Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in global, comparative, and qualitative life-course criminology

Job description

A Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (SKO 1352) is available as part of the project Life-Course Trajectories to Crime Globally (CRIMLIFE), funded by the European Research Council (ERC). The fellow will be responsible for his or her own research and work closely with Professor Sveinung Sandberg at the Department of Criminology and Sociology of Law. The project started in 2026 and there will be a project team of six people in Oslo. 

The appointment period lasts three years without teaching and administrative duties, or four years with teaching and administrative duties making up 25% of the total workload. A four-year fellowship requires that the candidate can contribute to the Faculty of Law's current teaching needs. If the Postdoctoral Fellow does not already have educational qualifications that meet the requirements for an associate professor position, UiO shall facilitate the acquisition of such competence during the employment period.

More about the position 

CRIMLIFE combines studies of life-courses with life-stories to study how the two combined shape criminal paths. The project aims to develop a global comparative life-course criminology that emphasizes the particular social, cultural, economic, and institutional factors of crime. Six countries are included – Norway, the Czech Republic, Türkiye, Nigeria, India, and Colombia. 

The project focuses especially on the role of the state, family, employment, and culture and studies, with a mixed-method approach, how these institutions influence criminal trajectories and marginalization in different societal contexts. Read more about the project here. 

The main research questions will be addressed through repeat qualitative life-story interviews with prisoners, as well as questionnaire surveys, in six countries on four continents. The qualitative study has 300 participants and 900 interview sessions. 

Contemporary research on crime relies mainly on perspectives and data from the Global North and especially Western Anglophone countries. Important overlooked sites include Asia, Africa, and even locations within Europe such as Eastern Europe and Türkiye. There has also not yet been attempts at comparative global studies of life-course trajectories – and few attempts at combining insights from studies of life-stories with those of criminal life-courses. 

CRIMLIFE builds upon and expands the previous project Crime in Latin America (CRIMLA) which studied the role of the State, labour market, family, culture and religion for crime in Latin America.

The aim in CRIMLIFE is to:

• Study life-courses that lead to crime and desistance 
• Study the role of life-histories in these life-courses 
• Study contextual factors such as the state, culture, family etc. in criminal life-courses. 
• Compare (both qualitatively and quantitatively) life-courses, life-stories, and institutional factors for crime in different societal contexts.  

This postdoc position is primarily part of the international, qualitative and comparative part of the project. It will involve extensive cooperation with researchers in the other partner countries as well as fieldwork in these countries. Project description can be obtained by contacting the Project Leader (sveinung.sandberg@jus.uio.no)

The candidate is expected to join and actively participate in the research community at the Department of Criminology and Sociology of Law. There will be close and extensive collaboration with the core project group at the University of Oslo, which consists of project leader (PI) Sveinung Sandberg, researcher David Goyes, two postdoctoral fellows, a PhD fellow and a research assistant. The candidate will also participate in the CRIMLIFE group's activities together with the international team, for example online and offline seminars and workshops. The candidate is expected to engage in international dissemination activities and collaborate with key scholars in the field outside the project group.

The candidate will:

• Do global comparative qualitative research based on data from the Czech Republic, Türkiye, Nigeria, India, Colombia and Norway.

The candidate is also expected to:

• Write research articles
• Assist the PI in the daily operation of the project
• Be co-responsible in the operation of TSD (Services for sensitive data)
• Participate in the dissemination of the project
• Participate in coding of data and organization of coding
• Participate in work with ethical approvals and data management plan 
• Participate in the ongoing reporting from the project

Qualification requirements 

Qualification requirements

• The applicant must hold a degree equivalent to a Norwegian doctoral degree (PhD) in Criminology, Sociology, Psychology, Political Science or other relevant social science background. 
• The doctoral dissertation must have been submitted for evaluation at the time of application and approved by the time of appointment. Applicants must submit a project description of 4-7 pages explaining how they would conduct their research task in the given time period.
• The project language is English and the applicants should have an excellent command of it, written and spoken.
• Applicants must have knowledge and understanding of research ethics processes in the fields covered by CRIMLIFE.

Preferable qualifications: 

• A demonstrated knowledge of, experience with and interest for life-history interviews, narrative analysis and life-course criminology is desirable.
• Knowledge of, or experience from, any of the involved countries or regions, including relevant language skills, is desirable.
• Experience with or interest for international comparative qualitative research is desirable. 

Personal skills: 

• Applicants must be able to work independently and in a structured manner.
• Applicants should possess good collaboration skills and demonstrate the ability, willingness, and commitment to contribute to the development of the research field.  
• Applicant should be able to take initiative and actively participate in an international and multidisciplinary research team.

Questions about the position

Sveinung Sandberg: sveinung.sandberg@jus.uio.no

Victoria Hatløy : v.a.k.hatloy@jus.uio.no