffmobility

Application

Please note that the application will only be assessed based on the information submitted by the application deadline via Jobbnorge. It is therefore important that you include all necessary documents demonstrating your qualifications for the position.

Your application should help us understand not only whether you meet the formal criteria, but also how you see yourself contributing to RiverPulse and developing as a researcher within the project. As the working language in the research group is English, CV, motivation letter and preliminary research plan must be submitted in English.

Your application must include:

• Curriculum vitae, including your education, research experience, relevant methodological experience and a complete list of publications.
• Up to five academic publications or other scholarly works that you consider most relevant to the position. Your doctoral dissertation may be included as one of these works. In your cover letter (max 1 page), please explain how you see that these publications link to RiverPulse.
• A motivation letter of maximum 2 pages. Please explain why you are applying for this RiverPulse position, how your background prepares you for it, and how you understand the scientific and practical responsibilities of the role. Please also reflect briefly on how you would contribute to interdisciplinary and collaborative research and on what you see as important or challenging in conducting climate-change research in Arctic river environments and communities.
• A preliminary research plan of maximum 3 pages, excluding references. Please outline how you would develop your research within the wider RiverPulse project. The plan should identify the questions you would pursue, the material and methods you would draw on, and conceptual approach you envisage. It should explain how your research connects with the relevant RiverPulse position and with the project as a whole, what you would contribute independently, and where you see the most important opportunities for collaboration across disciplines and river regions. Where relevant, please address fieldwork, community engagement and ethical considerations.
• Diplomas and relevant academic transcripts, including documentation of the completed PhD or confirmation that the doctoral thesis has been submitted for assessment.
• Names and contact details of 2–3 academic referees. Reference letters are not required at the application stage.
• Documentation of English proficiency (if available)

As English is the working language of the research group, the CV, application letter, motivation letter, and research plan must be written in English.

The 3-page research plan is not expected to be a fully independent project proposal. We want to see how you formulate a coherent line of research of your own within an already defined ERC project, and how you would make use of the opportunities for collaboration that RiverPulse provides.

If RiverPulse speaks to your research interests but your background does not fit every example listed above, we encourage you to show us clearly how your expertise can contribute. The required qualifications define what is required; the preferred qualifications describe strengths that may support the work, not a checklist that every applicant is expected to fulfil.

Note to candidates: We know that no single candidate will bring every kind of experience or expertise listed here, and we do not expect you to. What matters is that you meet the required qualifications, bring a strong perspective of your own, and can see how your work could contribute to RiverPulse. RiverPulse is designed to give you both a clear research role and space to develop new expertise, questions and collaborations as the project progresses. If the position speaks to your research interests, we encourage you to apply.

If you’re at the final stages of your PhD, you may still apply if you have submitted your PhD thesis for doctoral degree evaluation within the application deadline. You must submit the thesis with your application. Documentation of your completed PhD degree must be submitted before commencement.

All documentation to be considered must be in a Scandinavian language or English. If English proficiency is not documented in the application, it must be documented before starting in the position.

Assessment

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 draw 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. A trial lecture may also be held.