PhD Candidate in Human-Centered Data Governance, Privacy and Smart Environments BI Norwegian Business School in Norway

BI Norwegian Business School’s Department of Communication and Culture is inviting applications for a four-year PhD scholarship linked to the DECODE research project. The project focuses on human-centered data governance, privacy, and smart environments, with an emphasis on the communication and user dimensions of privacy protection.

DECODE is an interdisciplinary project co-led by Professor Dr. Aurelia Tamò-Larrieux (University of St.Gallen), Professor Dr. Christoph Lutz (BI Norwegian Business School), and Professor Dr. Simon Mayer (University of St.Gallen). It combines legal, social science, and technical perspectives to develop more actionable privacy solutions for smart homes and connected environments. Research themes include privacy-enhancing technologies, computational law, human-computer interaction, transparency, personalization, regulatory communication, and interface design.

The PhD candidate will be based at BI’s Department of Communication and Culture and will work closely with Professor Christoph Lutz. The department has broad expertise in digital transformation, privacy, artificial intelligence, communication technologies, corporate communication, and related interdisciplinary topics. The successful applicant is expected to develop an independent PhD project that fits within the DECODE agenda and contributes to its interdisciplinary research outputs.

This is a four-year doctoral scholarship in Oslo, Norway. The scholarship is currently 623,200 NOK per year, includes 25% teaching responsibilities, and provides pension membership. The project also includes funding for research stays in Switzerland and international conferences.

Eligible applicants must hold, or be close to completing, a Master of Science degree with thesis work, a research master’s/M.Phil. degree, or an equivalent degree relevant to communication or a related field. Strong candidates may come from communication, media studies, HCI, information systems, sociology, psychology, law and technology, science and technology studies, management, political science, or similar interdisciplinary backgrounds. A grade point average of B or higher is required, and an MBA does not qualify.

Applicants should ideally have knowledge of privacy, data protection, digital governance, smart environments, HCI, privacy-enhancing technologies, computational law, personalization, transparency, or explainability, along with experience in qualitative, quantitative, experimental, survey, interview, participatory, or mixed-methods research. English language requirements apply, though TOEFL/IELTS waivers may be possible under certain conditions.

Application deadline: 6 September 2026. Apply via the BI Easycruit portal and upload all documents in the electronic system.