Innovation for Sustainability

When can I apply?

Positions will be announced early in 2023.

Your employer may also apply for an industrial or public sector PhD, partly funded by the Norwegian Research Council (forskningsradet.no)

Other positions may be available from externally founded research projects, like Research Council of Norway and Horizon Europe projects.

What are the criteria for being accepted?

To be admitted to the PhD programme, you must have completed a relevant bachelor's degree (180 ECTS) + master (120 ECTS) , or equivalent education in the fields of human centered technology, art, design, social sciences, the humanities, and/or other fields relevant to the specializations in the PhD programme. You must have an average of B on the master’s degree and a B on the master thesis, or better

General information about Doctoral degree programmes (PhD) (ansatt.oslomet.no)

How will the education be performed?

It is recommended that you complete all the mandatory courses early in the period. Elective courses can be performed later. You may apply for taking courses at other programmes. You will be connected to a suited research group and will have two to three supervisors.

What kind of positions will the education be fit for?

You will be qualified for conducting research, development work and teaching within your own discipline in interdisciplinary environments where scientific insight and production of new knowledge are required.

How do I get funding?

PhD positions are funded either by OsloMet (through the Ministry of Education and Research), by the Industrial sector/Public sector scheme and externally funded research projects. 

General information about Doctoral degree programmes (PhD) (ansatt.oslomet.no)

Application deadline

Admission to this PhD programme is continuous.

Admission requirements

To be admitted to the PhD programme, you must have a master's degree (120 ECTS credits), a subject at second degree level under the pre-2003 system or an equivalent education in human centred technology, art, design, social sciences, the humanities, and/or fields relevant to the specializations in the PhD programme.

You must document your educational background and completed research work.

Your application must also contain a plan for your doctoral project which includes:

• project description
• plan for the training component
• progress plan
• funding plan
• proposal for academic supervisor(s)

The project description must describe the topic, research question, theoretical basis, and choice of method.

In addition, you must provide information about your need for infrastructure and the language in which you wish to write your doctoral thesis, and you may be asked to provide information pertaining to possible problems in accordance with rights to intellectual property.

In the case of comprehensive data collection, financing for this must be clarified. Reference is made to the application form available on the faculty's website.

Admission is based on a total assessment of the application, including the relevance and quality of the project description and on funding.

The quality of your master's degree thesis / thesis at second degree level and other written work can also be taken into consideration.

Decisions on admission are made by the Doctoral Committee at the Faculty of Technology, Art and Design (TKD), OsloMet, supported by a representative from the Centre for Welfare and Labour Research (SVA).

Upon admission to the programme, the Doctoral Committee will assign the candidate a minimum of two supervisors.

If the main supervisor is not employed at TKD or SVA or otherwise formally associated with the programme, normally a co-supervisor who is employed at TKD or SVA will be assigned the candidate.

The admission is formalized through a contract between the doctoral candidate, the supervisor, and the university, and if relevant also with other professional groups and institutions. The contract regulates the parties' mutual rights and obligations for the contract's period in accordance with paragraph 3 in the Regulations relating to the PhD Degree at OsloMet and is based on the outline developed by the University and College Board (UHR). Admission is granted subject to funding being approved.

The PhD programme is an organized research education, and candidates must participate in research groups. Externally funded candidates participate in research groups at their own workplace or in one of the faculty's research groups.

Useful resources and application form

How do I get funding?

PhD positions are funded either by OsloMet (through the Ministry of Education and Research), by the Industrial sector/Public sector scheme and externally funded research projects. 

More on admission and funding OsloMet (ansatt.oslomet.no)

The PhD programme in Innovation for Sustainability is based at the Faculty of Technology, Art and Design (TKD), in cooperation with the Centre for Welfare and Labour Research (SVA).

The goal of the programme is to qualify candidates for research, teaching, development work, and other highly qualified work in the field of innovation for sustainability. The programme is based on core competence from the departments of Product Design, Art, Design and Drama and Computer Science at TKD, and SVA.

The courses are also offered to other PhD programmes at OsloMet and to candidates outside OsloMet, provided there are vacant places.

The overall aim of the PhD programme is to contribute to sustainable development and welfare for all through human-centred and cultural research and innovation strategies.

The programme combines theoretical and practice-oriented perspectives through a social constructivist approach with various types of knowledge suitable to a diversity of contexts and professional practices.

It is thus rooted in OsloMet’s position as a university directed towards professional studies, with close links to the community and working life outside academia.

The PhD programme will prepare the candidates for societal needs, related to private and public sector as well as academia.

The programme’s unique approach is its combination of design and aesthetics with computer science and social sciences in an interdisciplinary setting. The programme is characterized by interdisciplinarity and ethical awareness, and by theoretical and methodological pluralism.

It offers three mandatory courses, each 5 ECTS, in philosophy of science, method and innovation, which introduce basic theories and practices with special focus on sustainability and interdisciplinarity.

Additionally, the programme offers five elective courses addressing different perspectives on sustainability: place-based, social, individual, aesthetic, and educational.

Sustainability is understood as a result of cultural, social, artistic, technological, economic and environmental factors and contains an awareness of ethicality and responsibility.

Culture, defined here as human thinking, behaviour, habits, and attitudes, is regarded as the foundational component. Innovation, understood as ideas or inventions that are practically implemented for value creation, is necessary to achieve transformation to a sustainable development.

The programme will push the candidates to develop new and improved products, systems, and processes by ways of interdisciplinary approaches and various technologies.

Design thinking, creativity and entrepreneurship are key elements, and interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary, and problem-based methodologies that involve a broad spectrum of societal stakeholders in defining and executing research, are central.

The PhD programme consists of an educational (coursework) component (30 ECTS credits) and a research component comprising the doctoral thesis (150 ECTS credits).

The programme is intended to be completed within an effective researcher training period of three years, alternatively four years including mandatory duties such as teaching and applications for external funding.

The requirements for the PhD degree are established in the Provision for the Degree of Philosophiae doctor a (PhD) at OsloMet - Oslo Metropolitan University.

Upon completion and passing of the programme, the candidate will be awarded the degree PhD in Innovation for Sustainability. The candidate’s specialization will be named on the transcript and diploma.

For more information about this PhD programme, take a look at the programme description (student.oslomet.no). Tba.

Regarding external applicants to individual PhD courses: The courses are primarily reserved for candidates admitted to the PhD programme, but all courses will be open for other candidates who have completed a master's degree (120 credits) or the equivalent, provided that not all places are taken by internal candidates. 

You may be asked to submit a summary of approximately one A4 page in length containing information about your PhD project or another project/area of interest, stating the topic, method, theoretical approach, how far you have progressed in your PhD studies (if relevant), and why they consider the course in question to be relevant to your project.

The application process is different for internal and external applicants.

Internal applicants

If you are already admitted to one of the faculty's doctoral programmes, choose courses and register your participation through the Studentweb.

External applicants

If you are admitted to a PhD programme at another institution or have completed your master's degree, this is the application process for external applicants.

Course overview

Single PhD courses in Innovation for Sustainability

The target group of this programme is those who wish to achieve research competence in sustainability studies, within the areas of design, arts, computer science, cultural and social studies, social sciences, urban and regional planning, and others, in order to be qualified for private and public sector, research, teaching and other positions that place high demands on professional competence.

You will be qualified for conducting research, development work and teaching within your own discipline in interdisciplinary environments where scientific insight and production of new knowledge are required.