PhD Projects at Kristiania

Safety-critical industrial cyber physical systems perform a wide variety of software-intensive functions, which must be rigorously tested. The societal, human, and economic impact of a malfunctioning software system can be huge, as the crashes of two Boeing 737 Max aircrafts in just five months in 2018-2019 showed.  

AI is capable of dealing with problems that are, by their nature, probabilistic, underspecified and use incomplete information. The power of AI to test such tricky situations remains restricted to academic prototypes and lacks large scale industrial validation on modern software-intensive, intelligent and complex systems. AI-infused testing techniques must improve transparency, accountability, and explainability to promote responsible and trustworthy exploitation of AI with guaranteed, acceptable performance levels. The goal is to design and build trustworthy AI-infused testing methods and tools, which is a major scientific challenge. 

This project is for PhD candidates in Software Engineering that want to investigate the explainability of AI-infused techniques, e.g., by building visualization tools and enable users to steer the AI process. For example, complementing AI-infused testing methods and tools with human-in-the-loop intelligence will help increase an interactive exploitation of AI, with humans back in control and supervision of how to steer the power of AI in a trustworthy way.   

Good coding skills are essential, as the project will extend the fuzzer EvoMaster (www.evomaster.org), which is one of the most advance AI-infused testing tools. The project is supervised by Prof. Andrea Arcuri, and it is part of a consortium of EU partners.

Software testing is a very complex task to automate, e.g., how to generate effective test cases automatically that can detect faults. As such, cutting-edge technology and research are needed to solve this very complex problem which impacts billions of people. Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques, like search-based approaches relying on Evolutionary Computation algorithms, are among the most promising techniques to tackle this type of hard problem. 

This project will focus on the automated testing of large enterprise systems built with a microservice architecture. These kinds of cloud applications are common in many enterprises. Not only the scale can be massive (e.g., hundreds or thousands of web services), but their nature of being distributed over a network complicates their testing significantly (e.g., when having to deal with time-based behaviour and network errors). For example, Meituan (a large Chinese e-commerce business with more than 630 million customers) has enterprise systems with thousands of distinct web services, which we will use as case study in this project.  

This project is for PhD candidates in Software Engineering that want to focus on Cloud Computing, using AI techniques. The candidate will work with cloud technologies like Web APIs (e.g., RPC, REST and GraphQL) and microservice architectures (e.g., API Gateways and Service Discovery mechanisms), besides learning and using search-based techniques such as Genetic Algorithms.  

Good coding skills are essential, as the project will extend the fuzzer EvoMaster (www.evomaster.org), which is currently the state-of-the-art in this research domain. The project is supervised by Prof. Andrea Arcuri. 

The PhD position is placed within the research group Innovation, Design, and Entrepreneurship (IDE). The PhD student will take an active role in IDE’s research project on artificial intelligence-based innovations. 

Smart devices collect, share, and process data beyond human scale, whereas artificial intelligence and machine learning allows them to use the collected data for constant behavior adjustment and improvement. However, their code of conduct has to rest upon specific, often contestable moral grounds. More and more people become distressed by the idea of transferring the right of moral judgement to such machines because of the potential for bias, the lack of trust in machines in uncertain situations, and the lack of clear accountability for negative consequences. Yet, a human’s own morality is not fixed. As experiments show, a mere shift in decision-making speed or in a personal perspective (e.g., being a passenger, observer, or pedestrian in the case of autonomous vehicles) can drastically change the interpretation of what is right and wrong even in the otherwise same context. When humans and smart devices– each with their own sets of ethics and each with the ability to learn and adjust their behavior – start to interact closely in a human-like fashion, it is reasonable to expect that ethics will not remain stable on either side. This project will investigate the dynamics of ethical decision making within human-machine dyads, that is, the effects of smart devices’ behavior on the morality of human choices and the effects of human behavior on the morality of smart devices.  

Sustainable consumption will serve as an empirical context. Based on the results from the exploratory phase, the PhD candidate will design series of experiments. The candidate will translate research results into practice through systematic analysis enriched with in-depth interviews with consumers, producers, and activist organizations who will be invited to reflect over and interpret findings. 

Applicants should have completed a master’s degree in social sciences and must fulfill the KUC’s admission requirements. Applicants with the background in business studies or psychology will be preferred. 

Project managers: Seidali Kurtmollaiev  & Erlend Nybakk 

The overall vision of “ENViSEC: Artificial Intelligence-enabled Cybersecurity for Future Smart Environments” project is to enhance Smart Environments cybersecurity by introducing intelligent multi-agent data handling, cyber threats sharing, situational awareness and data streams aggregation from Edge devices. Our ambition is to offer a resilient response to cyber-attacks as well as to ensure human-oriented warning and early detection of adversarial actions. The new method enables multi-level data collection and off-chip Machine Learning model training to reduce the overhead and latency of the Internet of Things (IoT) components. It will contribute towards hardening cybersecurity in a cross-sector context and building an efficient infrastructure in a resource-constrained environment. The project has received external cascading funding from the EU Horizon2020 research and innovation NGI Pointer program.  

The PhD position will be connected to the ENViSEC project and is related to the IoT cyber-physical security, supply chain attacks and application of Artificial Intelligence-based models towards enhancing security in resource-constrained intelligent environments. Over the last decade, IoT has become an inseparable part of modern and digitalized society, driving innovation and green shift. Therefore, hired PhD research fellow will develop novel security methods towards a safer, sustainable, and energy-efficient Smart Future. The omnipresence of intelligent and IoT devices undoubtedly brought convenience and great automation in everyday life. Our goal is to develop novel data-driven methods on the tiniest components to guard our privacy and ensure security. The research activities will be requiring expertise in the areas of software engineering, cyber security, information technologies and computer science. The hired PhD research fellow will be exposed to the unique research and education environment at Høyskolen Kristiania and internal consortium and valuable EU-based networks in cybersecurity.

More information about the project is available on the following links: 

• ENViSEC at Kristiania
• ENViSEC at Smartseclab

Industrial Internet of Things and enablers related to automation, analytics and machine learning in the context of manufacturing investment product companies, as well as recent developments in “Pay-Per-X” (PPX) enabling funding instruments (e.g. Relayr (relayr.io) and Linx4 (linx4.io)) have only very recently matured to the stage that they can be used and implemented for the development of advanced data-based business models, especially advanced Pay-per-use and Pay-per-outcome (e.g., pay-per-savings) business models (“PPX” business models). Furthermore, the novel topic of how industries can develop their pricing models and subsequent sales strategy for advanced servitization business models that are driven by Industry 4.0 and Industrial Internet of things technologies has not been explored. Some of the research questions the PhD candidate will explore are: (a) how can equipment manufacturing companies implement Industry 4.0 enabled PPX business models? (b) What kind of pricing models are suitable for PPX business model implementation? How can they be designed? (c) Based on these pricing models what kind of sales and marketing strategy changes are required for the equipment manufacturing companies? 

We are looking for an enthusiastic candidate with strong academic background for a PhD position. Experience in fields related to information systems, information technology, finance, industrial engineering, management are appreciated. The candidate will be encouraged to author an article thesis (compilation thesis) towards completion of their PhD. A mixed qualitative and quantitative research experience is required. However, since research topic is of exploratory nature, some prior qualitative research experience will be appreciated. For data collection during the research the candidate will also be required to work closely with industries in Norway and Finland that have already started to deploy technology based advanced servitization business models. This PhD will be supervised by Lester Allan Lasrado and Asle Fagerstrøm at Høyskolen Kristiania in collaboration with Karan Menon from Tampere University, Finland. 

Blockchain, Sustainability and Greenwashing is a project that is part of ongoing research activities in the Behavior & Technology Lab (www.btlab.no) at Kristiania University College. The objective of the Blockchain, Sustainability and Greenwashing project is to achieve responsible consumption and production by analyze, design, and implement blockchain sustainability activities that increase the transparency and trust for consumers in the consumer journey. The primary research question of the Blockchain, Sustainability and Greenwashing project is: How to achieve responsible consumption and production by implement blockchain-enabled sustainability activities? The work is grounded under the Information Systems pillar of Kristiania University College’s Applied Information Technology PhD program, and in particular sustainability and digital innovation.  

We are looking for an enthusiastic candidate with strong academic background for a PhD position related to the Blockchain, Sustainability and Greenwashing project. Experience in fields related to information systems, technology and behavior, consumer research, and/or retailing are appreciated. The candidate will be encouraged to write an article-based thesis towards completion of his/her PhD project. Strong skills in quantitative research and experimentation are an advantage. However, some prior qualitative research experience will be appreciated. For data collection during the research, the candidate will also be required to work closely with stakeholders in the industry and will also be connected to a well-established international research network.

This project investigates how sustainability and Data-driven approaches can provide business value for the transport and logistics sector. Despite their significant revenues and wide presence, the logistics sector is still in the nascent stages of using data-driven approaches to optimize its processes and transform towards Sustainability and carbon neutrality. Some of the challenges for the supply chain, transportation & logistics sector have been low margins, a non-tech savvy workforce, traditional work practices, and limited oversight of their supply chain and customer segments. However, the customers increasingly demand lower prices and better transparency; the regulators demand sustainable and green logistics. This combination of needs requires a high degree of digital transformation. There is a tremendous potential for using machine-learning methods in several operations such as demand forecasting, planning, managing inventories, optimizing transportation operations, etc. Therefore, the overall objective of this PhD project is to study how Artificial Intelligence and data-driven approaches will enable digital transformation and Sustainability in the logistics sector by using PostNord and other companies as case studies.   

This PhD project will be hosted at Kristiania University College in Norway and carried out in collaboration with the Center for Business Data Analytics at Copenhagen Business School (CBS), Denmark, and PostNord Logistics as one of the case companies. We are looking for an enthusiastic candidate with a solid academic background in Data Science and data analytics. Additionally, experience in one or more fields related to information systems, information technology, logistics, supply chain management, and Sustainability is greatly appreciated. The candidate will be exposed to the unique research and education environment at Høyskolen Kristiania and will have the opportunity to collaborate closely with the researchers and PhD students at the Center for Business Data Analytics, Copenhagen Business School. This PhD will be supervised by Raghava Mukkamala and Lester Allan Lasrado.

Kristiania University College offers study programs in management, organization, marketing, communication, computer science, information technology, health sciences, innovation and creative arts. Kristiania University College is Norway's largest independent comprehensive university college with its 18,000 students and a large education offering in Oslo, Bergen and online. Our mission is to strongly contribute to the country's social and economic development through problem-driven and applied knowledge development and dissemination, in close cooperation with society at large.

The School of Economics, Innovation, and Technology delivers research and study programmes at bachelor, master and PhD level. The emphasis for both research and study programmes are on economics, innovation, digitalization and information technology. Information science, information systems and the interaction between technology and human beings are other exciting focus areas.

The PhD programme in Applied Information Technology is offered from autumn 2022.

The PhD in Applied Information Technology at the School of Economics, Innovation and Technology (SEIT) is at the forefront of research on the business and organizational implications of digital technology, evolving applied computer science and of the understanding and design of new user interaction paradigms through information systems research and human-computer interaction studies.

PhD fellowships in applied information technology

Kristiania University College is offering a fully funded PhD fellowship for candidates with a solid background in applied information technology. The successful applicant will be included in a team of researchers with ambitious plans to further develop research and pedagogical activities related to the information technology field at the university college.

We are looking for an enthusiastic candidate with strong academic background for a PhD position. Experience in fields related to information systems, information technology, finance, industrial engineering, management are appreciated. The candidate will be encouraged to write an article thesis (compilation thesis) towards completion of their PhD. A mixed qualitative and quantitative research experience is appreciated. However, since research topic is of exploratory nature, some prior qualitative research experience will be appreciated. For data collection during the research the candidate will also be required to work closely with industries in Norway that have already started to deploy technology based advanced servitization business models.

This project titled “SNOBI – Systematic Development of Novel Business Models” is an ongoing project with Tampere University, Finland. Kristiania is a partner on this project and PhD fellow at Kristiania will work on a part of this project, extending it to Norwegian equipment manufacturers. The objective of the SNOBI project is to design and implement the systematic transformation process from traditional business models to advanced PPX type business models. Primary research question of the SNOBI Project is: How to design and implement the systematic transformation process from traditional business models to advanced PPX type business models in investment product manufacturing equipment companies? The PhD fellow will work on some sub-questions2 to meet the overall objective. In particular, (a) How can IIOT enabled ML/knowledge-based Data Analytics to be used to support the development of advanced PPX business models for investment product manufacturing equipment companies? (b) What kind of competences (technical and strategic) are needed to implement the advanced PPX business models in investment product manufacturing equipment companies?

Interested candidates may submit a research proposal using the linked template (this is optional).

Confirmed admission to the Ph.D. programme must be available at the latest three months after signing the employment contract. To be accepted for this program, it is required with a relevant 180 ECTS bachelor’s degree, and a relevant 120 ECTS master’s degree (or integrated bachelor and master) with minimum 30 ECTS master thesis, and with grade similar to the Norwegian/European grade B or higher in average and for the master thesis.

The application must hold:

• Motivation letter for the position
• Approved Diplomas and Transcripts (in Scandinavian or English language)
• CV
• At least two references
• Master thesis
• Foreign education requires recognition from the Norwegian Agency for Quality Assurance in Education (NOKUT). Check the status of your university or read about the recognition process here 

Candidates are encouraged to submit a research proposal using the linked template, but this is not a requirement for applying to the position.

The starting salary is 501,200 NOK a year. 

The Ph.D. research fellowship period is 3 years and the (latest) starting date is August 1. 2023.

Working place is School of Economics, Innovation, and Technology. The School is located in downtown Oslo, with numerous amenities, recreational spaces, and urban fun right next door.

Kristiania University College welcomes and encourages applications from diverse backgrounds. Women are particularly encouraged to apply.

Application deadline: 15 February 2023. Qualified candidates will continuously be screened until the position is filled. 

Contact persons: Asle Fagerstrøm and Lester Lasrado

Project manager: Nigel Halpern 

The World Health Organization estimates over one billion people (15% of the world’s population) lives with some form of disability. These people should have the same opportunities as others. However, barriers often exist that make environments less accessible to them, and subsequently affect their desire and/or ability to participate in society on an equal basis. 

Equal access to tourism is integral to being able to participate in society. As such, the United Nations World Tourism Organization states that accessibility for all to tourism should be central to any responsible and sustainable tourism policy for destinations. Embracing all visitors is also a business opportunity for companies. Despite this, the tourism industry suffers from a lack of diversity and inclusivity. While accessible tourism aims to reduce barriers for people with disabilities, it remains a niche perspective and people with disabilities travel less often than the general public. 

This project is a collaboration between researchers at Kristiania University College, University of Nottingham, Liverpool John Moores University and Swansea University. The project focuses on disability representation in the marketing of adventure tourism – a type of tourism that encompasses physical activity in an outdoor setting with marketing representations that tend to overlook disabled participants. Despite this, there is great variation in the intensity of adventure activities, offering opportunities for a wide range of abilities. 

The appointed PhD fellow will contribute to this project by investigating disability representation in the marketing of adventure tourism. Possible research would identify physical, informational and attitudinal barriers to accessing adventure tourism for people with disabilities; and examine how disability representation in the marketing of adventure tourism affects their intention to participate. 

Currently, related topics are approached using Constraints Negotiation Theory and the Theory of Planned Behaviour, but there is scope to explore other theoretical perspectives. Similarly, the methodology used can be quantitative, qualitative, or mixed. The PhD fellow will be expected to establish a collaborative research relationship with at least one tourism destination in Norway. 

Project manager: Audra Diers- Lawson 

The Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) is a project aimed at improving the public's ability to take self and community-protective behaviors in future crises ranging from health to disaster. Director General of the WHO, Tedros Ghebreyesus, used the term infodemic to describe an overabundance of information – some accurate, some not – that spreads alongside a disease outbreak. Infodemics amplify public risk during crises by creating mental noise and affecting how the public receives and interprets information. To counter the infodemic, credible information and instructive guidance from governments and health officials is essential to reduce risk, reinforce desirable health attitudes, and build trust in institutions. Moreover, effective risk communication is crucial for stopping the spread of conspiracy theories, misinformation, and disinformation which adversely contributes to the overall risk and safety threat of major crises. We also know that the COVID-19 pandemic has been an exceptional and prolonged experience and is adequately described as a deep global societal crisis. From an historical perspective, societal level crises like the pandemic disrupt all aspects of our lives, they can fundamentally reshape our beliefs and our behaviors across multiple domains. 

  

Whereas some have defined risk communication as a science-based approach for communicating in situations where people faced health and safety threats, risk communication is more than just a science-based approach; it should be thought of as making accessible and understandable information needed, especially during major crises, to help people take self-protective behaviors. Therefore, this RCCE project aims to: 

• Understand the pandemic experience different groups – especially vulnerable and neglected populations.  

• Evaluate pandemic and post-pandemic communication by governments and health ministries.  
• Explore the role of visual communication as a part of communication strategy 
• Evaluate susceptibility to 'infodemics' by better understanding information consumption within the context of crises, competitive message environments, and 'fake news'. 

Project manager: Anders Olof Larsson 

Leadership is practiced in several ways and through several channels of communication. Indeed, leaders such as political party leaders, heads of state or directors of government agencies increasingly depend on social media such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to communicate with their respective stakeholders and citizens. Such leadership communication efforts are perhaps especially important in times of crisis - such as during the covid-19 pandemic.  

Starting from a comparison of political leadership communication in the three Scandinavian countries, the project at hand looks closer at the communicative efforts of high-ranking political actors (such as political leaders or public health agencies [such as Folkehelseinstituttet in Norway and Folkhälsomyndigheten in Sweden]) across three platforms - Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. As these three platforms differ with regards to their affordances, and as the three Scandinavian countries differed with regards to their response to the pandemic, the project will shed light on different strategies of leadership communication adapted to different platforms. The data will also allow for insights into what type of content from the studied leaders that become popular on each platform - as in reaching comparably higher amounts of likes, shares, comments et.c. The project will also study citizen responses to leadership communication about the pandemic on Twitter. While Twitter does not have as many users as their online competitors, it is nevertheless an important platform as it functions as a channel for political discussion among societal elites - such as political and other leaders - as well as citizens.  

We will study what type of users yield influence in online discussions - are we seeing traditional leaders such as those discussed previously, or are novel actors succeeding in spreading their thoughts and ideas across this platform? What types of themes from what types of actors can be discerned, and how are other aspects of the “hybrid media system” being put into play in these discussions? Are we seeing differences between the three Scandinavian countries, given their differing responses to the pandemic? 

As the state of the environment continues to decline, the society must develop a deeper understanding of firm-level Sustainability-Oriented Innovations (SOIs). Examples of these innovations include cleaner products that help avoid further environmental degradation, eco-efficient production processes that help reduce emissions, or new (digital) services or business models that reduce consumption.  However, the management of SOIs is a complex task because innovation objectives, activities and, outcomes vary between different types of SOIs. Furthermore, SOIs require balancing the divergent and sometimes conflicting goals related to economic development, social inclusion, and environmental protection, which can lead to organizational tensions and make the management of SOIs even more challenging. This PhD project seeks to provide much needed insights on which innovation management practices, including innovation processes and capabilities, can improve the development and implementation of various SOI types and how these practices unfold in different contexts. 

Project Manager: Erlend Nybakk & Ben Callegari 

This PhD project will address the user side of the relation between young leaders and social media, focusing on how they balance their expressions of identity on the platforms.

Social media function as platforms for expressing who we are, what we like, and what we achieve. For young professionals working in a leader position, this may require moderations in how they express their professional selves, for instance by balancing their personal, social, and ideal identities. At the same time, social media platforms are designed for personalization, with content selected to suit the preferences of each individual. By personalizing their services in this way, the platforms ensure a mutual and dynamic relation between the application and the user. Thus, young leaders are not balancing only their own identities, but are also shaped by the content they encounter online.

Young adults are among the most frequent users of social media, making them especially susceptible to the influence of social media. And young professionals are likely in a particularly prominent position to feel pressured by the continuous feedback from their followers, which could necessitate strategies to manage, and even adjust, their identities as brands. Another relevant aspect of social media are the multiple communication modes available, enabling different strategies when making use of the various functionalities across platforms. Consequently, young leaders make up an interesting case for studying the conscious choices that lie behind the presentation of an ideal version of the self, by investigating how they adopt and adapt to the many options for expressing themselves. 

The project also aims to shed light on awareness surrounding the personalized nature of social media, and how the potential shaping of identity could interplay with strategic communication choices. To answer these questions, the project plans for three studies with a mixed-methods approach. The planned methods include a questionnaire addressing identity processes, social media strategies, and perceptions of personalization, along with qualitative interviews on how young leaders reflect on the connections between identity and social media.

Project managers: Lene Pettersen and Faltin Karlsen 

Digitox and DigiLove are two interdisciplinary projects with overlapping interests. Both employ a critical approach on the attention economy, platformisation, datafication, and the possible consequences these have for both citizens and our society. 

DigiLove focuses on dating platforms and dating apps, and users of these technologies. Digital dating is a large industry which has had a crucial impact on how people form romantic relationships, especially young adults. This research is important because the number of involuntary singles has been rising significantly in industrialized societies, and dating technologies is the main way couples meet today. The project aims to explore to what extent dating technology live up to their promises through analyses of monetization models, platforms characteristics, and platform design. The project was initiated in 2021, supported by funding from Kristiania University College. Associate professor Lene Pettersen is chairing this project. 

Digitox focuses on intrusive media technology and disconnection practices from the perspective of the user, the society, and the media industry. Digitox is funded by the Norwegian Research Council and situated at the University of Oslo. Høyskolen Kristiania is responsible for a sub-project that focuses on the media and tech industry, which will also be the focus for the PhD student. One aspect being explored is how technology and design enhances use, and vice versa, how technology can help people inhibit their use, for instance through smartphone apps. Another question is how actors in the industry reflect around ethical aspects concerning the monetization of people’s attention. Professor Faltin Karlsen chairs this sub-project.