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PhD Student at the School of Education, University of Iceland: Feedback and Mentoring Enhancing Social Entrepreneurship

The University of Iceland, School of Education invites applications for a PhD student position, funded for 3 years. The PhD candidate will work on the research project Feedback and mentoring in Social Entrepreneurship Education, within the seizmic Doctoral Network (SEIZMIC-DN), funded by Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) and in collaboration with the Aurora European University Network (Aurora). In addition to their own PhD project, the PhD student is expected to contribute to the deliverables of SEIZMIC-DN (see details below).Research Project and Field of WorkThe PhD project will be one of 15 projects within the doctoral network, which all contribute to the overall goal of understanding social entrepreneurship scaling. Within that network, this thesis will contribute to a work package on Education and competencies. The candidate will:Carry out a review of research literature on feedback and mentoring mechanisms in educational and professional learning contexts, focusing particularly on entrepreneurship and innovation-related competency development.To empirically examine the role of feedback in acquiring SE competencies in higher education and practitioner courses, using both quantitative survey and qualitative in-depth interviews and focus-group interviews with students and academic instructors. Develop a feedback and mentoring model tailored for social entrepreneurship scaling competencies, applicable in both academic and practitioner training programs.The candidate will collaborate with other doctoral candidates, contributing to relevant deliverables within SEISMIC-DN, including the juxtaposition of human feedback/mento- ring versus AI based feedback/ mentoring. For further information about the organizations involved in this project, please refer to the following web pages:SEIZMIC-DN: https://www.seizmic.eu/mscaAurora: https://aurora-universities.eu/about/The University of Iceland: https://english.hi.is/university/the_universitySchool of Education: https://english.hi.is/school_of_education/school_of_educationFaculty of Subject Teacher Education: https://english.hi.is/faculty_of_subject_teacher_educationTo sign up for an online information session for all open SEIZMIC-DN PhD positions:https://copenhagenbusiness.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0rNDnUcFEjn7seW

Field of work

Participation in research work in collaboration with the main supervisor.
Qualitative data collection and analysis, primarily through confidential interviews but also through relevant other means.
Dissemination of research findings mainly in the form of a doctoral thesis (3-4 articles in recognized scientific journals) but also through presentations at international conferences and to the public.
Organization of workshops in cooperation with the research team

Qualification requirements

Masters degree in education studies with at least a first-class grade.
Strong analytical and research skills.
Excellent proficiency in English.
Initiative, independence in work, and organizational skills.
Good interpersonal skills.

Other Requirements

According to the mobility requirements of the MSCA guidelines, candidates must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Iceland for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately before the recruitment date
As required by the MSCA funding guidelines, the PhD candidate will have a required academic secondment at one of the SEIZMIC-DN partner universities.
In addition, the candidate will have a non-academic secondment at BABELE for learning about and applying a virtual platform for feedback and mentoring.
The applicant must perform the job at the University of Iceland, at the relevant secondment university, and at the relevant non-academic secondment partner, and must also be able to attend conferences and other required events
If offered the position, the applicant must formally apply for doctoral studies in School of Education at the University of Iceland (see application instructions). Admission to the doctoral program is a prerequisite for employment.

Application process

Applications must include:

Cover letter (1-2 pages) in English, detailing the applicant's interest in the project and what they bring to its development and execution
A research plan proposal (about 2000-4000 words, in addition to references)
CV (1-2 pages) in English, outlining relevant work experience, skills related to the project, and a list of publications, if applicable
Course transcripts and diplomas from bachelor, master's work
Copies of the master's thesis or research articles, if applicable
Two recommendation letters and contact information for referees

All applicants will be informed about the results when a decision has been made. The application can be valid for six months from the end of the application deadline.

Appointments are made in consideration of the Equal Rights Policy of the University of Iceland: http://www.hi.is/haskolinn/jafnrettisaaetlun#markmid2

Attention is drawn to the language policy of the University of Iceland: https://www.hi.is/haskolinn/malstefna_haskola_islands

All applications must contain a research plan proposal (2000-4000 words plus references) in which applicants outline how they would aim to carry out the research associated with the position. Via the research plan proposal applicants document their ability to independently define a research project and frame it in relevant literature (both in relation to theory and research method). In your research plan proposal please relate to the positions project description. Illustrate how you might study to what extent and what kind of educational feedback students receive and value as helpful in their journey for social entrepreneurship in different courses and educational settings across the Aurora-universities. This includes feedback and mentoring mechanisms in educational and professional learning contexts, focusing particularly on entrepreneurship and innovation-related competency development. Please also indicate how you might include your different secondments into your data collection.

In your methods section please consider a mixed methods approach. The research plan proposal should cover the following elements:

A brief explanation of the aims of the project
An explanation of the issue and the hypotheses or issues that the PhD student will work with
A positioning of the project in the research field of the department
A description of the state-of the art research within the projects research field
An explanation of the theories on which the project is based
An explanation of the methods to be used
An indication of the projects potential contribution to the scientific development
A work plan (brief), which describes the main phases in the project including scheduling the elements of the PhD programme

The applicant is expected to start in February 2025.