Career development

Associate Professor Programme

VID offers a structured qualification programme for associate professors at VID. There is an annual admission with the following structure:

• Annual announcement before the summer holiday for admission for the coming school year.
• Three gatherings during the school year (October, January, May). The gatherings take place across academic units.
• The purpose is to make participants aware of the competence, experience and documentation required to apply for promotion to associate professor and how to work purposefully to achieve such competence. Strategic choices related to development work, research and development projects are emphasised.
• During the gatherings, the participants develop three relevant documents that support the promotion application itself: academic CV, profile document and pedagogical portfolio. A timetable is also drawn up.
• The first gathering deals with current legislation and guidelines. The second and third gatherings function as presentation seminars.
• The person responsible for the programme makes an assessment of the participants' profile after completing the qualification programme, the progress report is shared with their immediate supervisor and the pro-dean for research.
• The participants are then followed up in their own academic unit and offered a mentor, if relevant. Read more about the mentoring scheme below.

Professor Programme

VID offers a structured professor programme for VID's associate professors. There is an annual admission with the following structure:

• Annual announcement before the summer holiday for admission for the coming school year.
• Three gatherings during the school year (October, January, May). The gatherings take place across academic units.
• The purpose is to make participants aware of the competence, experience and documentation required to apply for promotion to professor and how to work purposefully to achieve such competence. Strategic choices related to development work, research and development projects and publications are emphasised.
• During the gatherings, the participants develop three relevant documents that support the promotion application itself: academic CV, profile document and pedagogical portfolio. A timetable is also drawn up.
• Those responsible for the programme make an assessment of the participants' profile after the gatherings, the progress report is shared with their immediate supervisor and the pro-dean for research.
• The participants are then followed up in their own academic unit and offered a mentor, if relevant. Read more about the mentoring scheme below.

Professor Track

VID offers a structured professor track for associate professors and research professor II. There is an annual admission with the following structure:

• Annual announcement before the summer holidays for admission in the coming school year.
• Three gatherings during the school year. The gatherings take place across academic units and aim to make participants aware of the competence, experience and documentation required to apply for promotion to professor and research professor I, respectively.
• During the gatherings, the participants develop three relevant documents that support the promotion application itself: academic CV, profile document and pedagogical portfolio. A timetable is also created.
• The first gathering deals with current legislation and guidelines. The second and third gatherings function as presentation seminars.
• The second and third gatherings are reserved for employees who defended their dissertation at least four years ago and, as such, have gained some experience that can be used in the aforementioned documents.
• Those responsible for the track make an assessment of the participants' profile after completing the qualification track, the progress report is shared with their immediate supervisor and the associate dean for research.
• The participants are then followed up at their own academic unit and offered a mentor, if relevant. See more information about the mentoring scheme below.

The Academy for Early Career Researchers is an annual career development program for those at the beginning of their research career and is reserved for employees who defended their dissertation within the last 4 years.

It is primarily aimed at employees who have ambitions to further develop their research career through:

• development of a research environment via external funding
• research group leadership
• other types of research management

During the program, career development and career assessment in academia, external funding of research, research management, and diversity and gender balance in research are thematized.

There will be four gatherings during the school year, two digital and two physical, in addition to individual mentoring. Work related to each theme is expected between each gathering. This work consists of developing a career plan and developing an innovative research idea that can later be developed into preferably an RCN application (for example, a call for research projects for early career researchers).

An annual announcement is published before the summer holidays for admission to the coming school year.

The mentoring offer is reserved for candidates who have completed all sessions in the relevant competence course and who have worked with the aforementioned texts. VID has two different mentoring schemes.

Application Mentor

An application mentor can be given to candidates who need a mentor for a short period to focus on the promotion application itself. The standard allocation is 5 hours. The hours are used for meetings and reading through relevant documents. To qualify for an application mentor, the progress report must identify few or no deficiencies after completing the course.

Development Mentor

A development mentor is suitable for candidates who need a longer mentoring relationship to build relevant experience, competence and documentation within academia such as publishing, supervision and pedagogical development work. The standard allocation is 10 hours per year for a maximum of 3 years.

Guidelines for mentoring can be found here.

EURAXESS | Researchers in motion

EURAXESS is a pan-European initiative by the European Commission that supports the mobility and career development of researchers by providing free personalized services, job and funding opportunities, and information on relocation and daily life in different countries.  Whether you're seeking advice on career development, looking for tools to enhance your skills, or need concrete assistance with relocating for your next big opportunity, EURAXESS support with information and signposting. EURAXESS is a comprehensive career and innovation hub for information and assistance where you can find jobs, hosting and funding opportunities, as well as support and guidance. 

CAREER DEVELOPMENT

The Career Development section contains resources, training material and practical tools to support career development for researchers

Researchers will be able to plan their next steps in their career, assess their skills, learn about working opportunities beyond academia and read policy recommendations.

Qualification grants are intended to strengthen the research profile of grant recipients. There are three different grants that can be awarded:

• Acceleration grant
• Talent grant
• Strategic grant

Within the framework of the scheme, grant recipients will be able to be released from teaching and other duties for a given period of time in order to concentrate on necessary research activity with a view to promotion to professor, associate professor or researcher I. The grant shall strengthen the research profile of the grant recipient in the form of at least one scientific article submitted to a journal, preferably international, or alternatively a scientific monograph, by the end of the grant period.

Allocation takes place in the spring semester, for release in the autumn semester or spring semester of the following year. The duration of the grant period is from two to four months. It is also possible to apply for a minor operating grant of up to NOK 20,000.

Selection criteria

• Acceleration grant: Can be awarded to applicants who, after the end of the grant period and on the basis of an application, are considered qualified or almost qualified to apply for promotion.
• Talent grant: Talent grants can be awarded to applicants who have defended their thesis in the last four years, who have not reached the age of 45 at the time of application and who, in the period after submission/defence, have distinguished themselves in the form of publication and/or external funding, and/or other R&D-related activity that stands out beyond what is normally expected in the position.
• Strategic grant: Strategic grants are awarded to applicants who do not fall under the criteria for acceleration grants or talent grants, but who belong to units in VID where the proportion of professor-qualified staff is particularly low and where the grant scheme will, in the long term, together with other measures, increase this proportion. If you are unsure whether you belong to such a unit, contact your immediate supervisor.

Who can apply?

Scientific employees who:

• Have their main position at VID
• Have basic competence, i.e. associate professor, researcher II or senior lecturer
• Are in or have completed VID's qualification pathway to top competence. Exceptions may be made for the Talent Grant category.

What can be applied for?

• Work with data collection, analysis and publication(s)
  or
• Work with analysis and publication(s)
  or
• Work with publication(s)

What must the application contain?

1. Specification of the number of months for which a grant is applied for (2-4 months)
2. Specification of whether you want the grant in the autumn or spring
3. Specification of whether you are applying for an acceleration grant, talent grant or strategic grant
4. Account of the research activity that is planned to be carried out during the grant period, including reflection on why this particular activity (methodological, analytical, thematic) is central in connection with the applicant's career path in general and later application for promotion in particular (maximum 1000 words)
5. Any operating budget
6. Timetable for promotion (the timetable must include the grant period)
7. CV

Who assesses the applications?

The management of each faculty assesses the applications.

Deadline and how to submit the application?

The scope and frequency of announcements are determined by each faculty, based on strategic priorities and available resources. When relevant, the announcement is published in November with an application deadline in January. The faculties will send out more detailed information about the application process.

Contact

If you have questions regarding the qualification grants, you can contact your immediate supervisor or the vice dean for research at your faculty, or Trine Powell in SFA.

VID shall be characterised by extensive, ambitious and documented research and development activities that contribute to strategic knowledge development related to VID's academic and educational areas, and the fields of practice for which the university college provides education.

Applicable guidelines and process for application for and allocation of R&D time:

• Guidelines for allocation of R&D time
• Guidelines for development work as part of the R&D activity
• Table of who must apply for R&D time
• Application form (Nettskjema)

NOR-CAM

UHR has developed a flexible and comprehensive framework for assessment in academic career paths, NOR-CAM. The career assessment matrix outlines the range of different skills and competencies within academic careers and is intended to be a toolbox for the assessment process. You can find the NOR-CAM matrix and more information on UHR's website.

VID-CAM

VID has developed an institutional version of the career assessment matrix. It is based on NOR-CAM and institutional characteristics are included here: VID-CAM (PDF).

Here you will find references to regulations, national and local guidelines regarding promotion applications. (Only available in Norwegian).

• Regulations for the University and College Act (Lovdata)
• Guiding guidelines for the evaluation of promotion applications (UHR)
• Guiding guidelines for application and evaluation of application for promotion to senior lecturer based on competence (UHR)
• Information about applying for promotion in your current position (VID's personnel handbook)
• Guidance for assessing pedagogical competence (VID's personnel handbook)
• Promotion to position as associate professor and senior lecturer (VID's personnel handbook)
• Personal promotion to professor (VID's personnel handbook)
• Assessment of scientific competence (VID's personnel handbook)

VID offers training for PhD supervisors as part of its quality assurance efforts to ensure the best possible learning environment for both PhD students and PhD supervisors. Good supervision supports the PhD candidates' completion, the quality of the project, and well-being/mental health. It is therefore important that PhD supervisors at VID have the opportunity to develop the relevant expertise to maintain a high standard of supervision.

E-learning course for PhD supervisors

This course is mandatory for all principal supervisors in the PhD programs at VID. Co-supervisors are also encouraged to complete the course.

The e-learning program provides an introduction to various parts of the PhD program, its scope, and requirements. Participants are guided through necessary documents and guidelines, important milestones in the PhD process, what is expected of you as a supervisor, and more. The course is available in Canvas.

Gathering-based course for supervisors in the PhD programs

As part of VID's training program for PhD supervision, PhD supervisors can apply to participate in a three-day course held in the autumn semester each year. An announcement is published before the Christmas holiday with an application deadline of April 1.

The course will be physical at one of VID's campuses (Oslo, Bergen, Stavanger) for two days in the period August/September, in addition to a digital day in the period October/November. Between the gatherings, participants will conduct colleague observation and be observed by a colleague in a supervisory situation and submit a reflection on their own learning development.

PhD Supervisor Forum

Each PhD program holds a PhD supervisor forum for supervisors throughout the academic year. The forum is a meeting place for exchanging experiences, discussion, and competence-building measures.