The PhD programme Digitalisation and Society is anchored in a solid interdisciplinary research environment at Østfold University College that is based on, and constitutes large parts of, the research area of priority, The Digital Society.
The PhD programme is delimited by four partly overlapping thematic areas that are in themselves interdisciplinary. You can read more about these Digi-thematic areas here:
The theme of the PhD projects must be relevant to one or more of the Digi-thematic subject areas. Fellows admitted to the PhD programme must explore research questions/issues that touch on the interaction between digitalisation and society. This shall be done together with, and under the supervision of, experienced researchers from different disciplines.
The PhD programme is interdisciplinary in nature, which will be reflected in the PhD projects and supervisory teams.
New enabling technologies, and not least society's response to them, are central for the society for the foreseeable future. This development is happening everywhere and a increasingly rapid pace. The demand for better and more efficient tools to solve new tasks creates opportunities but also challenges. Such continuous and accelerating digitalisation processes encourage critical discussions and analysis of the opportunities, challenges and the limitations with digital transformations.
This doctoral programme addresses these aspects in different contexts such as education, health and work life with information technology as a common denominator.
Different levels of digitalisation perspectives can be studied. The development of the digital devices and objects represents concrete digital technologies and materialised digital technologies, while activities and practices represent interactions with and use of them. A more overarching perspective is the organisational and social arrangements and structures in which digital technologies play a role. These different levels are interrelated and several can thus be incorporated into the PhD projects. Examples of projects where such perspectives can be used are studies or development of digital tools, studies of practices and activities that includes digital technologies and/or the overall organisational and societal arrangements where digitalisation takes place.
Research on digitalisation and society in one such context is crucial for a sustainable development of our society and this research education aims to deliver highly qualified candidates that can pursue a further career in knowledge-intensive organisations, both nationally and internationally.
The courses that are offered, together with individual supervision, will provide fellows with the theoretical and methodological framework required to conduct independent and timely research that complies with recognized scientific and ethical standards.