Proposer
PhD Candidate Øystein Lydik Idsø Viken, Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History, HF
Platform
I'm standing for election as a representative of the temporary academic staff on the University Board. I am internationally oriented and currently working on my PhD thesis, which is a historical study of Swedish public diplomacy in France. My project is organised as a cotutelle between the University of Oslo and Sciences Po (Paris). In my work on the Board, I will draw on my international experience as well as my background from student associations in Norway, with the aim of making the University of Oslo both a better place to work and a better university.
1. From ends to means
The University adopted a good platform for its PhD education in 2012, which states that the University will facilitate the doctoral candidates in taking responsibility for their own academic, professional and personal development. This should be
... rooted in a research of sufficient quality and size
... interacting with other fields of research
... take place in an international / global context
... done in cooperation with the relevant sectors and institutions of society
In order to achieve these ends, one needs effective means. The University is administered through a host of management documents outlining different parts of its activities, and the priorities among these are unclear. The result thereof is a continuous struggle for resources and attention. Temporary academic staff represents the largest group of employees on the campus, but we are far less visible than both the students and the permanent staff. I will work to ensure that the good objectives of the PhD platform are better implemented at the University and sufficiently communicated to the outside world.
2. Profoundly international
Life as a researcher is increasingly an international one, but the same can unfortunately not be said about the research training. The international side of a career in research must be better integrated into the PhD programs. At some departments foreign candidates represent the rule rather than the exception, while others barely recruit internationally. The channels for internationalization of research training are many, and the possibilities for tailored solutions good; both for lasting institutionalized cooperation in the form of cotutelle agreements and the execution of shorter lab visits through the Erasmus+ program. Both the research administration and the various academic milieus must work more systematically with the promotion and coordination of internationalisation.
3. A clarification of what to expect
The time where a graduate could dream of a permanent university position is long past. We therefore need courses and information for researchers in training about the existing opportunities in today's job market. A clarification of what we should expect from our research training is needed; the University as well as the Ministry of Education and Research must meet the temporary employees with honest and reliable information about the changing position of the PhD degree. The information efforts from the University should be directed both inwards, i.e., towards the academic staff, but also outwards, to the labour market and society in general. The temporary academic staff’s working conditions must be clearly and professionally defined – we should not be considered casual labour to meet the University's changing needs, but researchers.