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PhD Candidate in Network Properties of Blockchain Ecosystems

Employer
NORWEGIAN UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY - NTNU
Location
Trondheim, Norway
Closing date
25 Mar 2023

About the job

For a position as a PhD Candidate, the goal is a completed doctoral education up to an obtained doctoral degree. 

When it comes to DLT (Blockchain), organizations are required to resolve technological, innovation, governance, and stakeholder management tensions at the organizational (internal innovation development and management), ecosystem (alliances, platform emergence) and societal level (government, user adoption). Consequently, industry and research bodies must join forces and share expertise to properly investigate the phenomenon and maximize the societal and economic impact of DLT for EU and global entities. 

We are looking to recruit 12 motivated candidates interested in the area of digital ecosystems/Digital Transformation to study the complexity of DLT adoption and management. These positions will be part of the DIEM (DLT: Innovation & Ecosystem Management) Marie Curie Industrial Doctoral Network. DIEM is a consortium of leading academic, industrial, and governmental organizations involving: Vrije Universiteit (Amsterdam, NL), the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (Trondheim, NO), IE Business School (Madrid, ES), Durham University (Durham, UK), Accenture (FR), the Ministry of Digital Governance (GR), WEST Trade (M), CRH (IE) and multiple other associated partners.

The Doctoral Candidates will be spending 18 months with an academic partner and 18 months with an industrial partner. The goal of the project is to offer excellent training and networking opportunities and develop the Doctoral Candidates into thought leaders in the areas of DLT, Digital Transformation and Innovation Management so that they can pursue a successful career in academia or industry. 

Project 8 (Network properties of blockchain ecosystems) aims at understanding how blockchain-based ecosystem networks are developed. The project will focus on vendor-client relationships and the network properties that underpin them. 

The Doctoral Candidates are expected to successfully complete a rigorous training program, participate in research and networking events, orchestrate the content creation and social campaigns for DIEM, and deliver research excellence.

This is a position funded under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) project DIEM, grant #101073510. What this means in practice is that all applicants must comply with the following eligibility criteria:

  • Mobility requirement. The candidates cannot – at the date of the recruitment – have resided in Norway for more than 12 of the past 36 months, counting backwards from the date of recruitment. The date of the recruitment is defined as the first day of employment.
  • All candidates must be doctoral candidates. This means that they cannot already be in possession of a doctoral degree at the date of recruitment. This also excludes candidates who have successfully defended their doctoral thesis, but who have not yet formally been awarded the doctoral degree.

Your immediate leader is the Head of ISSE group.

Duties of the position

  • Discover the governance structures that facilitate different Blockchain ecosystems. 
  • Conduct a literature review and research design for platform-based governance structures. 
  • Explore best governance practices for blockchain projects. 
  • Conduct survey on key governance challenges. 
  • Develop a Blockchain Governance Framework (practitioner tool). 
  • Draft journal and conference manuscripts on Blockchain Governance.
  • Work with industry partners to achieve project objectives.

Required selection criteria

The researcher is hired under a full employment contract and benefits from a monthly living allowance, social security cover, plus a mobility and family allowance (must meet eligibility requirements). Researchers may be of any nationality. The salary follows the Marie Curie-Sklodowska DN funding scheme.

A career development plan will be prepared for the Doctoral Candidate in accordance with their supervisors and will include training, planned placements/secondments and outreach activities. Doctoral Candidates are expected to complete their PhD thesis by the end of their employment.

Candidates will be required to meet the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Doctoral Candidate eligibility criteria: http://ec.europa.eu/research/mariecurieactions/ and the entry requirements for the PhD programme at their host university.

Candidates must have had less than four years full-time equivalent research experience and must not have already obtained a PhD.

Please note that residency requirements for these DIEM positions apply: You must not have resided in the country of the host university more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before the appointment. The researcher must undertake extensive transnational mobility.

With regards to researchers with refugee status, time spent as part of a procedure for obtaining refugee status (under the 1951 Geneva Convention and the 1967 Protocol) are not considered (for mobility rules). It should be noted, however, that any time spent in your host university country after refugee status has been obtained is then counted when determining eligibility.

Researchers at risk are especially encouraged to apply. ‘Researchers at risk’, under the current MSCA work programme refers to “researchers who are either at risk in their origin countries (due to discrimination, persecution, suffering and/or violence), or are seeking refuge out of these reasons or have recently found refuge in Europe”.

The required selection criteria include the following:

  • You must have a professionally relevant background in Computer Science, business informatics, or management science.
  • Your education must correspond to a five-year Norwegian degree program, where 120 credits are obtained at master's level.
  • Have an evidence of independent research skills.
  • Experience in empirical research.
  • Have fluency in English.
  • You must have a strong academic background from your previous studies and an average grade from the master's degree program, or equivalent education, which is equal to B or better compared with NTNU's grading scale. If you do not have letter grades from previous studies, you must have an equally good academic basis. If you have a weaker grade background, you may be assessed if you can document that you are particularly suitable for a PhD education.
  • You must meet the requirements for admission to the faculty's doctoral program.
  • Appointment to a PhD position requires that you are admitted to the PhD programme in Computer Science within three months of employment, and that you participate in an organized PhD programme during the employment period.
  • The engagement is to be made in accordance with the regulations in force concerning State Employees and Civil Servants, and the acts relating to Control of the Export of Strategic Goods, Services and Technology. Candidates who by assessment of the application and attachment are seen to conflict with the criteria in the latter law will be prohibited from recruitment to NTNU.

The appointment is to be made in accordance with Regulations on terms of employment for positions such as postdoctoral fellow, Phd candidate, research assistant and specialist candidate and Regulations concerning the degrees of Philosophiae Doctor (PhD) and Philosodophiae Doctor (PhD) in artistic research national guidelines for appointment as PhD, post doctor and research assistant 

Preferred selection criteria

  • Affinity with the FinTech, DLT, Digital Ecosystems themes.
  • Affinity with new technology and forms of collaboration as technology and new business model drivers.
  • Knowledge of social network modeling.
  • Knowledge of R (statistics program) or other advanced statistical modeling programs or advanced qualitative research methods.

Personal characteristics

  • Communicates information with clarity and ease, both orally and in writing.
  • Keeps others informed, provides specific and constructive feedback.
  • Relates to other people in an open and accepting way, and makes them feel welcome.
  • Adapts their behaviour quickly, and is skilled at adapting to the circumstances.
  • Looks for new perspectives and ideas to improve performance and stimulate innovation.

We offer

Salary and conditions

As a PhD candidate (code 1017) you are normally paid from gross NOK 501 200 per annum before tax, depending on qualifications and seniority. From the salary, 2% is deducted as a contribution to the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund.

The period of employment is 18 months, followed by a separate 18 month contract at the industrial partner (WES Trade).

Appointment to a PhD position requires that you are admitted to the PhD programme in Computer Science within three months of employment, and that you participate in an organized PhD programme during the employment period. 

The engagement is to be made in accordance with the regulations in force concerning State Employees and Civil Servants, and the acts relating to Control of the Export of Strategic Goods, Services and Technology. Candidates who by assessment of the application and attachment are seen to conflict with the criteria in the latter law will be prohibited from recruitment to NTNU.

After the appointment you must assume that there may be changes in the area of work.

The position is subject to external funding.

It is a prerequisite you can be present at and accessible to the institution daily.

About the application

The application and supporting documentation to be used as the basis for the assessment must be in English.

Publications and other scientific work must follow the application. Please note that applications are only evaluated based on the information available on the application deadline. You should ensure that your application shows clearly how your skills and experience meet the criteria which are set out above. 

The application must include:

  • CV, certificates and diplomas.
  • Transcripts and diplomas for bachelor's and master's degrees. If you have not completed the master's degree, you must submit a confirmation that the master's thesis has been submitted.
  • A one-page letter outlining
    • a) why you want to be part of DIEM and which university partner you would like to apply for;
    • b) why do you consider yourself a suitable candidate for this position;
    • c) a list of three achievements in your life that you are proud of;
  • A copy of the master's thesis. If you recently have submitted your master's thesis, you can attach a draft of the thesis. Documentation of a completed master's degree must be presented before taking up the position.
  • A copy of academic works such as papers or thesis (if available).
  • Demonstrated English proficiency

If all, or parts, of your education has been taken abroad, we also ask you to attach documentation of the scope and quality of your entire education, both bachelor's and master's education, in addition to other higher education. Description of the documentation required can be found here. If you already have a statement from NOKUT, please attach this as well.

We will take joint work into account. If it is difficult to identify your efforts in the joint work, you must enclose a short description of your participation.

In the evaluation of which candidate is best qualified, emphasis will be placed on education, experience and personal and interpersonal qualities. Motivation, ambitions, and potential will also count in the assessment of the candidates. 

NTNU is committed to following evaluation criteria for research quality according to The San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment - DORA.

General information

Working at NTNU

NTNU believes that inclusion and diversity is our strength. We want to recruit people with different competencies, educational backgrounds, life experiences and perspectives to contribute to solving our social responsibilities within education and research. We will facilitate for our employees’ needs.

The city of Trondheim is a modern European city with a rich cultural scene. Trondheim is the innovation capital of Norway with a population of 200,000. The Norwegian welfare state, including healthcare, schools, kindergartens and overall equality, is probably the best of its kind in the world. Professional subsidized day-care for children is easily available. Furthermore, Trondheim offers great opportunities for education (including international schools) and possibilities to enjoy nature, culture and family life and has low crime rates and clean air quality.

As an employee at NTNU, you must at all times adhere to the changes that the development in the subject entails and the organizational changes that are adopted.

A public list of applicants with name, age, job title and municipality of residence is prepared after the application deadline. If you want to reserve yourself from entry on the public applicant list, this must be justified. Assessment will be made in accordance with current legislation. You will be notified if the reservation is not accepted.

If you have any questions about the position, please contact Professor Patrick Mikalef, email patrick.mikalef@ntnu.no. If you have any questions about the recruitment process, please contact HR at the Department, e-mail hr@idi.ntnu.no.

If you think this looks interesting and in line with your qualifications, please submit your application electronically via jobbnorge.no with your CV, diplomas and certificates attached. Applications submitted elsewhere will not be considered. Upon request, you must be able to obtain certified copies of your documentation.  

Application deadline: 25.03.23

Hovedbygningen

NTNU - knowledge for a better world

The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) creates knowledge for a better world and solutions that can change everyday life. 

Department of Computer Science

We are the leading academic IT environment in Norway, and offer a wide range of theoretical and applied IT programmes of study at all levels. Our subject areas include hardware, algorithms, visual computing, AI, databases, software engineering, information systems, learning technology, HCI, CSCW, IT operations and applied data processing. The Department has groups in both Trondheim and Gjøvik. The Department of Computer Science is one of seven departments in the Faculty of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering .

Deadline 25th March 2023
Employer NTNU - Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Municipality Trondheim
Scope Fulltime
Duration Temporary
Place of service NTNU Trondheim

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