PhD Fellowship at the Faculty of Law 2019, University of Bergen, Norway

There is a vacancy for a PhD position at the Faculty of Law, University of Bergen. The position is connected to the research project “Accounting for maternal deaths in the era of SDGs: Juridification, social practices and implications on maternal death audits in Ethiopia”. The PhD-project is funded by the University of Bergen Global Challenges program, and assumes an interdisciplinary research design. This project combines law, anthropology and medical ethics.  

The position is for a fixed-term period of 3 years, with the possibility for a 4th year, consisting of 25 per cent compulsory work distributed across the employment period. A 4th year is contingent on the qualifications of the candidate.

Maternal mortality is a key development indicator used to compare the quality of clinical care, health systems in general, gender equality and women’s standing between and within countries. The process of reviewing maternal deaths entails a broad range of ethical and legal issues regarding the legal regulations of health care provision, the principle of no name no blame in the review process, confidentiality, participant consent and data access. Ethiopia has limited legal regulations surrounding health care provision. In the absence of an adequate legal framework, health workers risk to be charged with first-degree murder in the legal system in the aftermath of a maternal death. The rapid increase in juridification, including legal malpractice claims the last year, has led to the first-time introduction of indemnity insurances for medical practitioners. Health workers and bureaucrats strive to balance conflicting demands when on the one hand reporting and reviewing all deaths openly and on the other hand seeking to avoid personalized accountability for deaths. Based on participatory research methods involving professional associations, it will more specifically aim to develop recommendations for a legal framework balancing the needs for health worker protection and the needs for increased health worker responsibility for poor birth outcomes in the Ethiopian setting.

For further information about the project, see this link. However, methodology and research questions are open for modification depending on the interests and qualifications of the selected candidate.

The successful applicant is expected to have his/her workplace at the University of Bergen and conform to the regulations that apply to the position at all times.

The applicant:

• Must hold a master's degree in law or other relevant discipline (e.g. social science or health science), or must have submitted his/her master's thesis for assessment prior to the application deadline. It is a condition of employment that the master's degree has been awarded
• Must through the grades received in the master’s degree or equivalent and/or written works, have demonstrated a high professional level that qualifies for legal work
• Is expected to work independently and in a structured manner, and have the ability to cooperate with others
• Is expected to contribute in the development of the discipline
• Is expected to participate in the development of a good academic environment
• Must be proficient in both written and oral English

For more information click "LINK TO ORIGINAL" below.