Doctoral student in Economic History - human capital - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

Assigned duties

Those appointed to doctoral studentship shall primarily devote themselves to their studies, aimed to result in a doctoral degree. Work carried out during the studentship consists of participation in research projects as well as successful participation in postgraduate (third-cycle) courses. Those appointed to doctoral studentships may also work, to a limited extent, with educational tasks and administration at the Department of Economic history. However, duties of this kind may not comprise of more than 20 per cent of a full time post.

The PhD position is linked to the research project The value of social background, education, academic performance and work experience: Following the life course of Scandinavian high school, technical school and university-level graduate cohorts 1880–1920, funded by Handelsbankens forskningsstiftelser. The PhD student will work in this project in collaboration with other project members.

Eligibility / Admission requirements

A person meets the general admission requirements for third-cycle courses and study programmes if he or she has:

• Been awarded a second-cycle degree; or
• Satisfied the requirements for courses comprising of at least 240 credits of which at least 60 credits were awarded in the second-cycle; or
• Acquired substantially equivalent knowledge in some other way in Sweden or abroad.

(Higher Education Ordinance, Chapter 7, Section 39)

Specific admission requirements for doctoral studies in each subject are specified in the relevant general syllabus, available at https://www.lusem.lu.se/study/phd

Other requirements

Due to the nature of the source material, good reading comprehension in Scandinavian languages (Swedish, Danish or Norwegian) is necessary.

A proficient level of English is required in both written and oral communication.

Basis of assessment

Admittance of a doctoral student is based on an assessment of the candidate’s ability to benefit from third-cycle studies.

The applicant’s ability to benefit from third-cycle studies and research will be assessed with reference to the selection criteria stated in the relevant general syllabus for third-cycle studies, available at https://www.lusem.lu.se/study/phd

Applicant’s general competence:

• Quality and content of previous written work, such as a Master’s thesis.
• Ability to participate actively in the Department’s research environment.
• Ability to perform independent scientific work.
• Experience of working with historical databases and quantitative methods (interest in learning about artificial intelligence is an advantage, but not a requirement)
• Proficiency in written and oral communication
• Relevant educational background
• Other relevant experiences for third-cycle education, such as work experience.

We are interested in applicants with a strong commitment and interest in the human capital from an economic historical perspective, quantitative analysis and working with large databases. The project is in collaboration with researchers at the University of Southern Denmark using artificial intelligence to digitize historical sources, so an interest in learning about such methods would also be an advantage.

Project

The project seeks to analyse the value placed upon social background, education, academic performance and work experience by employers in industry and business in Sweden, Denmark and Norway between 1880 and 1920, a period when these countries, and the rest of Europe, underwent a social, industrial and economic transformation. Were specific educations, academic performances and work experiences preferred and appreciated? Did economic sectors and companies value social background, schools/universities, degrees, grades and previous work experiences differently? “Graduate biographies” with individual-level information about family, place of birth, education and careers of entire high school, technical school and university-level graduate cohorts, and exam grades, combined with complementary historical sources, will be used to make comprehensive historical comparative analyses of education and practice. By providing new comparative individual-level perspectives on the young people in Scandinavia who entered high school, technical school and university-level education; and their background, education and careers, the project aims at providing key insight into how different knowledges and “skills” were valued in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and differences between countries and industries in this respect. The research project is part of a wider Nordic research network of demographers, economists and historians working with Scandinavian historical population censuses, “digital humanities” and questions related to the historical and current role of education, and social and economic development.

Terms of employment

Fixed-term employment, maximum four years (fulltime studies).

Only those admitted to third-cycle courses and study programmes at a higher education may be appointed to doctoral student.

For regulations concerning employment of doctoral students etc, see the Higher Education Ordinance, Chapter 5, Sections 1-7.

For regulations concerning admission to third-cycle courses and study programs, see the Higher Education Ordinance, Chapter 5, Sections 34-41.

Application procedure

Please use Lund University job application portal when applying: http://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/about/work-at-lund-university

The application must be written in English.

The application should contain:

• Personal letter in which the applicant gives a short description of him/herself and his/her research interests and its relevance for the project.
• Curriculum vitae.
• Grade transcripts.
• Master thesis or similar degree projects.
• If appropriate, documented language skills relevant for third-cycle studies
• Other documents that the applicant wishes to submit.

The applicant is encouraged to name a maximum of two teachers or researchers who can give recommendation letters, but we do not consider recommendation letters with the application.