Lund University School of Economics and Management

Lund University was founded in 1666 and is repeatedly ranked among the world’s top universities. The University has around 47 000 students and more than 8 800 staff based in Lund, Helsingborg and Malmö. We are united in our efforts to understand, explain and improve our world and the human condition.

Lund University welcomes applicants with diverse backgrounds and experiences. We regard gender equality and diversity as a strength and an asset.

Lund University School of Economics and Management is one of eight faculties within Lund University. More than 4 000 students and 450 researchers, teachers and other staff are engaged here in training and research in economic history, business administration, business law, informatics, economics, statistics and research policy.

Lund University School of Economics and Management is accredited by the three largest and most influential accreditation institutes for business schools: EQUIS, AMBA and AACSB. Only just over 100 business schools in the world have achieved this prestigious Triple Crown accreditation.

The holder will work in the project “The African population boom in historical perspective” which aims to study historical population dynamics on the African continent 1850-1950. Africa’s demographic transition from high mortality and fertility to low mortality and fertility develops much more slowly compared to Latin America and Asia mainly due to a slower fertility decline in Africa (Bongaarts and Casterline, 2013; UN, 2011). We currently know very little about why the aggregate demographic trend in Africa seems so different compared to other regions. Have Africa’s demographic – and especially fertility trends – always been different compared to the rest of the world (hence trends are driven by inherent African features)? Or has this pattern been mostly a (post-) colonial response to specific circumstances?

The aim of this project is to fill this gap by presenting and analysing demographic dynamics for various regions of the African continent between 1820, when vital rates were first recorded, and 1960, when the first reliable population censuses were performed, based on so far unexplored missionary sources. By combining this information with population censuses executed during the independence era this project can for the first time present population series for various African regions based on primary material covering both the 19th and the 20th century. This will increase our understanding of historical population developments in Africa, and also provide the much needed historical component to allow for the study of the drivers of the present population boom.

Job assignments

Work tasks of the researcher involve empirical analyses of different demographic processes (health and mortality, gender and family) including data management, statistical analysis, and writing academic papers for publication, independently and in collaboration with other members of the research team. The researcher should be willing to co-supervise 2 PhD students, interact with students and to participate actively in the common activities at the Department. The position may involve a limited amount (max 20%) of teaching and/or supervision of Bachelor and Master's Theses.

For more information about the position or the project contact the PI associate professor Jutta Bolt (jutta.bolt@ekh.lu.se)

Eligibility

To be qualified for employment as researcher, an individual must hold a PhD or an equivalent international degree in Economic History or related discipline (e.g. Economics, Sociology, Economic Geography, History), Applications will also be accepted from persons who have not yet completed their PhD, but this condition must be satisfied at the time of employment.

Basis of Assessment

Scholarly proficiency is the main requirement for employment.

The holder of the position should be competent and experienced enough to be able to carry out independent research, using state-of-the-art econometric models and demographic methods. Experience in working with historical population databases is a merit.

For appointment, the candidate must have demonstrated a high degree of research expertise as manifested in the quality of the PhD dissertation and other publications. Documented skills in quantitative analysis and data management are required. The main software programs used in the project are STATA and GIS, and high-level skills in using this software is a merit. We also look for high-level communicative skills, good time management, and the ability to interact with the research community and building networks.

In addition to the above, the following set of criteria will be applied in the assessment of candidates:

- international experience;

- other results and distinctions which attest to the applicant's ability to do research;

- ability to engage and inform society at large about research.

The evaluation will take personal qualities, such as academic independence, willingness to collaborate, and communication skills, into consideration.

Terms of Employment

fixed-term employment until 2021-06-30.

Application

Applications should be written in English and must include:

  1. Cover letter
  2. Curriculum Vitae
  3. Research plan where the applicant presents his/her own ideas for research to be conducted.
  4. Publications including publication list
  5. Certificates, references, etc

Type of employment Temporary position
Contract type Full time
First day of employment 2019-09-01
Salary månadslön
Number of positions 1
Full-time equivalent 100
City Lund
County Skåne län
Country Sweden
Reference number PA2019/3069
Contact
  • Jutta Bolt, associate professor, jutta.bolt@ekh.lu.se
Union representative
  • OFR/ST:Fackförbundet ST:s kansli, 046-222 93 62
  • SACO:Saco-s-rådet vid Lunds universitet, 046-222 93 64
  • SEKO: Seko Civil, 046-222 93 66
Published 12.Sep.2019
Last application date 26.Sep.2019 11:59 PM CEST

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