PhD Fellowship in Communication and Leadership : Communicating Environmental Futures in the Age of AI

PhD Fellowship in Communication and Leadership : Communicating Environmental Futures in the Age of AI

Kristiania University of Applied Sciences offers study programs in management, organization, marketing, communication, computer science, information technology, health sciences, innovation and creative arts. Kristiania University of Applied Sciences is Norway's largest independent comprehensive university college with its 24,000 students and a large education offering in Oslo, Bergen and online. Our mission is to strongly contribute to the country's social and economic development through problem-driven and applied knowledge development and dissemination, in close cooperation with society at large.

The School of Arts, Design and Media

The School of Arts, Design and Media is Norway’s largest higher education environment for creative and art-related disciplines, with more than 1,700 students and 130 full-time academic positions. The school offers education and research across film and television production, music and sound, performing and written arts, communication, design and computer arts. Research and teaching are closely connected to professional working environments and the creative industries, linking artistic practice with technological innovation and international collaboration.

About the position

Kristiania University of Applied Sciences is offering a fully funded fellowship on its PhD programme in Communication and Leadership. The fellowship is for a project on communicating environmental futures in the age of AI within the School of Arts, Design and Media. The successful applicant will be included in a team of researchers with ambitious plans to further develop research and pedagogical activities related to communication and leadership at the university.

The PhD project should aim to investigate

how artificial intelligence and artistic communication can inform and transform how environmental futures are imagined, mediated and acted upon. The project will explore how creative and technological systems—such as generative media, algorithmic storytelling or data-driven visualisation—shape collective understanding, institutional responsibility and leadership in the context of ecological change. Central questions include how AI-based systems can enable more transparent, participatory and emotionally resonant forms of environmental communication while avoiding automation of empathy or oversimplification of complexity. As a main goal, the project’s outcome will provide new insights important for sustainable communication and leadership practices in cultural, institutional or public contexts.

Moreover, the project may involve developing or analysing AI-mediated communication strategies, creative prototypes or participatory frameworks for public engagement with environmental issues. Ethical and epistemic concerns will be central, ensuring that AI-based systems designed for environmental awareness promote trust, inclusion and respect for human and non-human agency.

The PhD candidate will have the opportunity to :

• Analyse how AI-based systems influence environmental communication, perception and public trust
• Design or assess creative or organisational approaches to AI-supported environmental storytelling
• Develop frameworks for responsible, inclusive and transparent communication in AI-mediated contexts
• Reflect on the ethical and societal implications of automated media in shaping collective ecological imagination
• Disseminate findings through interdisciplinary conferences and journals, collaborating with research and communication partners

The candidate will join a cross-disciplinary supervisory team and will collaborate with national and international partners in the MishMash network .

More about the MishMash Centre for AI and Creativity

MishMash Centre for AI and Creativity is a Norwegian AI centre funded by the Research Council of Norway (2025–2030). It comprises more than 200 faculty members from higher education institutions across Norway, in collaboration with numerous public and private partners.

The centre’s primary objective is to create, explore and reflect on AI for, through and in creative practices. MishMash researchers investigate AI’s impact on creative processes, develop innovative co-creative AI systems and educational strategies, and address AI’s ethical, cultural, legal and societal implications in creative domains. See mishmash.no for more information.

It is expected that the appointed candidate will join one or more of MishMash’s work packages, collaborate across the MishMash network, and participate in all relevant MishMash activities.

The candidate must have :

Ideally, candidates should have :

Benefits and salary

The application must include :

Admission to the PhD programme is a requirement for taking up a position as a research fellow. The application must be submitted to School of Doctoral Studies within three months of the start date. For more information, see the Regulations relating to conditions of appointment for research fellowships : .

The PhD fellowship period is 3 years, and the earliest start date is .

Working place is the School of Arts, Design and Media. The school is located in Oslo, with numerous amenities, recreational spaces and urban fun right next door.

Kristiania University of Applied Sciences welcomes and encourages applications from diverse backgrounds. Women and persons with minority backgrounds are particularly encouraged to apply.

Only applications received through our application portal will be considered.

We use Semac background checks in our recruitment process.

The employment is to be made in accordance with the regulation to Control of the Export of Strategic Goods, Services and Technology. Candidates who by assessment of the application and attachment are seen to conflict with the criteria in the latter law will be prohibited from recruitment to Kristiania.

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