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Call for Expressions of Interest for a joint application under the EU Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action Postdoctoral Fellowship scheme – Call: MSCA-PF-2025
The position of professions in society is changing. Today, most professional work takes place in organizational settings of public services or private sector firms, and the increasing complexity of professional tasks requires problem-solving across disciplinary and professional boundaries, as well as stakeholder involvement and civic participation. Meanwhile, in many countries, there is an increasing distrust of experts and expertise. Technical developments such as AI are also profoundly changing professions, a process that will only accelerate in the years ahead. Professional education must adapt to these and other changes, and in a rapidly changing society, it must somehow prepare professionals for tasks and roles that are yet unknown. Arguably, innovative cross-disciplinary research on professions and professional education has never been more important.
With this as background, the Centre for the Study of Professions at OsloMet invites interested and eligible researchers of any nationality to submit a project idea for a potential application for an EU-funded Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship (call HORIZON-MSCA-PF-2025) to conduct innovative research on professions at the Centre for a period of two years. Eligible candidates have a PhD successfully defended by the submission deadline (10 September 2025), a maximum of 8 years research experience after the PhD, are able to relocate to Norway for the fellowship, and have not resided in Norway for more than 12 months during the last three years.
The Centre for the Study of Professions
The Centre for the Study of Professions (SPS) is a leading Nordic multidisciplinary centre devoted to research and doctoral training in topics such as expertise, professions, education, work, and policy. It houses an interdisciplinary group of scholars, from sociology, anthropology, philosophy, history, and political science. The Centre is currently home to 14 permanent academic staff, 3 postdocs, 20–30 doctoral fellows and a number of affiliated/visiting professors, supported by a dedicated team of administrative staff and research assistants. We are located on OsloMet’s main campus in central Oslo.
The study of professions is an intrinsically inter- and multidisciplinary field of research, characterised by theoretical and methodological diversity and comparative approaches. The Centre combines empirical research with investigations of theoretical and ethical issues in various professional domains. Topics for our research on professions include: career paths and the labour market, recruitment to education, professional education as a source of identity and qualifications, the role of professions in the design and implementation of policy, professional ethics, digitalization and AI, and the exercise of professional discretion. We study both features common to all professions and those specific to individual professional domains. The Centre has a particular ambition to disseminate policy-oriented research, which is often relevant to a broad range of actors, including professionals, public authorities, NGOs, and citizens.
The Centre has four research groups, each with its own specific areas of interest:
Professional knowledge and qualification
Expertise, ethics and public policy
Professional practice and interaction
Professional careers and labour markets
Our research groups have extensive formal and informal links with researchers in other faculties and centres at OsloMet and at other institutions, both in Norway and internationally. The following are some of our recent and ongoing research projects:
Automating Technologies and the Future of Meaningful Work
Renewed Perspectives on Research Use in Education (REPOSE)
The Authority of Expertise in Professional Tax Law Practice (TAXLAW)
Organising for Outcomes: Links between service integration and transitions to employment for citizens with complex service needs
Persistent Passion for Professional Education: Consequences for student completion and dropout (PERSIST)
The Centre welcomes expressions of interest from researchers whose project ideas fit within one of the research areas indicated above (see links for further information). Professions that can be studied include, but are not limited to, teaching, medicine, law, engineering, nursing, social work, the police, and the military. Both quantitative and qualitative approaches would be relevant, and comparative approaches (cross-sector, cross-institutional, cross-national, or other) are welcome, but not required.
We are looking for applicants who
Application and assessment process
Applicants who are successful in receiving EU funding must relocate to Oslo to work as a postdoctoral fellow at the Centre for the Study of Professions for the duration of the project (c. 2026–2028).
Interested candidates must submit with their application the following documents:
The one-page project description should indicate how the proposed project fits with the Centre’s areas of focus. Candidates are also encouraged to identify which member(s) of staff they would prefer to work with.
All documents that you submit to OsloMet, including your proposal idea, will be handled in full confidentiality and in strict compliance with GDPR regulations.
Evaluation will be based on the applicant’s qualifications and project idea, including its fit with the Centre’s research areas and (one of) our faculty members’ research profile. Some candidates will be invited for a virtual interview. Please note that we may assess applications continuously and send some interview invitations prior to the deadline, but all applications submitted by the deadline will be assessed on equal terms. Based on the applications and interviews, a number of candidates may be invited to develop a full MSCA-PF application in collaboration with the Centre for the Study of Professions.
Candidates who are invited to develop a full application will be expected to do so under the supervision of one of the Centre’s faculty members and with the support of the professional research administration staff at OsloMet. For these candidates, participation in OsloMet’s virtual masterclass on MSCA-PF 28–29 April is obligatory. This will be a two-day workshop with detailed, tailored and necessary instruction concerning the application process and template. Further cooperation on the proposal development will be done remotely in the period from April until the deadline in mid-September 2025, with regular online communication via email and virtual meeting platforms.
Employment at OsloMet (if the MSCA-PF application is successful)
MSCA-PF-2025 decisions will be announced by the EU in February 2026. To successful applicants who are awarded the MSCA-PF grant, we will offer:
We make active endeavours to further develop OsloMet as an inclusive workplace and to make adaptations to the workplace where required. You are welcome to apply even if you have had periods where you have not been in employment, education, or training. Any offer of employment is subject to 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.
Remuneration:
MSCA-PF fellowships are 100 % funded and include living and mobility allowances.
Contact
Questions may be directed to the individual supervisors listed in the complete call on our website (press the ‘Apply’ button to view this), or to:
