Associate Professor in Political Science - Computational Methods

Associate Professor

Associate Professor in Political Science - Computational Methods

Job description

The Department of Political Science at the University of Oslo invites applications for a tenured position as Associate Professor in Political Science. We seek candidates with expertise in computational methods and the ability to apply and teach these methods within political science. The planned start date for the position is Fall 2027.

The successful candidate is expected to initiate and lead research, to supervise and participate in teaching and assessment at all levels (BA, MA and PhD) and to carry out administrative duties in accordance with the needs of the department.
We are open to candidates at different career stages and will consider qualifications relative to the length of the candidate’s academic career. Applicants who are qualified for full professorship can be promoted after a formal review process once they have taken up their position.

The Department of Political Science focuses on basic research with high impact and offers high-quality education for students both in Norwegian and English. We seek a new colleague with evidence of high-quality research publications, a promising research agenda, an excellent teaching record, and strong leadership/administrative skills.

More about the position

We are seeking candidates with strong expertise in applying computational methods to the study of politics. Their substantive research may be situated in any subfield of political science. Competitive candidates will have a scholarly track record demonstrating high-quality and methodologically rigorous research using data-intensive and/or computationally intensive techniques.
Candidates should have an established or emerging publication record evidencing international excellence and the ability to teach a broad range of courses in computational social data science.

The successful candidate will be expected to teach both research methods and substantive political science courses; supervise students at the BA, MA and PhD levels; and to contribute to further development of our educational portfolio. The position also involves close collaboration with faculty at the Department of Political Science and the Department of Sociology and Human Geography to develop and deliver a shared portfolio of courses in computational methods. We expect that the successful candidate will contribute to the long-term academic development of the department and to participate actively in our research community.

Permanent staff are expected to divide their time evenly between assigned teaching and administration, and independent research, in accordance with university regulations. Candidates who cannot document basic pedagogical competencies at the time of appointment must acquire such within the first two years of employment by attending a pedagogical course at the University of Oslo as a part of their teaching load.

The department offers courses taught both in Norwegian and English. If a successful candidate is not fluent in a Scandinavian language, they will be expected to complete organized language training leading up to Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) level B2 within two years. Employees are expected to acquire sufficient knowledge of a Scandinavian language to be able carry out some teaching-related activities in Norwegian after about three years. Norwegian level B2 will be required for promotion to full professorship according to the regulations specifying the Act relating to universities and university colleges. The Faculty of Social Sciences and the Department will aid and facilitate the appointee in reaching said proficiency.

We seek to have a diverse research community and welcome applications from diverse candidates.

Qualification requirements and assessment criteria

Pursuant to applicable regulations, applicants will be evaluated based on their documented academic qualifications as well as qualifications in teaching, and leadership and administration.

• Candidates must have a PhD in political science, computational social science, or in a closely related discipline, and demonstrated ability to contribute to the continued development of political science as a discipline at the department through research activities, publications and education.
• Candidates must demonstrate substantial expertise in computational methods. This includes large-scale data collection using computational techniques, and the application of network analysis, machine learning, natural language processing, and/or large language models or other generative AI approaches to address substantive questions in political science.
• Candidates must be proficient in R.
• Research excellence is the main selection criterion among formally qualified candidates. Candidates must document a record of publications in peer-reviewed international journals or with renowned book publishers within political science (commensurable with the length of their academic career).
• When evaluating research quality, publications from the last five years will be given greatest weight. In the assessment of publications, originality, quality and scope will be emphasized.
• A clear and viable strategy for future top-quality research will also be given weight.
• It is essential that applicants can demonstrate a strong record of teaching (commensurable with the length of their academic career) and potential in advising and mentoring students.
• Candidates must have demonstrated potential to excel in teaching advanced coursework on applications of data-intensive and/or computationally intensive techniques in political/social sciences.
• Candidates should be able to advise graduate students on both substantive and methodological issues.
• While research excellence remains the primary selection criterion, substantial weight will be given to the depth and breadth of candidates' methodological expertise and their ability to contribute to the department's research, teaching, and supervision capacity in computational political science. Demonstrated expertise across a range of computational methods, and particularly across several of the methodological areas listed above, will be considered a significant advantage.
• Having developed large-scale datasets, software (like an R package) or other public goods with a userbase within the social science community is viewed positively.
• Demonstrated ability to contribute to the academic community as well as society at large through administrative responsibilities, editorial work, communication, and outreach will be part of the evaluation.
• Prior experience leading research projects, a track record of external funding as well as national and international collaborations, will also be considered.
• Finally, personal suitability for the position will be assessed.

The full range of these criteria will be explicitly applied in the evaluation of candidates but note that we will take the length of the academic career (based on the length of the PhD program, the number of years since PhD, and career breaks) into account when assessing the applicants. Interviews will be part of the appointment process, along with a trial lecture.

How to apply

The application must include:

• Cover letter (statement of motivation and a summary of scientific work and research interests; max. 2 pages).
• CV (complete list of education, positions, teaching experience, administrative experience, project acquisition and leadership experience, and other qualifying activities)
• Complete list of publications

Applicants should use the cover letter to account for how their work relates to the Department’s research and teaching profile, and more specifically computational methods courses, and how they plan to contribute to the Department’s long-term academic development.

We encourage all applicants who have taken a break from their scientific career to care for a child as a parent to include the parental leave period(s) in their CVs. The same goes for any other care responsibilities of relevance to the work situation.

All documents must be in English or a Scandinavian language.

Publications and a teaching portfolio should not be submitted with the application.