Expert committee

Internal guidelines for the appointment of expert committees in connection with hiring and promotions. These guidelines apply to all committees appointed after 1 August 2025. Published 15.09.2016 

Last updated 08.05..2026 

When appointing an expert committee for the assessment of applicants for advertised positions, promotions, or transitions between positions at the same level, the following applies, cf. Regulations to the Universities and University Colleges Act, Chapter 3: 

1. At least three members shall be appointed, each with at least equivalent competence to the position category being recruited for or to which a transition or promotion is sought. Competence must be documented by a CV. This also applies to individuals employed in secondary positions at the relevant level. Competence must be verified before a potential committee member is invited to participate. For committees assessing dosent competence, the committee should include two members with dosent competence. Any exceptions must be justified. Employees in research-only positions are not required to have educational competence and therefore cannot be appointed to evaluate positions under Chapter 3 of the regulations (positions requiring educational competence). 
2. At least two of the members must have competence within the same academic field as the position/applicant. 
3. Both genders must be represented, cf. Universities and University Colleges Act § 7-2, second paragraph (lovdata.no). 
4. For committees assessing top-level positions, the committee should, as far as possible, include an international member in fields where this is natural. If the committee is proposed to have more than one international member, the chair should be Norwegian and/or the faculty must provide support measures to ensure sufficient knowledge of Norwegian regulations. 
5. Internal/external members of expert committees: 

• For hiring processes, the committee chair must be external.
• For promotions and transitions, there must be no internal members. All employees at OsloMet are considered internal, including emeritus/emerita. 

    6. Expert committees should generally group applicants into the following categories: 

• Group 1: Best qualified
• Group 2: Second best qualified 
• Group 3: Less qualified
• Group 4: Not qualified

A guideline for expert committees will be published shortly (.pdf). 

    7. All members of the expert committee must assess their impartiality (.pdf) in relation to the applicant(s). In hiring cases, this is done by sending the             public applicant list to the members as soon as their competence has been verified, cf. point 1. 

    8. For appointments to, and promotion to, the positions of Professor and Professor (Dosent), the Appointment Committee for Professor,                                  Researcher 1 and Dosent appoints the expert committee. For appointments to positions as Associate Professor (Førsteamanuensis and Førstelektor),          the Head of Department/Centre appoints the expert committee. In cases of applications for promotion, the Appointment Committee for academic              teaching and research positions shall appoint the expert committee. 

Internal guidelines for appointing expert committees for hiring (where the hiring committee has decided on expert assessment) and in all cases for applications for promotion to Researcher code 1183. 

• The committee must have at least three members with a professor's qualifications or with qualifications at the level of researcher 1183 within the applicant's subject area / field of study.
• The committee must have one member from another country. If this is not possible, it must be justified.
• Both sexes must be represented.
• There must be no internal members in the committee upon application for promotion.
• There must be no internal members in the committee if there are internal applicants for appointment.
• The appointment committee for professors, docent professors and researcher 1 nominates the expert committee.

Internal guidelines for the nomination of the expert committee upon appointment and promotion to associate professor.

• The committee must have three members. At least one member must have qualifications above the level of “first-positions” (i.e. førstestilling, the Norwegian academic rank indicating the positions of associate professor, senior researcher and senior research librarian). The remaining members must at least have an associate professor’s qualifications. At least one member must be employed in an academic environment with responsibility for doctoral degree education. An exemption to this may be made upon application for promotion based on artistic qualifications.
• Both sexes should be represented if possible.
• There must be no internal members in the committee upon application for promotion.
• There must be no internal members in the committee if there are internal applicants for appointment.
• The head of department / centre appoints the expert committee.
• If the applicant applying for a promotion has a Norwegian doctoral degree or a foreign degree approved as equivalent, the expert committee needs not be nominated. The same applies for applicants who the expert committee has declared as qualified to professor, university college docent or associate professor positions in their subject area at a university or university college.

Internal guidelines for the nomination of the expert committee upon appointment and promotion to associate professor.

• The committee must have three members. At least one member must have qualifications above the level of “first-positions” and the rest must have at least an associate professor’s qualifications.
• Both sexes should be represented if possible.
• There must be no internal members in the committee upon application for promotion.
• There must be no internal members in the committee if there are internal applicants for appointment.
• The head of department / centre appoints the expert committee.
• If the applicant applying for a promotion has been declared as qualified for the associate professor position in his / her subject area at a university or university college by the expert committee, the nomination of the expert committee may be omitted.  

Internal guidelines for appointing expert committees for hiring (where the hiring committee has decided on expert assessment) and in all cases for applications for promotion to Researcher code 1109. 

• The committee must have three members with qualifications within the applicant's subject area/ field of study. At least one of the members must have higher qualifications than the researcher 1109 while the remaining members must have researcher 1109 qualifications. At least one member must be employed in an academic environment with responsibility for doctoral degree education.
• Both sexes should be represented if possible.
• There must be no internal members in the committee upon application for promotion.
• There must be no internal members in the committee if there are internal applicants for appointment.
• The head of department / centre appoints the expert committee, unless some of the applicants simultaneously apply for a promotion to researcher 1183, in which case the appointment committee for teaching and research positions appoints the committee.

Internal guidelines for appointing expert committees:

• The expert committee must have at least two members.
• The committee may have internal or external members.
• The members of the committee must have an associate professor’s qualifications, preferably within the field of study of the position, and at least one member must have a professor’s qualifications.
• When there are internal applicants there must be two external members.
• Both sexes must be represented.
• The head of department / centre appoints the expert committee.

Where the hiring committee has decided on expert assessment for the appointment to a PhD position, the following applies: 

• The expert committee must have 2-3 members.
• The committee may have internal or external members.
• The members must have qualifications at the associate professor level (possibly professor level).
• When there are internal applicants there must be (at least) two external members.
• Both sexes must be represented.
• The head of department / centre appoints the expert committee.

• Guidelines for expert committees in connection with hiring and promotion in teaching positions (.pdf)
• Guidelines on impartiality (.pdf)
• Template – statement from expert committee as of August 25 (.docx)
• Guidelines for educational competence (oslomet.no)
• Request form for committee member contract (oslomet.no)
• Letter template for expert committee (.docx)
• Letter template for expert committee English (.docx)
• Guide to regulations on promotion to Researcher 1183 (.docx)
• Personnel regulations for OsloMet (oslomet.no) (Norwegian only)