A PhD position is available at the PROMENTA Research Center, Section for Health, Developmental and Personality Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo. PROMENTA is a newly established interdisciplinary research center focusing on mental health, drug use and wellbeing. For more information about PROMENTA, please visit www.promenta.no.  

The position is part of the Modelling Human Happiness (ModHap project), which will run from 2022-2027, and is funded by the Research Council of Norway and the University of Oslo. ModHap is an interdisciplinary project that integrates insights from ancient philosophy, philosophy of science and psychology aiming to develop new empirically testable notions of well-being (or happiness). Our main objective is to develop new scientific models of happiness, which will provide vital knowledge about the sources of happiness, generate novel metrics for empirically measuring happiness, and lay the groundwork for innovative interventions aimed at improving and sustaining happiness. The current sub-project, “Happiness, Values and Action” will primarily focus on empirical psychology.

For more information about ModHap, please visit the project website

More about the specific project

The fellowship is for a period of three years. A fourth year can be considered with the addition of a 25% teaching requirement, depending on the competence of the applicant and the needs of the department.

The PhD-candidate will work with PROMENTA supervisors and researchers, and colleagues at Philosophy at UiO, to generate knowledge about the nature and development of human happiness, including hedonic and eudaimonic wellbeing. In particular, the project aims to expand our understanding of the role of values and activities in a good life.

Central questions that form the basis of the project:

  • 1) Which values are key to a good life?
  • 2) What challenges are posed by including a value-focus to the science of happiness?
  • 3) What role(s) does being a morally good person play in being a happy person?
  • 4) Can particular practices or activities make certain values more crucial to a good life?
  • 5) How can empirical measures of values and morality be improved in a reliable and valid fashion?

The project will use available self-report data and collect new data.

The project is led by Professor Joar Vittersø, Professor Espen Røysamb and Senior Researcher Ragnhild Bang Nes, and is a joint project with Philosophy at the University of Oslo. Further, the project involves collaborations with the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, The University of Tromsø and international researchers.

Qualification requirements

  • Applicants must have a Master’s degree (120 ECTS) or equivalent in relevant fields such as psychology (Professional program or Master’s program), social science, or related
  • Experience and skills in quantitative analysis
  • Long-term potential for high-quality research
  • Proficient English oral and writing skills are a prerequisite, Scandinavian language proficiency constitutes an advantage
  • Ambitions for excellent research within the project, as evidenced by the required letter of application, explaining the motivation for applying, and how own qualifications are suitable for the announced position.

Preferable qualifications:

  • Experience in the research fields of wellbeing, quality of life, personality psychology, social psychology, or philosophy of happiness
  • Knowledge and interests in theories of science and ancient philosophy
  • Skills and experience from data collections, applied psychometrics, and scale development
  • Competence in software such as R, Mplus, Stata, or SPSS
  • Excellent writing skills

Personal skills

  • Creative thinking and analytic abilities
  • Structured, goal-oriented, and productive
  • High motivation and efficient work structure
  • Excellent at cooperating and communicating with co-workers from diverse disciplines 
  • Personal suitability

In assessing applications, particular emphasis will be placed upon the quality of the candidate’s academic qualifications. Interviews with selected candidates will be arranged where the applicant’s personal suitability, motivation and cooperative skills will be emphasized.

We offer

  • Salary grade NOK 501 200 – 544 400 per year, depending on qualifications in a position as PhD Research fellow (position code 1017)
  • A professionally stimulating work environment at the Promenta Research Center, Department of Psychology
  • Collaboration with colleagues in the field of ancient philosophy
  • Enthusiastic colleagues with high expertise in relevant fields
  • Unique learning opportunities
  • Opportunities for extensive collaboration with national and international scientists
  • Favorable pension and social welfare benefits
  • Attractive welfare arrangements

How to apply

The application must include

  • cover letter statement of motivation and research interests
  • CV (summarizing education, positions and academic work) including a publication list (if applicable).
  • copies of educational certificates (academic transcripts only)
  • list of reference persons: 2-3 references (name, relation to candidate, e-mail and phone number)

The application with attachments must be delivered in our electronic recruiting system, please follow the link “apply for this job”. Foreign applicants are advised to attach an explanation of their University’s grading system. Please note that all documents should be in English (or a Scandinavian language).

Formal regulations

Please see the guidelines and regulations for appointments to Research Fellowships at the University of Oslo.

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

This is a project funded by the Research Council of Norway and applicants with a previous PhD degree cannot be appointed for this position.

According to the Norwegian Freedom of Information Act (Offentleglova) information about the applicant may be included in the public applicant list, also in cases where the applicant has requested non-disclosure.

The appointment may be shortened/given a more limited scope within the framework of the applicable guidelines on account of any previous employment in academic positions.

The University of Oslo has an agreement for all employees, aiming to secure rights to research results etc.

Inclusion and diversity are a strength. The University of Oslo has a personnel policy objective of achieving a balanced gender composition. Furthermore, we want employees with diverse professional expertise, life experience and perspectives.

If there are qualified applicants with disabilities, employment gaps or immigrant background, we will invite at least one applicant from each of these categories to an interview.

Contact information

Project leader, Joar Vittersø: joar.vitterso@psykologi.uio.no

Project co-leader, Espen Røysamb: espen.roysamb@psykologi.uio.no

Head of office, Gunnar Andre Malmin, e-mail: g.a.malmin@psykologi.uio.no

Please contact the project leaders for more information about the project.  

About the University of Oslo 

The University of Oslo is Norway’s oldest and highest ranked educational and research institution, with 28 000 students and 7000 employees. With its broad range of academic disciplines and internationally recognised research communities, UiO is an important contributor to society.

The Department of Psychology is one of seven units of the Faculty of Social Sciences, and has 75 permanent and 70 temporary members of scientific staff. Degrees are offered at bachelor and master level, plus a clinical training programme, and the PhD programme has 140 students.

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