Available PhD Fellowship positions

The PhD program in Communication and Leadership is interdisciplinary, which means integrating Communication and Leadership to give more comprehensive perspectives. The degree of interdisciplinarity will, however, vary from PhD project to PhD project. This implies that all PhD projects will have aspects of both Communication and Leadership but may address mainly the discipline of Communication, mainly the discipline of Leadership or more fully integrating the two disciplines with a higher degree of interdisciplinary approach. Communication and Leadership can also be combined with other fields such as Health leadership and communication, leadership and communication with the arts etc.

The successful candidate will take part in research groups within relevant areas at Kristiania, and applicants must enclose a project description with topics or research questions within one or more of the research areas outlined below. If you have questions regarding the research areas feel free to contact the contact person for each area listed below the description.

When you write your project description please use the following template:

Research proposal template

Research areas: 

Strategic communication 

Strategic communication encompasses methods and processes by which media institutions, politicians, governments, businesses, and various organizations manage and disseminate information both internally and to external stakeholders. Key research areas within this field include risk and crisis communication, misinformation, trust, PR, and transnational as well as trans-organizational cooperation and coordination. 

 

Political communication 

Political communication is a field focusing on actors and media platforms integral to political processes and institutions. This field encompasses topics such as digital news production, social media, lobbying, fake news, activism, and media innovation. Central perspectives within the field includes critical political economy, platformization, and media regulation. 

 

Business management and leadership 

Interdisciplinary perspectives on communication and leadership within contemporary business environments include research on various areas such as marketing strategy, consumer behavior, consumer psychology, digital marketing, brand management, market analytics, sales management, and business-to-business (B2B) marketing. 

 

Sustainability 

The imperative for sustainability and responsible action to address global challenges such as climate change and energy shortage, necessitates comprehensive research on leadership, values, strategies, and practices within organizations at all levels. Relevant research topics include transformative organizations, value-based leadership, globalization, the gig economy, and greenwashing. 

 

Work integrated learning 

Work integrated learning represents a systematic and scientific approach to enhance the values of higher education for later working life, relevant to future leaders and employees. There is a need for enhanced scientific focus on the meaning of practical training in traditional mercantile education, such as HR, administrative skills and marketing knowledge. 

 

Organizational psychology 

The field of Organizational psychology serves modern leadership and working life with essential tools and methodologies. The application of communication strategies in combination with leadership perspectives from organizational psychology is a field for further research.  

 

Innovation Culture 

Explore and develop frameworks for innovation culture in both public (for example, municipalities) and private sectors.  Key themes include sector structure, leadership, innovation, communication, and many others. 

 

Health Communication and Leadership in Healthcare Policy and Management

Health communication and leadership in healthcare policy and management investigates the critical role of communication and leadership in the development and execution of health policies and strategies. This area encompasses various aspects, including the analysis of lobbying efforts by health organizations and pharmaceutical companies, comparative studies of communication strategies for chronic disease management policies, leadership communication in vaccine advocacy, and policies for the promotion of preventive health interventions. Research projects under this theme will examine the effectiveness of different communication tactics, leadership approaches, and ethical considerations in influencing health policy decisions, enhancing patient care, and improving public health outcomes. The focus is on understanding how various communication techniques and leadership approaches can address complex societal and organizational challenges within the healthcare sector. Additionally, the ethical dimensions of lobbying practices, such as transparency, accountability, and conflicts of interest, will be explored to ensure more ethical and effective health policy development. The goal is to generate actionable insights and recommendations to advance health communication and leadership practices, ultimately contributing to better public health outcomes and more effective healthcare management. 

 

Communication within the fitness and health care systems 

As digital communication becomes increasingly prevalent in all aspects of society, its use in the field of fitness and health care is transforming the way practitioners interact with their patients or clients. Digital platforms and tools such as video calls, messaging apps, social media, activity-tracking, and follow-up applications have the potential to improve communication, increase effectiveness, and optimize individual health outcomes. Furthermore, implementing reward systems and progress tracking through digital tools to reinforce positive behavior and adherence to improved lifestyles is becoming increasingly popular. However, it is important to understand what might be lost by reducing or completely omitting in-person interactions. Key areas of interest within this field include researching the effectiveness of both real-time and delayed digital communication compared to in-person communication in maintaining client engagement, motivation, and adherence to health programs. 

 

Leaders in Esports

Since the millennium, esports has grown from small-scale tournaments to events that fill stadiums. Despite being a billion-dollar industry, academic esports remain relatively new, and as such there are multiple facets of the industry that is in need of scientific scrutiny. This includes - but is not limited to - research areas such as: how leaders in management, broadcasting, and game performance impact esports’ public perception; how women are perceived and underrepresented in esports, both as players and in leadership roles; and how leading streaming personalities communicate information to their audience and whether their authority influence public opinion. 

 

Art Psychology: Gender Inequality in Norwegian Art 

In Norway, over 75% of visual artists are women, yet 90% of the art sold is made by men. This discrepancy represents a limitation for women, where it is difficult for them to become leading artists and gain financial independence. To uncover the social and psychological cause of this systemic discrimination, and suggest effective initiatives, research is needed in several areas. This includes, among other things: gender attitudes of art institutional leaders in Norway; the qualitative experience of women artists; the perception and communication of women’s art in the public sphere; and how gender norms and pre-existing biases may impact how art is received. 

 

Womens’ health and work 

Research on premenstrual symptoms (PMS), how it affects work-related variables such as sick absence, and what attitudes exist among employees as well as line managers towards the role of PMS in the working life. This includes research on the tabooization and negation of the syndrome, especially in work-related contexts, and how such attitudes hinder openness and communication about symptoms with line managers. Overall, the research area aims to address possibilities for better communication, support and adjustments in working conditions, with the long-term goal of reducing PMS-related sick leave and improving well-being amongst women in the workforce. 

 

 

Politically complex health interventions 
Research on cross-disciplinary collaborative methods between different actors spanning political science, policy-making, interventional health research, and welfare administrators. This includes research on lobbying, development of clinical trials that are robust to policy change mid-trial, and effective buy-in and roll-out in the case of support. 

 

Social media, critical health literacy and public health communication 

Social media is increasingly being used as sources of health information by young people and young adults. In this information landscape both incorrect and therefore unreliable (“misinformation”) or intentionally misleading (“disinformation”) information may be spread rapidly by anyone, making it challenging for the individual to maneuver. This includes confusion in how to make informed choices about health and may also lead to risk-taking behaviors and distrust in health authorities. Information literacy, media literacy, critical thinking and critical health literacy are examples of skills that may be essential to enable young people to navigate health information in social media. Exploring how such skills affect how young people make informed health choices is essential for health authorities, leaders and relevant actors to design tailored health communication for this group. 

 

Chronic pain among migrant women, health literacy and health-seeking behaviour

In Norway, immigrants and Norwegian-born children with foreign-born parents constitutes 16% of the total population. In general, immigrants have poorer living conditions and as a result this group also report their health as poorer as compared to the host population in Norway. Further, female immigrants constitute a vulnerable group with increased risk of developing chronic health conditions as compared to male immigrants. Some of these health conditions have been thoroughly studied in relation to reproduction, but few studies have focused on chronic pain conditions among female immigrants living in Norway. Considering that experiences of pain and subjective symptoms might in part be culturally influenced, this can influence health seeking behavior and utilization of health care services. Furthermore, socioeconomic factors (such as poorer living conditions) may influence health literacy, affecting how immigrant women understand and apply health related information to promote health and manage disease.  

 

Public Health Communication and Challenges of Ageing 

As societies age, developing resources and strategies that foster healthy ageing becomes increasingly important. For the improvement of public health policy it is necessary to reflect on how ageing is presented in social media. Also, there are some key determinants of public health implications, as well as public presentation and communication on healthy ageing from politicians and public health leaders to citizens, that should be investigated.  Within public health policy, it is important to discuss health promotion in ageing, individualism versus utilitarianism, long-term care, and care for older adults in the community policy. Discussions surrounding prolonging active life, health needs assessment, ethics of care for older adults, or issues of equity in access to care represent crucial subjects for more attention in research. 

 

Design studies

The humanistic field of design studies is concerned with all aspects of design, its processes, results, and relation to the wider world. Its field of interest spans from design history, through current practice, to imagined futures. Its focus may be cross-disciplinary, or fixed to specialisms like graphic, fashion, service, or systems design. Projects should approach the field of design studies from a communication and leadership perspective. At the same time, they are encouraged to engage with contemporary critical theory.  Topics may include communication in or through fashion and graphic design, visual rhetoric in communication, design-driven leadership and human-centred AI in communication and leadership.  

 

 

Fashion communication

Fashion communication is a field of study that integrates fashion, mediated communication, design and leadership. This includes the interplay between fashion and its modes of communication across different media, including digital platforms. Its study can be informed by contemporary perspectives on design leadership, branding, advertising and visual communication, as well as art- and design history and aesthetics. Projects may investigate fashion’s role in shaping contemporary- or historical design narratives, brand identities, and/or ideologies in contemporary or historical perspectives.

Leadership for design-driven innovation within the public sectors  

Leadership is critical to driving and managing change within organizations in a world where the only option is continuous change. Design is a key innovation competency for addressing grand challenges through user-involvement, early experimentation, and cross-silo cooperation and communication in the Norwegian public sector (Meld. St. 30 (2019–2020)). This theme invites interdisciplinary and holistic approaches to leadership and communication that might deal with uncertainty and complexity through fostering cultures for experimentation that sustain design-driven innovation. General questions could be: What role does trust play in supporting user-involvement and early experimentation in public sector innovation projects? How can psychological safety be cultivated by leaders to promote risk-taking and experimentation in public organizations? How might leadership practices span boundaries in cross-silo cooperation and communication to address grand challenges? How might leaders engage stakeholders in the design and implementation of innovative public services? How might transformational leadership practices influence design-driven innovation in the Norwegian public sector?  

Rhetoric in the digital age  

The discipline and study of rhetoric is central to both communication and leadership. This subject area includes research on transmedial narratives, creativity and innovation, crisis communication, performativity, rhetorics of persuasion, phenomenology, political rhetoric, semiotics, rhetoric and aesthetics, hermeneutics and doxology.  

 

Representation and identity

Central to the study of communication and management is the issue of diversity. Currently, new voices that raise the agenda of identity politics come together and organize their views by forming counterpublics. What happens when these voices take up issues of class and gender – and reach mainstream media? Here, theories about representation, identity and social movements are central. 

 

Contemporary dance practices and communication

Dance research includes a wide variety of approaches that among other things investigate performing, dissemination, dance making, leadership, as well as textual and bodily communication. There continues to be a lack of scholarly understanding about the complex nature of contemporary dance practices as well as detailed insight in the diverse skills dancers and dance-makers rely upon and apply in the diverse kinds of artistic processes they engage in. Dance-artists work with a wide range of methods when it comes to creating dances, and – for professional dancers – how to take part and keep going in todays’ professional contemporary dance field. Suggested topics include research on dance making practises and processes, methods, sustainability, transcultural influences, performativity, dancers’ practices, and textualities connected with dance, - bodily as well as language wise.

 

Decision-making processes in contemporary artistic practices 

The area addressed is decision-making processes in contemporary artistic practices. The aim is to describe and analyse the relative creative influences of individual stakeholders involved. Relevant areas for the study include contemporary music songwriting and production and stage productions in theatre and dance, and more. In these areas production processes are set up with widely different combinations of expertise, involving independent artists and small businesses, as well as greater corporate structures. The creative processes rest not only on the formal distribution of roles and responsibilities but also on a less formal, sometimes opaque, yet often decisive negotiation of creative influences based on social roles, artistic trends and emerging technologies. 

 

 

 

The PhD program in Applied Information Technology is built on three academic pillars: Software engineering, computer science and information systems. Most of the research takes place at the School of Economics, Innovation, and Technology, but relevant research also takes place at Kristiania’s other schools. The successful candidate will take part in research groups within relevant areas at Kristiania, and applicants must enclose a project description with topics or research questions within one or more of the research areas outlined below. If you have questions regarding the research areas feel free to contact the contact person for each area listed below the description.

When you write your project description please use the following template: 

Research proposal template

Research areas: 

Software Development and Verification  

Design of novel techniques and empirical studies in software development, including analytics, architectures, dependability, security, evolution, human and social aspects, requirements, modeling, testing, and analysis. 

 

Cybersecurity in 6G Networks  

Developing protection solutions for modern operational technologies, IoT devices, and autonomous vehicles that will be empowered by future 6G satellite networks. Includes novel methods for detecting cyber threats and dealing with massive, encrypted data traffic. 

 

AI Applications in Cybersecurity  

Uses advanced AI paradigms, such as generative AI, for in-depth security evaluations and penetration testing across various computer platforms. Aims to automate security assessments and predicatively determine suitable security controls. 

 

AI in Healthcare and Privacy Preservation          

Utilization of AI and information technologies to enhance healthcare management systems, improve data management, and boost predictive analytics. Furthermore, this area also includes the development of methods ensuring privacy and integrity of personal health information in electronic health systems. 

 

Business analytics  

This field leverages statistical tools and data analytics to understand, analyze and predict market trends, or analyze policy interventions. It emphasizes business analytics to comprehend patterns and relationships in data that inform strategic business decisions. Examples may include HR analytics, public procurement, market experimentation, or machine learning in smart grid systems. 

 

IT Applications in Supply Chain and/or Digital Marketing            

This area explores the use of AI, Blockchain and IoT to enhance supply chain transparency and optimize digital marketing strategies. Examples may include improvement of product integrity, sustainability and ethical practices, personalization, predictive analyses, and automated marketing.  

 

Emerging Tech in Healthcare     

This subject area investigates the adoption and impact of Internet of Things (IoT) and Extended Reality (XR) technologies in healthcare. It covers their use in patient care, operation streamlining, and the training of healthcare professionals. 

 

Human centered Design and AI

Human-Centered AI (HCAI) emerges as a pivotal force in shaping organizational landscapes, and there is a pressing need to bridge the gap between AI development and its seamless integration within organizations. HCAI prioritizes human motivations in AI design and operation, yet significant gaps persist in ensuring accessibility, fairness, and user satisfaction. Integrating the human-centered design (HCD) perspective further enhances this approach, ensuring that AI technologies are developed with a focus on user needs and experiences. Interdisciplinary research in communication, leadership, and human-centered design can provide insights and methodologies to address these challenges, paving the way for more intuitive and impactful AI applications within organizational contexts. (This theme is a collaboration between the Center for Design research and the AI lab).  

 

Human-Centered AI in Norwegian public health services

The digital opportunities for Norwegian public health care are vast, but advancements should be guided by practical insights to create public services that are effective, user-friendly, and appealing through integration with areas such as Human-Centered Design (HCD). General research questions should relate HCAI to the larger context of leadership and communication: How might leadership practices such as communication influence trust and confidence of patients and staff in AI-enhanced public healthcare services? How might human-centered AI enhance patient experience in public healthcare services, and what are the organizational barriers and enables? How might HCAI and HCD facilitate more human-oriented public healthcare services? What are the key factors for designing AI systems that improve communication, accessibility and usability in public health care? How can user feedback be communicated into the design of AI-driven public health care solutions and what are the implications for patients, practitioners and leaders? What are the ethical considerations facing leaders in implementing human-centered AI in public healthcare systems? How does human-centered AI influence the decision-making processes of healthcare providers in public services?

 

Fashion Spaces in Information Technologies

Fashion Spaces in Information Technologies is a field of study and design initiative focused on environments where fashion is conceived, showcased, communicated, consumed, and experienced, encompassing physical, digital, and conceptual spaces. It integrates architectural and fashion studies to understand fashion's impact in various contexts. This research explores the use of technology to create immersive fashion experiences and delves into virtual environments to enhance fashion interactions, sustainable fashion technologies like 3D printing and blockchain, digital collaboration tools for global teamwork, and interactive marketing strategies.  

Computational biology

For several decades, computational, statistical, and computer programming techniques have been employed in the computer analysis of biological queries. The application of data analysis, mathematical modeling, and computational simulations serves as a critical approach for understanding biological systems and their interrelationships. Other factors involve "pipelines" that incorporate machine learning and artificial intelligence to analyze the identification of genes, the availability of transcription factors within the genome, expression patterns, and other related factors. This is instrumental in elucidating the genetic foundations of diseases and understanding unique biological adaptations.

 

Computational electrophysiology

The continuous activity of the human brain – arguably the most complex object in the universe – is instantaneously reflected in electrical voltage changes that can be measured non-invasively on the scalp (known as the electroencephalogram, or EEG). While EEG has proven its worth as a clinically useful tool for close to a century, recent advances in machine learning and artificial intelligence, combined with the increasing availability of very large EEG-datasets, now promises to revolutionize the amount of information we can extract from these highly complex brain data. By training machine learning models on EEG data, we aim to identify the features that best predict a wide range of clinical outcomes (e.g., cognitive or psychiatric symptoms). We will also develop normative models that quantify the expected normal range of these EEG features as a function of age and sex (i.e., akin to pediatric growth charts), enabling clinically useful detection of marked deviations from the population norm.

 

Deep learning in cognitive neuroscience

For conditions such as chronic pain, chronic fatigue, and mental illnesses, we lack a thorough understanding of the biopsychosocial mechanisms and we have limited effective treatments. However, we have a wealth of physiological, psychological, and behavioral data, both in research groups here at Kristiania, and via open data depositories, that contain potentially valuable information that has not yet been harnessed. We aim to combine existing perspectives from psychology and neuroscience with new tools from recent developments in AI, deep learning and big data processing to generate new knowledge from such data. This approach may synergistically pioneer our understanding of these complex disorders, which may support development of new treatments.

 

RAG Applications for Generative AI in interpreting and implementing educational research

Demands for evidence-based teaching in higher education are rising. Academic staff are required to base their teaching on research-based knowledge. There is a robust body of knowledge on teaching and learning in higher education, but for researchers or teachers from other fields, it is difficult to identify reliable sources of educational literature and research, to assess its quality, and not least, to translate the findings to their local context, identify implications and implement these in their own field of teaching. Building on recent trends in AI and education this project aims to explore the applications of Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) for generative AI, focusing on enhancing the accuracy, coherence, and contextual relevance of AI-generated content. The project is a collaboration between the School of Health Sciences and School of Economics, Innovation and Technology.

RAG combines the strengths of retrieval-based models and generative models, enabling the system to access and integrate external knowledge dynamically during content generation. This approach holds promise for addressing common limitations in generative AI, such as hallucinations and context errors. The project will involve developing and testing RAG models in the specific context of research on higher education, including natural language processing, content creation, and knowledge-based tasks, with the objectives of 1) advancing the state-of-the-art in AI-generated content, 2) investigating ways of communicating relevant educational research clearly, to help improve teaching and learning in higher education.