项目介绍

2026年4月9日

About the position 

A Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (SKO 1352) is available at the Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo. The appointment is a fulltime position and is for a period of three years.

The position is part of the project MORE: Museum Objects and Reconciliation Ethics, funded by the Research Council of Norway, and we are looking for a research talent with the motivation to contribute to further developing the museum’s focus on the field of repatriation, dialogical work with collections and reconciliation.  

The position requires a PhD in anthropology, museology, Sámi cultural studies, or related disciplines. The candidate will participate in the development of methodologies for repatriation and post-repatriation work. Knowledge of cultural heritage, museums, provenance, material culture and repatriation is central.

Collaborative work with Sámi museums is at the core of the postdoctoral project. The candidate will also do research in collection storages and archives at the Museum of Cultural Museum (MCH) and Norsk Folkemuseum (STI).

The place of work is the Department of Ethnography, Numismatics, Classical Archaeology and University History.

A career plan shall be developed, specifying the competencies the Postdoctoral Research Fellow should acquire. UiO is responsible for following up on the career plan and ensuring that the Postdoctoral Research Fellow has access to career guidance throughout the postdoctoral term.

No one can be appointed for more than one Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at the University of Oslo.

Project description

The Museum Objects and Reconciliation Ethics project (MORE) is funded by the Research Council of Norway. The project is led by Professor Gro Birgit Ween.  

MORE follows up on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s report from 2023. As state memory institutions, museums are important sites for reconciliatory exercises. In the museum, repatriation is a central reconciliatory measure. In the period 2012-2019, a collaboration consisting of 6 Sámi museum institutions and the capital museums Norsk Folkemuseum (STI) and the Museum of Cultural History (MCH), returned half of the latters’ Sámi collections. The repatriation was named Bååstede, meaning ‘Homecoming’ in Southern Sámi. In MORE, the collaboration between the Bååstede parties continues between Sámi museums all over the Norwegian side of Sápmi: Saemien Sijte, Várdobáiki, Árran Lule Sámi Centre, Centre for Northern Peoples, Tana and Varanger Museum Siida, Riddoduottarmuseat, Sámi Museum Association, MCH and SNFM in Oslo. We are proud that Finnish Giellagas Institute for Sámi Studies at the University of Oulu is a partner in the project, along with the Sámi Museum Siida in Inari, and the Ájtte Swedish Mountain and Sámi Museum in Jokkmokk, on the Finnish and Swedish sides of Sápmi. 

In the context of reconciliation, a repatriation is the beginning rather than the end of a process. On the premises of Sámi museums, and with the help of Sámi methodologies, MORE investigates how the consequences of the capital museums’ management of Sámi artifacts can be remedied. Sámi scholar Liisa-Ravna Finbog writes that the opposite of assimilation, is that Sámi museums operate according to cultural values and practices. A key termin Sámi museum methodology is rematriation, describing activities designed to bring formerly Norwegianized museum objects back to life. MORE explores 3 post-repatriation initiatives: We ask, what efforts are necessary to enable collections with 1. their pesticides, 2. their collection histories, and 3, and alienated objects, to again become part of a living Sámi culture. 

Based on existing partnerships, between Sámi museum institutions from across Sápmi, duojarat and other Sámi experts, as well as Sámi and non-Sámi conservators, anthropologists, archaeologists and museum researchers and workers, MORE seeks to jointly create insights and experiences that have value both for the museums, but also for our ongoing state reconciliation work.

The candidate will be associated with Work package 2 and 3, as listed on the project website:
Museum Objects and Reconciliation Ethics (MORE) – Museum of Cultural History.

Qualification requirements 

• Applicants must hold a PhD or equivalent academic qualifications with a specialization in disciplines relevant for the project, such as anthropology, museology, Sámi cultural studies or related disciplines. 
• Knowledge of cultural heritage, museums, provenance research, material culture and repatriation/rematriation.
• Strong knowledge of Sámi language and/or culture.
• Knowledge of relevant social science methods and Indigenous methodology.
• Fluent oral and written communications skills in Norwegian or another Scandinavian language.
• Good communication skills in English. 

The doctoral dissertation must be submitted for final evaluation by the application deadline. Appointment is dependent on the public defense of the doctoral thesis being approved.

 Desired qualifications and competencies

• Experience with dialogical work
• Knowledge of reconciliation
• Strong writing skills

Personal qualifications 

• Collegiality and teamwork abilities
• Intellectual ambition and integrity
• Personal drive and motivation towards the project
• Good organization and time management skills

Employment in the position is based on a comprehensive assessment of all qualification requirements applicable to the position, including personal qualifications.

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. 
• Good welfare schemes.
• Opportunity of up to 1.5 hours a week of exercise during working hours.
• A workplace with good development and career opportunities. 
• Membership in the Statens Pensjonskasse, which is one of Norway’s best pension schemes with beneficial mortgages and good insurance schemes.
• Salary in position as Postdoctoral Fellow, position code 1352 in salary range NOK from 595 000 – to 677 000, 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.

How to apply

Your application should include:

• Application letter in English that addresses requirements for the position and that includes skills and motivation for applying, 1-2 pages.
• CV in English summarizing education, positions and academic works.
• A complete list of academic works, published or unpublished (up to 3 items and not exceeding 150 pages in total). Extracts from larger works such as PhD thesis can be submitted for consideration.
• Copies of educational certificates (academic transcripts only).
• A project description (max 5 pages/14.000 characters including spaces) answering: “What is it about MORE that you are most interested in and why? How does your research fit into MORE’s research questions in WP 2 and 3? Which of MORE’s research questions would you like to help answer? What methods will you use in your work?” The project description should also include tentative topics for scientific publications and a project plan. See Template for research proposal (hf.uio.no).
• Contact information for 2-3 references (name, relation to candidate, e-mail and phone number).

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.