PhD Position on Health among African Sexual and Gender Minority Migrants

About the position

One PhD position is available at the Institute of Health and Society, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo. The successful candidate will carry out their doctoral work as part of the project "Health and Migration (HEMI): A Multi-country Study of African Male Migrants".

The project is funded by the Research Council of Norway, and is implemented in collaboration between the University of Oslo and partner universities in South Africa, and Tanzania, as well as civil society organisations in Africa, and Norway. The project is affiliated with the Africa-Europe Cluster of Research Excellence in Health, Gender and Sexualities (CoRE HGS), which brings together scholars from eight universities (three in Europe, and five in Africa).

HEMI has a particular focus on health in the context of migration among African sexual and gender minority men. The project follows migration journeys from countries of origin through transit to destinations, and explores how migration shapes health, vulnerability, and resilience. It examines why people migrate, the challenges and opportunities they encounter along the way, how migrants seek to maintain their health, and the kinds of support they receive, or fail to receive, during the migration process.
 

A total of four PhD candidates will work on the project together with an international and multidisciplinary team of senior researchers and civil society partners. The PhD candidate recruited by the University of Oslo, will primarily focus on the health, well-being, and migration experiences of migrants living in Norway.

The position is a three-year fixed-term appointment. The PhD fellow will be based at the University of Oslo.

We are looking for highly motivated candidates with a strong interest in health among minority populations.

More about the PhD project

The doctoral project will explore the migration, health, and everyday life experiences of African migrants. The research will employ qualitative research methods, including in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, and participant observation. The project will also involve collaboration with community actors and include elements of co-research with members of the communities being studied.

The position will involve a period of intensive fieldwork, primarily in Norway. Through qualitative and participatory methods, you will investigate the lived experiences of migrants, as well as the perspectives of healthcare providers, public service workers, and civil society organisations that support them. The project will also include mapping and analysis of relevant national policies affecting this population.

Throughout the fellowship, you will collaborate with three other PhD candidates working on related studies in Tanzania, Zimbabwe, and South Africa, and participate in regular cross-national supervision meetings and project workshops.

While the overall framework of the HEMI project will guide the doctoral research, the specific design of the PhD project will be further developed during the early stages of the fellowship in dialogue with supervisors and project partners, including refinement of research questions, theoretical perspectives, and methodological approaches. The successful candidate can therefore contribute to shape aspects of the research within the overall framework of the project.

More about the position

This position is intended to help the candidate develop research competencies and obtain a doctoral degree at the Faculty of Medicine. The focus of the position is research, including scientific publications and dissemination.

The successful candidate is expected to complete the doctoral research, and submit a PhD thesis by the end of the three-year employment period. In addition to conducting research, the PhD candidate will actively contribute to the broader research environment of the HEMI project. This includes participating in project workshops, meetings, and presentations, as well as engaging in collaborative activities with other project partners.

The PhD candidate will be employed at the Institute of Health and Society (Helsam), Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo. The position will be based at the Section for Transdisciplinary Research for Sustainable Health (TRUST), one of three sections within the Department of Community Medicine and Global Health. The department is a globally oriented research environment, bringing together scholars from medicine, the health sciences and the social sciences.

Responsibilities

The successful candidate will:

• Contribute to the detailed final design of the Norwegian sub-study, including research design, methods, protocol development, and ethical approvals, in alignment with the overall project framework
• Conduct qualitative fieldwork and data collection in Norway
• Analyse qualitative data and contribute to the theoretical and methodological development of the project
• Prepare and publish academic articles (normally three) that will form part of the doctoral thesis
• Contribute to joint publications and other outputs produced within the wider project
• Present research findings at academic conferences, seminars, and relevant policy or stakeholder meetings
• Participate actively in project workshops, meetings, and collaborative activities with international partners

Qualifications 

To be admitted to the PhD programme at the Faculty of Medicine, applicants are required to have completed at least 5 years higher education, i.e. a master’s degree or equivalent professional studies, or equivalent education recognised by the faculty as a sufficient basis for admission.

Employment as a PhD Research Fellow requires admission to the PhD Programme at the Faculty of Medicine. Normally, the successful candidate must apply for admission to the PhD programme within three months of starting the position.

Required qualifications

To hold this position, you must:

• Hold a degree equivalent to a Norwegian master’s degree in public health, sociology, social anthropology, gender studies, or a related discipline, or have a background in medicine or another health science combined with experience from, or an interest in social science research
• Master-level courses must have an average grade of B or better. Applicants with a grade point of C may be evaluated on an individual basis.
• Have excellent written and oral proficiency in English
• Have strong academic writing skills
• Have the ability to contribute to the production of high-quality academic outputs
• Possess good organisational skills and the ability to manage research activities independently
• Be able to communicate complex information clearly, both orally and in writing, to different audiences

Desired qualifications

In this role, it is an advantage if you have:

• Experience with migration-related research or programming
• Experience with research or work related to sexual and gender minority populations
• Good written and oral proficiency in Norwegian
• Familiarity with qualitative research methods
• Interest in collaborative and interdisciplinary research
• Knowledge of the Norwegian health or welfare system
• Experience working across cultures or in international research collaborations

Personal Qualities

We are looking for a candidate who:

• Is committed to conducting impactful research and motivated to develop the necessary academic and research skills
• Has the ability to work effectively both independently and as part of a collaborative research team
• Is willing to contribute actively to a positive research environment among fellow PhD candidates and within the wider project team
• Communicates openly about research progress and challenges encountered during the research process
• Is engaged, curious, and motivated to contribute to meaningful research
• Is well organised and able to contribute constructively to the progress of the project as a whole

Employment in the position will be based on a comprehensive assessment of all qualifications relevant to the position, including personal qualities.

We need different perspectives in our work 

UiO is an open and internationally oriented comprehensive university that strives to be an inclusive and diverse workplace and academic environment. You can read more about UiO’s work on equality, inclusion, and diversity at uio.no.

We fulfill our mission most effectively when we draw upon our variety of experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives. We are looking for great colleagues—could you be the next one?

We will do our best to accommodate your needs. Relevant adjustments may include modifications to working hours, task adaptations, digital, technical, or physical adjustments, or other practical measures.

If you have an immigrant background, a disability, or CV gaps, we encourage you to indicate this in the job application portal. We always invite at least one qualified candidate from each group for an interview. In this context, disability is defined as an applicant who identifies as having a disability that requires workplace or employment-related accommodations. For more details about the requirements, please refer to the Employer portal (Norwegian).

The selections made in the job application portal are used for anonymized statistics that all state employers include in their annual reports. More information about gender equality initiatives at UiO can be found here.

We hope you will apply for the position with us. 

We offer

• Exciting and meaningful tasks in an organization with an important societal mission, contributing to knowledge development, education, and enlightenment that promote sustainable, fair, and knowledge-based societal development.
• Committed colleagues in a good working environment.
• Involvement in a multi-country research project that provides opportunities to build a network of scholars with different disciplinary backgrounds in Africa and Europe.
• Good welfare schemes.
• Membership in the Statens Pensjonskasse, with beneficial mortgages and good insurance schemes.
• Salary in position as Doctoral Research Fellow, position code 1017 in salary range NOK from 550 800-610 000, depending on competence and experience. From the salary, 2 percent is deducted in statutory contributions to the State Pension Fund.

Read more about the benefits of working in the public sector at Employer Portal.

Application

Your application should include:

• A CV of no more than two pages.
• Full university transcripts, showing the courses/modules taken and marks for individual courses and for a master thesis
• Three references from academic staff (name, title, relation, phone number, e-mail) who have direct experience of your work, including (if possible) your master thesis supervisor.
• A writing sample of between 4,000 and 10,000 words (e.g. a coursework essay or dissertation)
• A personal statement of up to three pages that addresses the following questions and issues (in any format or order):

- Why you are interested in this PhD project

- Your relevant experience and training for this PhD project

- How you would want to develop your study for this project, including any particular issues and questions you would want to explore

- Literature you would be interested in engaging with and contributing to as part of the project

- Your longer-term career plans and how this project will help you to progress them, including any training that you would hope to receive as part of the project

A statement indicating whether any artificial intelligence tools were used in preparing your application. If so, the statement should specify which tools were used and provide an account of how and for what purposes they were applied.

Application with attachments must be submitted via our recruitment system Jobbnorge, click "Apply for the position".

When applying for the position, we ask you to retrieve your education results from Vitnemålsportalen.no. If your education results are not available through Vitnemålsportalen, we ask you to upload copies of your transcripts or grades. Please note that all documentation must be in English or a Scandinavian language.

General information

The best qualified candidates will be invited for interviews. 

Applicant lists can be published in accordance with Norwegian Freedom of Information Act § 25. When you apply for a position with us, your name will appear on the public applicant list. It is possible to request to be excluded from this list. You must justify why you want an exemption from publication and we will then decide whether we can grant your request. If we cannot, you will hear from us.

Please refer to Regulations for the Act on universities and colleges chapter 3 (Norwegian),  Guidelines concerning appointment to post doctoral and research posts at UiO and Regulations for the degree of Philosophiae Doctor (PhD) at the University of Oslo.

The University of Oslo has a transfer agreement with all employees that is intended to secure the rights to all research results etc.