Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Climate and Environmental Governance

About this position

The position

A Postdoctoral Research Fellow position at the interdisciplinary ERC research project RiverPulse is available at the

Department of Language and Culture

.

RiverPulse: Reconfiguring human–nature interactions as an assemblage at the Arctic frontline of climate change

is an ERC Advanced Grant project at UiT, The Arctic University of Norway. It examines how accelerating climate change transforms Arctic salmon rivers as ecological systems, multispecies environments, lived places and sites of governance. The broader aim is to advance assemblage thinking as an empirically grounded framework for understanding climate change as a crisis of relations and Arctic salmon rivers as assemblages of ecological, social, cultural and political processes.

The project works across three river regions: Reisa in Norway, Tornio in Finland and Sweden, and Kapisillit in Greenland. The communities are multilingual and -cultural, including Sámi and Kalaallit Indigenous communities and Kven and Meänkieli minority contexts. RiverPulse combines ecological and quantitative research with ethnographic, historical, citizen-science and governance approaches to understand how climate-driven changes in rivers and salmon systems reconfigure river–salmon–human relations, knowledge and governance.

RiverPulse is designed as an interdisciplinary research programme, where the announecd postdoctoral research fellow position is one of four positions. Ecological and quantitative evidence will be interpreted alongside qualitative and community-based knowledge, while each researcher retains clear scholarly responsibility for their own area. You will join a team spanning the humanities, social sciences and environmental sciences, with interdisciplinary collaborators and local research assistants across the three river regions.

The position is a fixed term position for a duration of 3

years. It is a prerequisite that the applicant can carry out the project over the full course of the employment period. No person may hold more than one fixed term position as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the same institution.

As a Postdoctoral Research Fellow, you will have the opportunity to advance your scientific career and further qualify for academic positions. If you do not already have the educational competence that meets the requirements for an Associate Professor position in Norway, UiT will arrange such competence during the employment period.

The workplace is at UiT in Tromsø, some travel related to the project must be accounted for. You must be able to start in the position by 1. April 2027.

The

Department

has a very active and diverse research profile, and hosts about 140 employees the majority of which are situated at the Tromsø campus, but some are at the Alta campus. There are about 500 students at the department.

The project/position's field of research

We are recruiting four postdoctoral research fellows with complementary expertise. Each position has its own research question and responsibilities, while all four fellows will contribute to the interdisciplinary work of RiverPulse across ecological, social, cultural and political processes. Previous Arctic or northern research experience is an advantage, but it is not generally required.

We welcome applications from candidates who can explain how their expertise can contribute to RiverPulse. You are not expected to arrive as an expert in every method or discipline used in the project

In addition to their position-specific research responsibilities (please see below), all postdoctoral fellows will contribute to shared RiverPulse activities, including project meetings, workshops and events, research communication and dissemination, and other project-related activities. In addition, the position involves periods of extended fieldwork in one or several of our research sites.

Your role

You will contribute expertise in climate and environmental governance, with particular responsibility for analysing and comparing existing and emerging forms of river and salmon governance across the three RiverPulse rivers. The focus is on how communities, institutions and other actors govern and negotiate changing river relations in response to climate and environmental change and declining salmon populations. You will also contribute to participatory research and the co-design of future governance practices, drawing where relevant on citizen-science observations and other evidence generated across RiverPulse.

The position addresses the question:

How are changing river relations governed, and how do communities, institutions and other actors negotiate responses to climate change across the three RiverPulse rivers?

Duties of the position

Analyse environmental and climate governance, community and policy responses to changing river relations across the three river regions.

Examine and compare different governance arrangements, such as Indigenous governance, rights of the nature, and/or co-management where relevant to the cases.

Contribute to participatory and collaborative research, community engagement and the co-design of governance responses and future pathways, including the use and interpretation of citizen-science evidence where relevant.

Develop your own analyses and publications within this positions research area and contribute to comparative RiverPulse outputs.

You must submit a project proposal that describes how you scientifically can contribute to

the project. The proposal must include a progress plan.

Contact

For further information about the position, please contact Head of department Gustav Jørgen Pedersen:

phone

: 77 64 69 74

email

:

Gustav.j.pedersen@uit.no

or Professor Sari Päivikki Pietikäinen:

phone

: 77 64 47 02

email

:

Sari.pietikaeinen@uit.no

Qualifications

Required qualifications

A PhD in political science, governmental studies, environmental governance, environmental law, public policy, sustainability science or another releva