Job description

A position as PhD Research Fellow within Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is available at the Scandinavian Institute of Maritime Law, Faculty of Law, University of Oslo, Norway. The position is for three years, full time.

The project designated for the PhD Research Fellow will be a part of and contribute towards the goals of the larger project Norwegian CCS Research Center (NCCS). NCCS is a so-called Environment-Friendly Energy Research Centre (FME), which is co-financed by the Research Council of Norway as well as industrial partners and research institutions in Norway and abroad. This means that the NCCS Center has a user focus, with the purpose of enabling the fast-track of CCS and contributing to the Norwegian government’s ambition to realise a full-scale CCS chain.

The PhD Research Fellow will be expected to actively participate in the research consortium. Please see here for more information about NCCS: http://www.sintef.no/nccs

Within the NCCS consortium, the legal research is led and coordinated by the Scandinavian Institute of Maritime Law, Faculty of Law, University of Oslo.

The PhD Research Fellow will participate in a work package that aims to investigate legal issues related to the CCS value chain. The PhD research project will focus on one of the aspects of the value chain. Which precise topic will be chosen for the PhD project is to be discussed with the candidates, but the following themes are pre-identified and prioritised: liability regime and contractual relationship along the CCS value chain; capture operations, permitting procedures and liability; low carbon products and public procurement rules; leakage of CO2, risk management and insurance coverage.

Candidates are required to send a detailed project description (see application requirements).

The purpose of the fellowship is research training leading to the successful completion of a PhD degree at the University of Oslo. The PhD Fellows will automatically be admitted to the Faculty’s PhD programme and benefit from the Faculty’s organized research training. The academic work is to result in a doctoral thesis that will be defended at the Faculty with a view to obtaining the degree of PhD. Please find more information about the PhD programme here: (https://www.jus.uio.no/english/research/phd/index.html)

In addition to publication of research results, the PhD Research Fellow is expected to participate to research dissemination activities.

The working language will be English and/or Norwegian.

Qualification requirements

The applicant must hold a five year Norwegian master’s degree in law, or equivalent.

Applicants must submit a project description of 5 -10 pages, which demonstrates how the applicant will target his/her project and contribute to the overall NCCS project. It is assumed that the applicant will be able to complete the project during the appointment period.

The project languages are English and Norwegian, and candidates must have an excellent command of English, written and spoken. A good knowledge of Norwegian will be taken into account.

Knowledge of CCS is an advantage, but not a requirement for being selected. Relevant competence for the position is experience with academic research on energy, petroleum and/or environmental law from the perspective of Norwegian, European and/or international law.

In assessing the applicants, emphasis will be placed on grades, written production in peer-reviewed publications, academic research skills and qualifications related to independent legal research. Further emphasis is placed on the project description, the novelty of the research questions proposed, the applicant’s professional and personal prerequisites for carrying out the research project. During the project period, the applicant must be fully dedicated to the project, the position being a full-time position for three years. Good communication abilities and interest in contributing to an active and open research environment are considered key assets.

Short-listed candidates will be invited for an interview at the University of Oslo, personally or through electronic means.

Please read about the requirements for admission to the PhD program here.

The appointment is for three (3) years, full-time. The period of appointment may, in special circumstances, be extended to four (4) years, with teaching, supervision duties and research assistance constituting 25 % of the overall workload. A prerequisite for such an extension is that the appointee meets the current teaching needs of the Faculty of Law.