BI Norwegian Business School's Department of Communication and Culture invites applications for this four-year doctoral scholarship in the EMANAIRE project “Futureproofing Employee Careers in the Age of Generative AI”.

About EMANAIRE

EMANAIRE is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Doctoral Network bringing together 15 doctoral candidates at nine European universities to study how AI is changing work. Its projects examine what happens when generative and agentic AI enters leadership, everyday workflows, team communication, professional learning and career decisions. Across the network, human agency means the practical ability to understand AI-supported decisions, exercise judgement, question outputs and shape how work is organised. Each researcher joins an international cohort, receives supervision across institutions and takes part in three residential schools, methods workshops, monthly research seminars and joint work with organisations beyond academia. Every project includes a planned six-month intersectoral secondment.

The doctoral project

Two employees can encounter the same generative AI roll-out and see very different futures. One may find new ways to use their skills; another may fear redundancy, lose confidence or see no credible path to reskilling.

Generative AI is changing what many jobs consist of and which skills are valued in them, and the consequences for individual careers are uneven and hard to predict. Employees face open questions about which parts of their work will remain theirs and whether they can realistically acquire the skills that will matter next. Organisations, in turn, need to understand why the same technology is experienced as an opportunity by some employees and as a threat by others, and what they can do so that adjustment does not depend on individual luck or resources.

This doctoral project studies how employees make sense of generative AI in relation to their own careers, and how the conditions they work under shape what follows from that assessment. It asks how career adaptability, supervisory and organisational support, opportunities to use and develop skills, and job satisfaction and engagement help explain why some employees come through AI-driven change with sustainable careers while others lose ground. Reskilling and internal mobility receive particular attention as routes to sustainable career outcomes, together with the forms of support and communication that make such routes credible to employees.

The doctorate will produce evidence on the patterns of risk and resilience that emerge as generative AI enters workplaces, and on the organisational conditions that help employees retain agency over their own careers. Its academic contribution lies in explaining why similar technological changes lead to different career trajectories across employees and workplaces. It should also result in practical guidance that helps organisations recognise where employees feel confident, constrained or anxious and respond with appropriate support and communication during AI-driven change.

The specific research questions and design are not fixed in advance and will be developed together with the supervisory team. Applicants are encouraged to bring their own ideas to the project proposal that forms part of the application.

Your work

• Examine how employees appraise generative AI as a threat or an opportunity for their own careers, and how these appraisals relate to career adaptability, skill use, job satisfaction and engagement.
• Study how supervisory and organisational support shape risk and resilience during AI-driven change, and when reskilling and internal mobility lead to sustainable career outcomes.
• Identify the conditions under which employees retain agency over their careers as generative AI changes the content of their work.
• Translate the findings into guidance for organisations on supporting employees and communicating during AI-driven change.
• Refine the research questions and design with the supervision team and prepare ethics, data-management and open-science materials.
• Complete a doctoral thesis and related research outputs under the host doctoral programme and EMANAIRE plan.
• Take part in local and network-wide training, cohort activities, reviews, dissemination and practitioner engagement.
• Undertake the six-month intersectoral secondment and the separate academic mobility visit.
• Contribute to research integrity, equality, responsible AI, open science and FAIR data practices.

Who we are looking for

The candidate will join BI's four-year doctoral programme, designed for talented students who wish to pursue an international academic career and contribute to the international research community through high-quality publications. Recruitment of PhD candidates is an important part of the department's research agenda and BI's ambition to be a leading European business school.

Eligible applicants must have completed, or complete by the start date, a Master of Science degree with thesis work, a research master's/M.Phil. degree, or a comparable degree relevant to the PhD specialisation in Communication. Relevant disciplinary backgrounds include, but are not limited to, communication, media studies, human-computer interaction, information systems, sociology, psychology, management, organisational behaviour, human resource management, law and technology, science and technology studies, political science, or related social-science and interdisciplinary fields. An MBA degree does not fulfil the requirements for admission.

For this project, the following qualities will be viewed as advantageous:

• Interest in careers, HRM, organisational or work psychology, reskilling or generative AI at work.
• Strong quantitative or mixed-methods skills and interest in measurement and longitudinal organisational research.
• Experience with surveys, multivariate analysis, person-centred approaches or data visualisation would be advantageous.
• Ability to translate employee-level evidence into organisation-level insight and practical guidance.
• Strong academic writing skills and motivation to publish in international peer-reviewed journals.

Supervision and integration at BI

The selected candidate will receive close supervision and follow-up from research faculty. The main supervisors are Professor Christian Fieseler and Associate Professor Dominique Kost (BI Norwegian Business School). The candidate will be integrated into the Department of Communication and Culture and the wider EMANAIRE network.

Employment and support

The four-year scholarship is currently NOK 623,200 gross per year and will be adjusted according to applicable regulations. The position provides membership in the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund (Statens Pensjonskasse). Twenty-five per cent of working time is reserved for teaching. The candidate's workplace will be BI Norwegian Business School in Oslo, Norway.

Further information about the doctoral programme and admission requirements is available from BI's PhD Administration (phd@bi.no) and the PhD specialisation in Communication: https://www.bi.no/en/programmes-and-individual-courses/phd/communication/.

How to apply

Candidates are asked to upload the following material with their electronic application:

• Certificate of a A Master degree (MSc, MA, or equivalent), including transcripts of grades. The qualifying degree must include thesis work and be completed by the start date, with a grade point average of B or higher. An MBA degree does not meet the admission requirements.
• Certificate of a bachelor's degree or equivalent, including transcripts of grades. BI requires a two-year master's programme and average grades of B or higher for eligibility.
• A Diploma Supplement, or a comparable document explaining the study and grading system and the rights for further study associated with the degree.
• Other relevant certificates and transcripts.
• A 2,000-word original project proposal that engages independently with this doctoral project, including the proposed research focus, methods, schedule and relevant literature. Any use of generative AI to produce text must be clearly stated and cited.
• Curriculum vitae.
• At least two letters of recommendation from relevant employers, professors or supervisors that provide evidence of the applicant's research potential.
• Certificates from previously completed doctoral-level courses, if requesting approval of these courses for the BI PhD programme at BI Norwegian Business School.
• A complete list of publications and other documented relevant activities, where applicable.
• Signed verification document.

Applicants who do not hold a qualifying master's degree from a Nordic institution and whose qualifying degree was not taught in English must normally document English proficiency through TOEFL or IELTS, unless a waiver is granted. The minimum accepted scores are:

• TOEFL: 575 on the written test, 233 on the computer-based test, or 90 on the internet-based test.
• IELTS: overall score of 6.5.

TOEFL and IELTS scores must be from the preceding two years. The BI institution codes are GMAT 0529, TOEFL 0529 and GRE 7365. IELTS copies are accepted when the TRF number is visible. Applicants who believe they qualify for a waiver should submit the required waiver documentation.

Please note that all documents must be uploaded in the electronic application system. Documents may not be submitted by e-mail. Furthermore, documents submitted after the application deadline will not be considered. Exceptions will only be made for students who are completing their master’s degree in 2026 and do not have a final certificate when applying. Please note that applicants will not be able to revise their application once it has been submitted.

Candidates may later be asked for further information and/or invited to an interview. A candidate admitted to the programme must prepare a more detailed progress plan with milestones and courses for the four years of study.

MSCA eligibility

Applicants may be of any nationality. To be eligible for MSCA funding, the selected candidate must, on the first day of MSCA employment: (i) not hold a doctoral degree; candidates who have successfully defended a doctoral thesis but have not yet formally received the degree are not eligible; (ii) comply with the MSCA mobility rule, meaning they must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Norway for more than 12 months during the 36 months immediately preceding that date, excluding compulsory national service, short stays such as holidays, and time spent in a procedure for obtaining refugee status under the Geneva Convention; and (iii) be enrolled in, or meet the conditions required for timely enrolment in, the doctoral programme leading to the degree specified in this notice. The appointment is conditional on documentary verification of these conditions and fulfilment of the host institution's doctoral admission requirements.

More information

Questions about the project can be addressed to Professor Christian Fieseler at christian.fieseler@bi.no.

Questions about the PhD specialisation in Communication can be addressed to Academic Program Manager Christian Fieseler at christian.fieseler@bi.no. Questions about the application process can be sent to BI's PhD Administration at phd@bi.no.

Application deadline: 1 November 2026