Postdoctoral research fellow in Sustainable Mobility

• English

With about 17 500 students, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences (HVL) is one of the largest higher education institutions in Norway. A broad range of academic programmes are offered at Bachelor, Master and PhD levels, spread out on five campuses Førde, Sogndal, Bergen, Stord and Haugesund. 

Our ambition is to build stronger and more solid academic and research environments that will interact nationally and internationally. The aim is to become a recognized actor on the international higher education arena. Increased international cooperation and engagement in externally funded projects will work towards this goal. 

Faculty of Technology, Environmental and Social Sciences comprises approximately 5500 students and 500 staff. Our faculty maintains strong ties with the regional workforce. We cultivate and disseminate knowledge within our professional profile areas through close

collaboration with business and society. The faculty provides a wide range of bachelor's and master's degrees in humanities, social sciences, and engineering sciences. Additionally, we offer two PhD programs in responsible innovation and regional development, as well as computer technology. 

Department of Civil Engineering and Environmental Sciences conducts research in various areas such as data-driven energy system analysis, geomatics, land and legal studies, landscape, ecology and climate, landslides, real estate history, spatial planning, sustainable development, energy transition, and sustainable mobility. Predominantly based at the Bergen and Sogndal campuses, we prioritize partnerships with regional businesses, industrial partners, and public sector organizations to generate relevant knowledge and innovations. The department has successfully secured multiple large scale European and national research grants and actively collaborates with international networks across Europe and beyond. We also promote research-based education and involve our students in cutting-edge knowledge creation. 

We are looking for a highly motivated and talented postdoctoral research fellow to be part of the Sustainable Mobility Research Group. The position is associated with the research project “JUST STREET” financed by Horizon Europe. If you are interested in contributing to developing streets shaped by active mobility that are safe, sustainable and inclusive for all citizens through developing novel socio-spatial analysis methodologies, this position could be for you. 

About the project/ work tasks

The project, JUST STREETS, aims to assist cities in promoting and improving just, equal, and active mobility. It focuses on developing innovative, holistic strategies and most importantly, implementing them. These strategies encourage transformative urban planning solutions complemented by behavioral changes. The project emphasizes a bottom-up methodology applied consistently throughout the project. It pays special attention to marginalized social groups, recognizing their needs and contributions as fundamental to shaping the proposed transformation of our streets. Our team will specifically support the city of Riga, Latvia as technical partner. 

Concepts like spatial justice, equality, and inclusiveness can be challenging to define and put into practice for actionable planning and design policies. To encourage feasible and sustainable behavioral change, we must co-create solutions with communities and decision-makers. 

To facilitate this co-creation, we need new knowledge to convert these abstract concepts and societal goals into tangible and measurable indicators. We also need evaluative frameworks and workflows that can be used by decision-makers and citizens to identify, test and evaluate mobility trends and patterns. Achieving this change will therefore require innovative application and redesign of established spatial analysis methods and approaches. These methods must balance fit-to-purpose, ease of communication, and visualization with cutting-edge insights from the fields of mobility and transport planning, spatial planning, geography, and sociology.

With this project, you will work on the following: 

• Develop methodologies and toolkits for socio-spatial analysis such as creating spatial analysis workflows and spatial models. 
• Assist the city of Riga in collecting and analyzing mobility inventory data. This will eventually lead to transformation through pilot projects. 
• Produce insights for just, equal, and safe streets to provide policy advice and dissemination. 
• Support the HVL JUST STREET team in liasing with consortium partners, attending consortium events, workshops and dissemination activities. 

You will also be encouraged to take part in the supervision of MSc and PhD candidates. 

The postdoctoral fellow will have his/her place of work and affiliation with the Faculty Engineering and Sciences at Campus Bergen. 

Preferred starting date is 1 June 2024. 

The Sustainable Mobility Research Group is dedicated to researching and developing innovative solutions for sustainable mobility, which encompasses new technologies, policy changes, and behavioral strategies. We collaborate with policymakers, communities, and industry partners to test and refine research findings in real-world settings, aiming to shape sustainable mobility policies and practices. Our team encourages knowledge exchange and interdisciplinary collaboration to foster comprehensive approaches to sustainable mobility. We engage with diverse communities and stakeholders, particularly focusing on understanding the mobility needs of vulnerable and marginalized groups such as children, young adults, older adults, women, minorities, and individuals and groups with different abilities. Our work includes key themes and topics such as institutional innovation, land use transport integration, mobility cultures, spatial justice, and urban digital twins, among others. For this particular project, we are in the process of hiring one new PhD candidate and one postdoctoral researcher to work closely together as a team together with the project group to solve the tasks described above.  

• You must hold a PhD-degree or have an approved dissertation in the field of spatial or land use planning, transport planning, geography, spatial economics, computer science or related fields. 
• You must have a professionally relevant background in research, pedagogy and project management at academic levels.  
• Research experience in interdisciplinary and/or externally funded projects. 
• Advanced knowledge of utilising GIS platforms or DepthMap or other relevant spatial modelling or analytic tools. 
• Proven publication record on mobility and transport planning issues with an emphasis on socio-spatial analysis 
• Excellent proficiency in English. 
• Willingness to travel to carry out project activities outside of Norway. 

The following qualifications will be given special emphasis: 

• Familiarity with how to transform academic insights into actionable transport policies and advice for diverse groups of stakeholders. 
• Quantitative and qualitative research methods, priority for being able to adopt mixed methods research approaches. 
• Background in research related to sustainable mobility, including but not limited to knowledge of new technologies, policy changes, and behavioural strategies. 
• Prior participation and involvement in educational tasks at minimum bachelor level programs. 
• Experience in working with diverse communities and stakeholders and communicating with different types of stakeholders. 

Personal characteristics: 

• Confidence in working independently and proactively. 
• Ability and willingness to work in inter- and transdisciplinary teams. 
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills. 
• Ability to work in multicultural teams and environments. 

The ability to start the position timely after 01. June 2024 will be considered an advantage when candidates are ranked due to the short time frame of the project. 

About the position of postdoctoral research fellow: 

The candidate must hold a PhD-degree or have submitted their doctoral dissertation for evaluation within the closing date of the application. It is a condition for appointment that the dissertation is approved. It is a condition of employment that the PhD has been awarded.

The postdoctoral position is a fixed term position with the primary objective of qualifying the appointee for work in top academic positions. If the appointee is interested, and if the institution is in need of additional teaching staff, the employment period may be extended by up to one year. Teaching and other duties will in such cases be added to the position.
Individuals may not be hired for more than one fixed-term period as a postdoctoral research fellow at the same institution.

The completion of the project proposal for the qualifying work, as well as a progress plan, will be developed in cooperation with the supervisor and head of department. It is a requirement that the project is completed in the course of the period of employment.

Applicants are asked to submit their application and CV online. Please use the link “Apply for this job” (“Søk stillingen”).

The following documentation should be uploaded as an attachment to the online application:

• A CV with a complete list of academic publications and teaching activities
• Diplomas and certificates
• Copies of selected academic publications (no more than 3)
• A copy of the PhD thesis
• Documents related to other achievements relevant to the position
• Names and contact details of 2 references (name, relation to candidate, e-mail and telephone number)

Applicants with a degree from a country other than Norway, need to attach a certified translation of the diploma and transcripts of grades to English or a Scandinavian language, in addition to the original documents, if the original is not in any of these languages. It is required that the applicant encloses a recognition document showing that their degree is equivalent to a Norwegian bachelor's degree, master's degree or PhD. You can read more about applying for recognition of foreign higher education here. The Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills (HK-dir) offers an automatic recognition document for certain degrees from selected countries. If the applicant’s degree is covered by the automatic recognition, it will be sufficient to attach this document. Read more about automatic recognition here 

Applications will be evaluated by an expert panel of three members. Applicants should note that the evaluation will be based on the documentation submitted electronically via Jobbnorge within the submission deadline. The applicants are responsible for ensuring that all the documentation is submitted before the closing date. It is of utmost importance that all publications to be considered in the evaluation are uploaded as an attachment with the application, since these are sent electronically to the expert panel.

Applications cannot be sent by e-mail or to individuals at Western Norway University of Applied Sciences.

Good occupational pension, insurance and loan schemes from The Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund

Exciting academic environment with the possibility of competence enhancement and development

Opportunities for exercise during working hours 

Initial salaries will be offered at code 1352 - Postdoctor in the Civil Service pay grade table scale.

There is a compulsory 2 % deduction to the pension fund (see http://www.spk.no for more information). The successful applicant must comply with the guidelines that apply to the position at any time.

The appointment will be made in accordance with the regulations for State employees Law in Norway ("Lov om statens ansatte)". Organizational changes and changes in the duties and responsibilities associated with the position must be expected.

State employment shall reflect the multiplicity of the population at large to the highest possible degree. Hence, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences has adopted a personnel policy objective to ensure that we achieve a balanced age and gender composition and the recruitment of persons of various ethnic backgrounds.

Information about the applicant may be made public even though the applicant has requested not to be named in the list of applicants. The applicant will be notified if his/her request is not respected.

Short- listed applicants will be called in for an interview.

Employment on the condition of work and residence permit being granted.

Western Norway University of Applied Sciences is subjected to the regulation for export control system. The regulation will be applied in the processing of the applications. 

Dr. Ir. Wendy Guan Zhen Tan, [email protected]

Homepage

21st April 2024

Western Norway University of Applied Sciences

Bergen

Scope

Fulltime (1 positions) Fulltime (%)

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