Western Norway University of Applied Sciences (HVL) has a vacancy for a position as PhD candidate linked to the "Bump2Baby & Me+" project at the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, campus Førde, Bergen, Stord or Haugesund
The position is linked to Department of Health and Caring sciences, Section of Specialist Nursing.
The PhD project is titled: “Artificial Intelligence for Personalised Digital Health: Targeting Enhanced Engagement, Health Outcomes and Maternal Support Perception for Women at Risk of GDM”, linked to the Bump2Baby & Me+ project, funded by the EU and the Research Council of Norway.
The PhD candidate will be part of an approved four-year PhD program, with 25% of the time dedicated to career-enhancing activities.
The position is a recruitment position aimed at contributing to an active and developing research environment at HVL.
Responsibilities and Work Area:
The PhD position is anchored in the Bump2Baby & Me+ research project, which aims to implement health-promoting interventions for women at increased risk of gestational diabetes (GDM) ( Bump2Baby and Me Plus).
The PhD project will use artificial intelligence to evaluate and inform digital health interventions for women at increased risk of GDM. The project will primarily utilize data collected from a completed randomized controlled trial (https://bump2babyandme.org/ ).
By combining advanced machine learning techniques with qualitative methods, the project will investigate usage patterns and engagement levels with a health app across multiple European countries. The goal is to identify factors that can improve health outcomes for both mother and child and strengthen the implementation of digital health interventions in clinical practice.
The candidate will be a member of the DiaBEST research group, which focuses on the psychosocial aspects of living with diabetes or other chronic diseases: https://www.hvl.no/forsking/gruppe/DIABEST/.
Associate Professor Hilde Kristin Refvik Riise is the project leader and main supervisor. The position is funded by the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences at HVL.
The PhD candidate will be enrolled in the PhD program Responsible Innovation and Regional Development (RESINNREG) at HVL, an interdisciplinary doctoral program examining how innovation can address social, economic, and environmental challenges in regional contexts. Currently, the program has 36 PhD candidates enrolled.
The main supervisor and candidate will develop a detailed plan for the PhD training to be included in the application for admission to RESINNREG. Admission to the program should normally be applied for within three months of employment. The candidate’s project must be aligned to meet the admission requirements.
More information on the RESINNREG program and our research profile: https://www.hvl.no/en/studies-at-hvl/study-programmes/responsibleinnovation-and-regional-development/
Qualification Requirements
Qualification Requirements
- Applicants must have a relevant master’s degree with academic qualifications in digital health, data analysis, and/or machine learning applied to health research.
- Admission to the PhD program requires a 120 ECTS master’s degree, including a master’s thesis of at least 30 ECTS. A minimum grade of B is required for the thesis and an overall average grade of C for other courses.
- The master’s thesis (at least 30 ECTS) must be submitted by the application deadline, and the master’s degree must be approved no later than four weeks after the application deadline.
Preferred qualifications:
- Interest and preferably experience in responsible innovation and implementing health interventions in clinical practice.
- Broad experience in digital health, data analysis, and machine learning.
- Strong competence in research methodology, analysis methods, and statistics.
- Scientific publications (number, quality, and relevance to the field).
- Experience in research related to pregnancy, women’s health, or gestational diabetes.
- Experience in international research, innovation, or improvement projects.
- Competence in programming and analytical tools (e.g., R and Python).
- Experience with Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis in health research.
- Proficiency in English, Norwegian, or another Scandinavian language.
Personal Qualities:
- Analytical thinking and ability to execute projects.
- Ability to work independently while actively contributing to the research community and team.
- Personal suitability, including motivation, collaboration skills, independence, and perseverance.
- High ethical awareness in research work.
Application Requirements
- Motivation letter (up to 3 pages) outlining motivation for pursuing a PhD and reflections on the project’s themes and methods.
- CV with education, work experience, publications, and outreach activities.
- Master’s degree diploma (or equivalent) and any relevant certificates.
- Master’s thesis.
- Up to five scientific works to be considered.
- Reference list (2-3 references; name, email, phone, and relationship to applicant).
Applicants may contact the main supervisor, Hilde Kristin Refvik Riise, for information about the project.
Admission to the PhD program should be applied for only after employment and normally within three months of starting. The candidate must be enrolled in the PhD program no later than three months after employment. More information on PhD education: https://www.hvl.no/forsking/forskarutdanning
How to apply:
Submit your application and CV by clicking the “Apply for this position” button on this page.
Applications will be assessed based on information submitted in www.jobbnorge.no by the application deadline. It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure that all relevant attachments are uploaded, including the master’s thesis, up to five scientific works, full publication list, project description (if any), certificates, and transcripts.
If documents are not in English or a Scandinavian language, certified translations must be uploaded. Attachments exceeding 25 MB must be compressed or provided as a link.
Applicants with foreign education must document equivalence to a Norwegian bachelor’s, master’s, or PhD degree. See www.hkdir.no for more information. Automatic recognition may apply for some degrees from selected countries.
Applicants for scientific positions will be evaluated by an expert committee based on documented competence and up to five scientific works. Shortlisted candidates will be invited for an interview and trial lecture.
The hiring authority is the Appointment Committee at HVL. Applications are submitted electronically to the expert committee. Applications cannot be sent by email to individual staff members.
The position is available as soon as possible, and no later than 15.08.2026.
We offer:
- Attractive pension, insurance, and loan schemes through the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund
- Exciting academic environment with opportunities for professional development
- Opportunity for exercise during work hours
- PhD stipend position is paid according to position code 1017. Salary progression occurs according to seniority.
- 2% contribution to the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund will be deducted from the salary.
General Information:
Under the new Freedom of Information Act, applicant information may be disclosed even if the applicant requests not to be listed. Applicants will be notified if such a request cannot be accommodated.
The public workforce should reflect the diversity of the population. HVL aims to achieve balanced age and gender composition, recruit individuals with minority backgrounds, persons with disabilities, and candidates with career gaps.
HVL is subject to export control regulations, which may apply to the processing of applications.Vi gjør oppmerksom på at i henhold til ny offentlighetslov kan opplysninger om søkeren bli offentliggjort selv om søkeren har anmodet om ikke å bli oppført på søkerlisten. Søkere vil bli varslet dersom slik anmodning ikke tas til følge.
Den statlige arbeidsstyrken skal i størst mulig grad gjenspeile mangfoldet i befolkningen. Det er derfor et personalpolitisk mål å oppnå en balansert alders- og kjønnssammensetning, rekruttere personer med minoritetsbakgrunn, personer med nedsatt funksjonsevne og hull i CV.
Høgskolen på Vestlandet er underlagt eksportkontrollforskriften. Forskriften kan komme til anvendelse i behandlingen av søknadene.
Kontaktpersoner ved Høgskulen på Vestlandet er:
1) Assistant head of department Marianne Fjose
e-mail: marianne.fjose@hvl.no
phone +47 57 67 76 67
2) Associate professor Hilde Kristin Refvik Riise
e-mail: hkrr@hvl.no
Phone +47 55 58 71 07
Om arbeidsgiveren:
With about 16 500 students, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences is one of the largest higher education institutions in Norway. A broad range of academic programmes are offered at Bachelor, Master and PhD levels, spread out on five campuses Førde, Sogndal, Bergen, Stord og Haugesund.
Our ambition is to build stronger and more solid academic and research environments that will interact nationally and internationally. The aim is to become a recognized actor on the international higher education arena. Increased international cooperation and engagement in externally funded projects will work towards this goal.
We have strong and innovative academic environments within health and social sciences, engineering and natural sciences, teacher education, economics, social sciences, and maritime studies. HVL aims to be closely connected to working life, the region, and its students, with ambitions to become a university with a professional and practice-oriented profile.
The Faculty of Health and Social Sciences has around 500 full-time equivalents and 4,900 students. The faculty offers a broad range of programs in health and social care professional education, continuing and further education, and several master’s programs.
The faculty provides a PhD program titled Health, Function and Participation. In addition, the faculty co-manages the research area Innovation in the Public Sector in the interdisciplinary PhD program Responsible Innovation and Regional Development (RESINNREG).
