Aida Omerovic

This PhD research fellow position is based at the Department of Science and Industry Systems , University of South-Eastern Norway , campus Kongsberg. The project sits within SFI CELECT – the Centre for Effective Engineering and Learning in Complex Systems – and links the candidate to a wider doctoral and research network across USN, NTNU, and the University of Agder. The fellow will also be part of the Industrial Research School in Complex Systems (INRESCOS) and the Norwegian Industrial Systems Engineering Research Group (NISE) . The doctoral project focuses on how Norwegian industry can build and develop competencies for systems engineering, AI, and business innovation . The aim is to develop and validate a competency framework and translate it into work-integrated learning for industry. The student will work with CELECT partner companies and academic collaborators to explore competency gaps, effective learning formats for engineers, and ways universities and companies can co-develop learning that has lasting impact. The research is strongly applied and collaborative. The successful candidate will work closely with companies through interviews, surveys, workshops, and pilot courses, and will help shape the final research questions together with the supervisory team and industry partners. The project is embedded in a technology-rich environment at Kongsberg, with connections to major industrial sectors including maritime, defence, aerospace, energy, and subsea technology. The position is part of a larger centre effort that aims to feed results directly into training for engineers across partner organisations. The candidate will contribute to research outputs, participate in common workshops and learning events, and engage in international activities such as conferences and research stays abroad. The project therefore combines systems engineering with competence development, learning design, and industry engagement in a setting where research and practice are intended to inform each other closely.

This PhD Research Fellow position is based in the Department of Science and Industry Systems at the University of South-Eastern Norway, campus Kongsberg, and is embedded in the wider SFI CELECT centre and the Norwegian Industrial Systems Engineering Research Group (NISE). The project focuses on life-cycle perspectives on system qualities , especially how long-living energy, infrastructure, and defence systems can remain changeable and affordable to update over decades. The research addresses a practical systems problem: early architecture decisions strongly influence how easily a system can be modified later, while information about the built system is often lost across handovers and during operation. The PhD will investigate how lightweight architecting, the digital thread, and AI can connect requirements, architecture, and operation across the life cycle, helping engineers reason about trade-offs between future changeability and life-cycle cost. The project is positioned in a strong industrial ecosystem. SFI CELECT brings together USN, NTNU, and the University of Agder together with leading industrial partners, and this PhD will use industry as a laboratory through real cases with companies such as TechnipFMC, Glitre Nett, Herøya Industripark, and Forsvarsmateriell. The student will work closely with engineers and systems architects on development projects, and may also have a research stay abroad. The academic environment combines doctoral training, collaborative research, and cross-institutional activity through CELECT and INRESCOS. The role is structured as organised research training leading toward the doctoral degree, with participation in courses, publications, workshops, and international research activity. The appointment is linked to systems engineering research with strong relevance to long-living technical systems and industrial practice.