Terms of employment as a post-doctoral fellow

The post-doctoral fellow is a tenure position that intends to further career within academia. The regulation for Universities and Higher education Section 6-4 and the " Forskrift om ansettelsesvilkår for stillinger som postdoktor, stipendiat, vitenskapelig assistent og spesialistkandidat" govern terms of employment as postdoctoral fellow.

It is not possible to be hired in more than post-doctoral research fellow position at NMBU.

Universities Norway (UFR) has a translated version of the regulation.

Section 1-2 Post-doctoral research fellow

(1) The main objective of appointment as a post-doctoral research fellow is to qualify for work in senior academic posts. Appointees are required to hold a doctoral degree.

(2) Use of post-doctoral research fellow positions is restricted to institutions with the right to award doctoral degrees.

(3) An application to a post-doctoral research fellowship position should include a project description and progress plan. 

(4) The fixed term of the appointment shall be from two to four years. In the case of an appointment for more than two years the employer shall decide whether the employee shall be assigned compulsory duties in the form of teaching and similar work and the scope of any such compulsory duties.

(5) A plan shall be prepared for the implementation of the project that constitutes the basis on which appointment to a post-doctoral research fellowship is made. This plan shall be included as part of, or as an annex to, the contract of employment for the fixed-term post and shall include a project description and progress plan.

(6) The scope of any compulsory duties must be set out in the plan.

(7) The plan must include information concerning the person(s) responsible for academic supervision of the employee . Both the supervisor and the employee are obliged to notify the employer of any failure to carry out the plan.

(8) For tenure-track appointments, the third to seventh paragraphs do not apply. (as of amendment March 2015)

Career development plan

The Norwegian Research Council requires that a career development plan is developed for post-doctoral fellows. Similar requirements apply for post-doctoral fellows with other funding sources e.g. NMBU, the Norwegian Ministry of Research and Education (KD), EU and other. 

The development plan must be available within three months of start-up.

• Form 1 Mandatory professional development plan for post-doctoral research fellows
• Form 2 Report of the post-doctoral period

Regulations and guidelines

Tenure-track positions

• Guidelines Tenure Track Appointments (approved 22 Apr 2016)
• Nasjonal forskrift om ansettelse på innstegsvilkår (godkjent 2015)

Postdoctoral fellow, research fellow, research assistant and resident

• Nasjonal forskrift om ansettelsesvilkår for stillinger som postdoktor, stipendiat, vitenskapelig assistent og spesialistkandidat (revised 2020)

Associate Professor and Professor

• Regulations concerning appointment and promotion to teaching and research posts with supplementary guidelines for NMBU (approved 04.11.2019)
• Appointment and promotion to professor positions - professor at NMBU inkl. mal for utdanningsfaglig kompetanse/ pedagogisk mappe (gjeldende fra 04.11.2019)
• Appointment of associate professors at NMBU inkl. mal for utdanningsfaglig kompetanse/ pedagogisk mappe (gjeldende fra 04.11.2019)
• Nasjonal forskrift om ansettelse og opprykk i undervisnings- og forskerstillinger (sist endret 2018)
• Nasjonal samordning av prosessene for professoropprykk innen MNT-fag (godkjent 2016, sist endret 2020)

Courses and Competence development

• COURSE: Basic research project management
• COURSE: Veiledning av master- og doktorgradstudenter (PPVE400)
• COURSE: Research Data Management and Data Management Plans (DMPs) (3 hrs)
• COURSE: Handling personal data in research and Data Management Plans (5 hrs)
• WEBINAR: Academic writing for PhD candidates, post docs and supervisors
• ACTIVITY: The NMBU Talent Development Program
• ACTIVITY: NMBU MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship Masterclass

Other courses and activities at NMBU are listed here.

Rights and duties in case of absence due to illness

The same rights and duties in case of absence due to illness apply for Postdoctoral Fellows as for other NMBU employees. You may find the routines for sick leave in the Health – Sickness in the Personnel Handbook, information text will pop up when selecting headings and boxes in the information flow. NMBU have entered into the Inclusive Workplace Agreement.

Absence for more than two coherent weeks are described in the Regulations on terms of employment for positions such as postdoctoral fellow, research fellow, research assistant and specialist candidate (link to Lovdata in Norwegian)  Section 2-3.

More information about interruptions and extensions during the contract period may be found in your contract of employment.