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PhD Fellowship Rural Studies

The Institute of Urbanism and Landscape (UL) is searching for a doctoral candidate who can strengthen and develop the institute’s ongoing research into the current development of rural areas.

Application date: 1 Februrary, 2018

The concepts “rural” and “urban” are unsatisfactory in contemporary territorial discussions, because they do not denote clear categories. Economic, social, cultural and also urbanization as an architectural category, are influencing all territories. However, there are distinctive characteristics to the current development in rural areas. Examples are industrialization of primary production (agriculture, forestry and fisheries), changes in ownership and accessibility to the resources, changes in settlement structure, investments in national and international infrastructure and localization of huge industrial, commercial and recreational projects.

UL is engaged in this research field in a number of projects involving PhD students together with AHO and international researchers: The project “Countryside Construction” in cooperation with the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. Studies of Norwegian fisheries and their impact on local habitat and settlement structure (Ellefsen/Lundevall, Fiskevær, Oslo: PAX forlag, 2017), and different studies of peri-urban areas.

Project proposals may focus on theoretical studies, studies on a territorial level or have the format of a case-study. Prospective candidates must base their analytical approach from disciplines such as architecture (morphological studies), urbanism (local and territorial strategies) or landscape architecture (local habitat).

In order to link the project closely to ongoing research at AHO, the empirical material in question should primarily be linked to the impact of fisheries in a Northern Norwegian setting or to the study of the urbanisation of habitat and villages in the Chinese Countryside. The candidate should in the project description and in the CV, demonstrate knowledge of the study area.

The candidate will be placed in the context of the Institute’s research center and will be given a role in the organization of the further development of rural studies. The likely supervisor will be Professor Karl Otto Ellefsen.

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