PhD Fellowship in Communication and Leadership: Lobbying and Health Policy in Cancer and Pharmaceuticals

Kristiania University of Applied Sciences offers study programs in management, organization, marketing, communication, computer science, information technology, health sciences, innovation and creative arts. Kristiania University of Applied Sciences is Norway's largest independent comprehensive university college with its 24,000 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 Health Sciences

The School of Health Sciences consists of two departments: the Department of Health and Exercise and the Department of Psychology, Pedagogy and Law.

The School provides research-based education at both bachelor’s and master’s level, along with a wide range of continuing and further education programmes. Across health sciences, pedagogy, psychology and law, the common focus is the human being, although expressed in different ways. Health sciences emphasise health promotion, prevention, rehabilitation and treatment, while pedagogy and psychology centre on human learning and development. Legal studies contribute through subject areas such as labour law, market law and health law.

The School of Health Sciences offers a diverse portfolio of study programmes including biomedicine, psychology, pedagogy, public health, nutrition, exercise science, physical activity and sports management, as well as acupuncture and osteopathy.

About the position

Kristiania University of Applied Sciences is offering a fully funded fellowship on its PhD programme in Communication and Leadership. The fellowship is for a project on lobbying and communication strategies of cancer societies and pharmaceutical companies in shaping health policy within the School of Health Sciences. The successful applicant will be included in a team of researchers with ambitious plans to further develop research and pedagogical activities related to communication and leadership at the university.

The PhD project will investigate how advocacy organisations and pharmaceutical industry actors use communication and lobbying to influence cancer policymaking in Norway, the USA and Japan. By examining leadership roles in agenda-setting, coalition-building and strategic advocacy, the research seeks to provide a deeper understanding of how health policy decisions are shaped. The project will apply a comparative, mixed-method design incorporating document analysis, stakeholder interviews and surveys to examine differences in political systems, regulatory processes and communication practices. Key challenges include accessing lobbying documentation, navigating political sensitivities and ensuring cross-country comparability.

The PhD candidate will:

• Map lobbying and communication strategies used by cancer societies and pharmaceutical companies
• Analyse leadership roles, ethical practices and agenda-setting processes in cancer policy advocacy
• Compare how lobbying influences cancer policy priorities across different health systems
• Assess perceptions of legitimacy, trust and transparency among key stakeholders
• Disseminate findings in high-impact journals and present at leading conferences in communication, leadership and health policy

The candidate must have:

• Master’s degree (120 ECTS or equivalent) in a relevant subject area with a grade B or better on the master’s thesis and for the master’s degree overall. The master’s thesis must be a minimum of 30 ECTS or equivalent. The relevance of the subject areas is dependent on the type of project proposed by the candidate
• Relevant 180 ECTS bachelor’s degree
• Proficiency in written and spoken English (interviews and all communication will be in English)

Personal qualities:

• Curiosity and a strong motivation to carry out independent interdisciplinary research
• Good communication and cooperation skills
• The ability, desire and capacity to work independently, systematically and purposefully
• Orientation toward the completion of projects and the attainment of goals

Emphasis will be placed on personal suitability for the position.

Benefits:

• High salary compared to international standards (NOK 550,800 per year)
• Equipment at your disposal during employment (e.g., high-end laptop, mobile and mobile subscription)
• NOK 50,000 per year to support travel to conferences and other running costs
• Free health insurance, travel insurance, and pension plan
• Strong labour laws (e.g., fully paid parental and sick leaves, 25 paid days of vacation and paid sick leave)

The application must include:

• Motivation letter for the position
• Approved diplomas and transcripts (in Scandinavian or English language)
• CV
• At least two references
• Master’s thesis
• A project proposal of up to 4 pages (max. 2,000 words, excluding references), written in English, outlining the candidate’s intended PhD research in relation to the described PhD project, including background, relevant literature, objectives, methods and expected contributions

Admission to the PhD programme is a requirement for taking up a position as a research fellow. The application must be submitted to the School of Doctoral Studies within three months of the start date. For more information, see the Regulations relating to conditions of appointment for research fellowships: https://lovdata.no/forskrift/2024-06-28-1392/§3-19.

The PhD fellowship period is 3 years, and the earliest start date is 01.09.2026.

Working place is the School of Health Sciences. The school is located in Oslo, with numerous amenities, recreational spaces and urban fun right next door.

Kristiania University of Applied Sciences welcomes and encourages applications from diverse backgrounds. Women and persons with minority backgrounds are particularly encouraged to apply.

For more information about Kristiania, visit: https://www.kristiania.no. To learn more about the PhD in Communication and Leadership, visit: https://www.kristiania.no/en/research/phd.

If you have any questions regarding the PhD project, please contact Adnan Kisa.

If you have any questions regarding the PhD programme, please contact Nigel Halpern.

Application deadline:

02.03.2026.

Only applications received through our application portal will be considered.

We use Semac background checks in our recruitment process.

The employment is to be made in accordance with the regulation to Control of the Export of Strategic Goods, Services and Technology. Candidates who, by assessment of the application and attachments, are seen to conflict with the criteria in the latter law will be prohibited from recruitment to Kristiania.

Kontaktpersoner:

Adnan Kisa
Professor
[emailprotected]

Nigel Halpern
Professor
[emailprotected]