Postdoctoral research position in media and communication studies: news, public opinion, and digital media - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

Career opportunities in media and communication studies, Karlstad University
Research in media and communication studies at Karlstad University is pursued at the Department of Geography, Media and Communication (GMK) in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Media and communication studies at Karlstad University is an attractive education and research environment with interdisciplinary contacts and global perspectives as integral parts of our activities.  

Undergraduate studies are offered in the two degree programmes Information & PR and Media and Communication, the latter with the options Communication and Global Media and Visual Communication and Design. A number of niche courses are also offered as electives to our students on and off campus.  

Our research in media and communication studies is internationally recognised. The overarching research perspective is global media studies, including global media industries and journalism as well as the daily media routines in a multifaceted mediascape. The research pursued under this umbrella has an emphasis on two areas: (1) Communication, culture and identity, and (2) Media, democracy and citizenship. Researchers in the department are used to publishing internationally and attracting research funding. The environment is internationally orientated and in an expansive phase. We are recent recipients of a major research funding from the Ander Foundation to institute The Ander Centre for Research on News and Opinion in the Digital Era (NODE), which means that we now need to recruit a number of new academic staff to strengthen the research and teaching capacity in our two profile areas, namely:

• A senior lecturer in media and communication studies primarily for teaching and research in the profile area communication, culture, and identity
• A senior lecturer in media and communication studies primarily for teaching and research in the profile area media, democracy, and citizenship.
• A postdoc position (2 years) in media and communication studies: news, public opinion, and digital media (linked to NODE).
• A doctoral student in media and communication studies with emphasis on news, opinion forming, and digital media (linked to NODE).
• A doctoral student in media and communication studies (unspecified emphasis) 

Information of the university is available at www.kau.se and further information of the department at http://www.kau.se/media. The location is Karlstad for all positions.

Duties for the postdoc position in media and communication studies with emphasis news, public opinion, and digital media.
This postdoc position offers the opportunity to work for two years on a research project of relevance to one or both of the NODE research projects, i.e. (1) how audiences access political information (in a wide sense of the word) in a media landscape where journalism no longer necessarily has a given role, and (2) how organisations, businesses, and public authorities act and think in relation to the gradual weakening or even outright disappearance of investigative journalism; to what extent alternative forces such as citizen journalists, activists and public authorities are perceived to fulfil similar functions to investigative journalism; and what communication strategies are used by businesses and public authorities (and other organizations with an interest in public opinion formation) when many citizens cannot be reached via traditional mass media.

The postdoc is also expected to contribute to the NODE research environment and to departmental research activities generally by participating in seminars, conferences, meetings, etc.

Postdoc duties are mainly linked to research. Partly, but not exceeding 20%, duties may include teaching, supervision, examination, course responsibility and development.

Eligibility
A PhD in media and communication studies/related field or equivalent qualifications from abroad is required for this postdoc position. The doctoral degree must have been earned within three years before the application deadline. An applicant holding a degree older than three years may still be considered if there are special reasons e.g. parental leave och sick leave.

Assessment criteria
Beyond the eligibility requirements, the following qualifications and skills will be considered: 

• Special weight is given to the innovativeness and feasibility of the project proposal, and its international relevance.
• Special weight is given to the project’s relevance to one of the following themes:

1) how audiences access political information (in a wide sense of the word) in a media landscape where journalism no longer necessarily has a given role, 

2a) how organisations, businesses, and public authorities act and think in relation to the gradual weakening or even outright disappearance of investigative journalism; to what extent alternative forces such as citizen journalists, activists and public authorities are perceived to fulfil similar functions to investigative journalism,

2b) what communication strategies are used by businesses and public authorities (and other organizations with an interest in public opinion formation) when many citizens cannot be reached via traditional mass media.

• Considerable weight is given to the considered and realistic publication plan submitted (preferably with specification of substudies, planned publication channels/journals etc)
• Considerable weight is given to documented research skills in one of the following areas: journalism, news media, media consumption, public opinion, political communication, strategic communication.
• Weight is given to the fact that research skills are primarily documented through peer reviewed journal publications – at least one such international journal publication is required.
• Weight is given to the high degree of research skills demonstrated in respect to problem formulation, theory and methodological awareness, and analytical capacity.  

In addition, the following are useful qualifications:

• besides academic qualifications, experience of practical communication work (journalism, information etc)
• experience of developing and leading projects and activities
• international experience and experience of teaching in English
• experience of copurse development and web-based teaching
• experience of external cooperation  

Terms of employment
This is a two-year fixed-term employment full-time.
Expected starting date in the autumn of 2014.

Application should include the following items: 

• A project plan (2,000 words) presenting the applicant’s ideas of how the postdoc project fits into the research field of news, public opinion, and digital media as well as into the applicant’s own research profile.
• Publication plan
• CV (with verified copies of certificates, references, degrees etc.)
• Submitted academic publications – doctoral thesis,
• Research articles or books/book chapters –  displaying the applicant's research skills. 
• An account of practical experiences of relevance to the position 
• A brief (1,000 words) personal letter with background, reasons for applying, and view on research. 
• Two letters of recommendation and contact information to  two references. 

Application should be made electronically via the university’s web-based recruitment tool MyNetwork. Documents that cannot be sent electronically, such as books, publications, software, should be delivered in two copies to:

Karlstads universitet
Personalavdelningen
651 88 Karlstad Sweden

Referensnumber REK2013/101

For information on all the vacancies, please contact
Solveig Nilsson Lindberg, Head of Department
Christer Clerwall, Director of Studies
Professor André Jansson
Professor Henrik Örnebring.

Union representatives: All can be reached at phone + 46 054-700 10 00 (switchboard).

Last day of application: 23 May 2014

We look forward to your application

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