Postdoc Research Fellow in Sociology

The postdoctoral research fellow will be part of the research project The Salmon Elite: Its politics, self-understanding, networks, and wealth (SALELITE), which is financed by the Research Council of Norway and headed by Katharina Sass (UiB) and Maren Toft (UiO). The fellow is expected to pursue independent research in collaboration with the project participants within the scope of the SALELITE-project.

The project aims to examine the politics, self-understanding, networks, and wealth of the Norwegian salmon elite; meaning the owners and top executives of the companies in the field of fish farming in Norway. The project builds on theoretical contributions from political economy, focusing on the role of business in policymaking, and on contributions from elite sociology, focusing on the wealth, networks, and political self-justifications of elites.  The project is organized into three work packages. WP1 analyses the tax politics of the salmon elite based on publicly available qualitative data (such as documents published by salmon companies, media coverage, and party manifestos). WP2 focuses on the salmon elite’s self-understanding and self-justifications, based on qualitative interviews with entrepreneurs, heirs, and top executives of the salmon industry. WP3 examines the economic power, kinship structures, and social networks within the salmon elite, based on data from the Brønnøysund Register Centre and on party financing.  The successful candidate is expected to develop a research agenda and contribute to the project’s WP3. 

We seek candidates with the potential to contribute to the development of sociology as a discipline at the department. The fellow is expected to pursue independent research, as outlined in their submitted project proposals. We value the contribution of young scholars to the academic environment and study programmes in the department and encourage candidates with a desire to participate actively in departmental life to apply. 

Applicants who are hired with teaching duties who have little or no prior pedagogical competence will be encouraged to acquire basic formal teaching competence by participating in pedagogical training provided by UiO.

Residence in Norway is expected, but postdoctoral fellows are also encouraged to spend time abroad during the fellowship period if feasible.