Part 1 General Information
Section 1 Scope
These regulations apply to employment and promotion in teaching and research positions. The regulations are the same for regular positions and additional positions (e.g. Adjunct Professor), with the exception of special regulations for additional positions where this is stated in the regulations.
The regulations apply at a general level and are formulated within the framework of the Regulations for the Act on universities and colleges chapter 3 (lovdata.no) (Norwegian). The units can provide further specifications depending on the needs of the various subject areas.
Section 2 Permanent and temporary employment
Permanent employment is the main rule of the Norwegian State. There has to be legal basis for temporary employment.
Staff may be appointed temporarily
- when the work is temporary in nature: see Section 9 (1) letter a of the Norwegian Civil Service Act
- when the employee is deputizing for someone else: see Section 9 (1) letter b of the Norwegian Civil Service Act
- when an unforeseen need has arisen for up to six months: see Section 9 (1) letter e of the Norwegian Civil Service Act
- when appointing staff for additional positions for a fixed term: see the Act relating to Universities and University Colleges, Section 7-7
- if no applicants satisfy the qualification requirements for the advertised position, and due to the teaching situation it is absolutely necessary to employ someone, temporary employment may be held for up to one year in a lower position, cf. Act relating to Universities and University Colleges Section 7-3.
Section 3 Requirements for public call for applicants
Vacancies must normally be advertised publicly (via NAV) and published on the University of Oslo website with a list of vacancies. This is compliant with the requirement in the Norwegian Civil Service Act for a public call for applications and the requirement in the Working Environment Act for information to staff about vacancies. Moreover, the positions shall as a general rule be advertised internationally.
The University of Oslo has templates for the wording of calls for applications, and these include the fixed standard wordings that must be included.
Section 4 Exemption from the requirement for a public call for applications
4.1 General information
Duties, skills requirements and responsibilities must be defined prior to appointments without a call for applications, depending on the research and teaching needs at the unit.
Public calls for applications may be waived:
- for appointments of up to six months
- for appointments of up to one year, provided that the organization would be at a significant disadvantage if it had to advertise the position: see the University of Oslo’s personnel regulations, paragraph 2.2
- for externally funded positions, when special reasons justify appointment without competition
- by notice when special reasons justify this: see the Act relating to Universities and University Colleges, Section 7-7. Nominations pursuant to Section 7-7 of the Act relating to Universities and University Colleges may not be made if more than one member of the appointments body opposes this.
Public calls for applications should only be waived if it can be demonstrated that there is no one with the same or stronger expertise that may be appropriate for the position when the call for applications is made.
When making nominations for an academic group where one gender is strongly overrepresented, and there is a desire to nominate someone from the overrepresented gender, it is assumed that no one from the underrepresented gender is appropriate for the position.
4.2 Special information on nomination for additional positions on fixed terms
For appointment to additional positions, individuals with the desired cutting-edge expertise should combine their main position at another institution with an additional position at the University of Oslo.
Appointments without a call for applications may be made on the basis of detailed academic grounds and a report on academic teaching and research needs that have not been met.
It is necessary to document the fact that the proposed employee has obvious skills at the desired qualification level, and
either to demonstrate that it is unlikely that there are others with equal or better academic qualifications in the field in question that could be considered likely to apply if a call for applications were to be issued for the position. The assessment must be made according to a job description which ensures that the relevant academic needs are covered, but are otherwise worded broadly.
or to demonstrate that the appointment will allow contact to be established with an important academic group at another university or university college, research institution or partner within the community and trade and industry. This also applies to academic/cultural competence which is not covered by the general competence criteria. Reasons must be given as to why the contact will be such that the university will benefit from important supervision resources or academic partners, besides the employee themselves.
4.3 Special information on the appointment of heads for time-limited, externally funded centres without announcement
The requirements for appointment without announcement will normally be met when employees have been key personnel in order to be awarded an externally funded centre (such as SFF, SFI, SFU or equivalent) for their area.
The basis for employment without announcement can be either by notice when special reasons justify this according to the Act relating to Universities and University Colleges Section 7-7 or, if the position i externally funded, regulations on the Norwegian Civil Service Act Section 3 (3).
Relevant sections of the application in connection with approval of the centre are enclosed with the case. The same applies to an extension without announcement if the duties remain unchanged after the first period.
Section 5 Impartiality in the appointment process
Section 6 of the provisions on impartiality in the Public Administration Act is applicable to all stages of the appointment process.
It should be clarified that no one involved in the appointment process has close ties to any of the applicants or would have a particular advantage or disadvantage in assessing any of them: see Section 6 of the Public Administration Act. However, any knowledge of an applicant does not mean disqualification. Attention must be paid to supervisor relationships, close academic cooperation and co-authorship when appointing expert committees. The scope of cooperation and how close it is in terms of time are relevant elements in the assessment of impartiality. The members of the committee must report on such matters.
Both people who appoint experts and those who are appointed are responsible for stating whether there are particular circumstances that are likely to impair confidence in the impartiality of the experts. Such an assessment will always be discretionary. The committee should briefly outline the topic of discussion and what was concluded if it has discussed impartiality. Please contact the faculty if there is any doubt, or in the event of disqualification.
If a manager is disqualified, a decision on the matter cannot be made by a direct subordinate. A direct subordinate can prepare the case, but the case is elevated to an overall level for a decision to be made.
A collegiate body, such as the appointments body, is not disqualified from dealing with the matter even if one or more of its members are disqualified and have to withdraw from dealing with the matter. In collegiate bodies, the decision on the impartiality of a member is made by the body itself, without the participation of the membe