Call for Applications - PROFRES 2.0

The Interdisciplinary, Interprofessional and Practice-Near Research School - Shaping Future Welfare

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PROFRES PhD Research School welcomes applications from PhD candidates in the fields of health, welfare or education who are affiliated with our partner institutions. You can apply through our Digital Application Form.

The deadline for applications is 15 January 2025.

PROFRES 2.0 - Shaping Future Welfare

PROFRES 2.0 is a national research school profoundly preoccupied with conditions in working life, as evident in our remit for practice-near research problems in the fields of health, welfare and education.

PROFRES was first established in 2014 and in 2022 the Research School was granted funding from the Research Council of Norway for an eight-year project, PROFRES 2.0. The Research School project is anchored in a consortium of seven partner institutions: University of Stavanger, the University of Agder, the University of South-Eastern Norway, the North University, Vestlandet University College, Volda University College, Molde University College and Østfold University College. VID Specialized University is an associate partner, and international partners are Roskilde University and Tallinn University.  The PROFRES project office is located at the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Stavanger. The research school is now open to 10-15 new PhD-student members that are already enrolled in PhD programs at the participating institutions at PROFRES.

Our new 2.0-project responds to policy ambitions for research and education with an integrated academic programme, giving added value for PhD candidates through participation in a vibrant social and academic environment. Moreover, the programme is designed to deliver excellence and relevance by strengthening relations between higher education and labour markets. This includes new emphases on interprofessionalism and the need for innovation and collaboration in services in order to resolve the major societal challenges in the welfare state. Our overarching aim is therefore twofold and complementary:

  1. to cultivate excellence in a high-quality interdisciplinary and interprofessional learning environment for practice-near doctoral researchers, with focus on three major labour sectors in the welfare state: healthcare, welfare and education;
  2. to vouchsafe relevance by facilitating new co-creation spaces between academic and practice fields – mutually cultivating innovative knowledge-based professional practice and practice-near research.

PROFRES 2.0 maintains high labour market relevance both through its core mandate of supporting and developing interdisciplinary and interprofessional research perspectives in key welfare labour sectors – and through its activities and organisational structure. Our unique contribution is to encourage budding scholars, professional practitioners, leaders, educators and policy-makers to engage in interdisciplinarity, interprofessionalism and co-creation through practice-near and professions-oriented research, pushing institutional, sectorial and disciplinary boundaries towards a progressive welfare future.

As a research school, PROFRES offers both mandatory and elective activities. PhD candidates are eligible to participate in biannual gatherings (symposia or courses), an annual summer school at Roskilde University which focuses on methodology and writing, as well as a range of courses, seminars and webinars covering specific themes and topics, as well as academic practice in general, including e.g. academic writing skills and research ethics. As a candidate of PROFRES, you are also eligible to take part in a one week long writing retreat at the Metochi Centre in Lesvos, Greece. The research school covers most of the costs connected to participating in PROFRES-activities.

Contact: Camilla Melhuus Line

The research school has admissions twice a year, and application deadlines are 15 January and 15 August. Participation in the research school normally applies for a period of three years.

Digital Application Form

The application must, among other things, explain how the research project fits into PROFRES's profile and objectives, so that you, the applicant, can highlight the relevance of your project, as well as your motivation for applying for admission. A project presentation (see recommended content below) is attached to the application. Applicants must be admitted to a PhD programme, or have confirmation of funding for PhD studies, at one of the partner institutions Nord University, University of Agder, University of Stavanger, University of South-Eastern Norway, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Molde University College, Volda University College, Østfold University College or VID Specialized University (associated partner).

The board of the research school appoints an admissions committee who assess the applicants based on the applications' academic quality and relevance to the research school's profile. A response to the application will normally be available 1 month after the application deadline has expired.

The application must contain:

  • Funding source and funding period
  • Letter of recommendation/confirmation that the main supervisor supports the application to the research school
  • Explanation of the project's relevance to PROFRES
  • Personal motivation for applying for admission to the research school
  • Attachment (uploaded as a PDF in the application form):
  • Confirmation of admission or submitted application for a PhD program within the application deadline to the research school
  • Letter of recommendation from supervisor
  • Project presentation

Project presentation (4-6 pages, 1600-2400 words) must include:

  • Short project summary (abstract) 100-150 words.
  • Introduction
  • Background and knowledge gaps/knowledge needs: placement of the project in the research literature
  • Research questions and design T
  • heoretical perspectives
  • Methodology, methods (data collection and analysis)
  • Possible research contribution and possible implications for subject/practice fields within e.g. healthcare, welfare and education (and/or across disciplines/fields of practice)

Questions can be directed to administrative contact person Camilla Melhuus Line by email: camilla.line@uis.no or phone: 51 83 13 54

The admissions committee will emphasize assessing the project's quality and relevance, in line with PROFRES's profile and our objectives. This means that applicants must highlight how the PhD project can be linked to practice-related and professionally relevant research, and that it has cross-professional and/or cross-disciplinary transfer value. Admission will also take into account the distribution of PhD candidates with a view to striving for a balance between partner institutions, the welfare state's sectors and subject areas/disciplines. It is mainly the academic quality and overall relevance of the application and the PhD project in relation to the admission criteria that will form the basis of the assessment.

Applicants must clarify how the PhD project meets all these criteria in order to be considered relevant for admission to the research school:

  • The research school must strive for the most equal distribution of candidates from the three sectors/fields; health, welfare and education.
  • The research school must strive for the most equal distribution of candidates from the various collaborating institutions as possible.
  • The research school will primarily admit candidates who are early in their PhD course.
  • Public sector and industry Ph.D. projects that meet all of the above criteria will be prioritized for admission.
  • The applicant is willing to collaborate with other participants in an interdisciplinary research training program and to participate in, and contribute to, joint activities.