At least two doctoral studentships in Sociology - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

Duties

The PhD program consists of 240 credits (equivalent to four years of full-time studies) and is concluded with the public defense of a doctoral thesis. The appointed doctoral students will receive a salary from the University during four years, and their primary obligation is to complete their PhD studies.

The position may involve departmental duties, mainly in the form of teaching, up to 20 per cent of full time working hours, in which case the appointment will be extended by the equivalent number of hours. The terms of employment for doctoral students are regulated in the Swedish Higher Education Ordinance (HF), Chapter 5, Sections 1– 7.

The doctoral student shall be present and actively participate in the research and teaching environment at the department. The main language of the PhD program is English. However, non-Swedish speaking students are expected to acquire basic skills in Swedish during the period of employment. There are opportunities to participate in language courses taught at the University. The doctoral studentship will commence on 1 September 2022. The general syllabus and other information about the PhD program in Sociology is available at:

https://www.soc.lu.se/en/research/research-studies/handbook-doctoral-students?q=research/research-studies/handbook

Qualifications

The requirements for admission to third cycle courses and study programs (in accordance with HF, Chapter 7, Section 35) are that the applicant

(1) meets the general and specific entry requirements that the higher education institution may have laid down, and

(2) is considered in other respects to have the ability required to benefit from the course or study program (Swedish Code of Statutes 2010:1064).

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

• has been awarded a second cycle qualification,
• has satisfied the requirements for courses comprising at least 240 credits of which at least 60 credits were awarded in the second cycle, or
• has acquired substantially equivalent knowledge in some other way in Sweden or abroad.

Specific entry requirements:

In addition to the general entry requirements, the applicant must have completed at least 30 second cycle credits within the main field of sociology, or acquired the equivalent knowledge in Sweden or abroad.

Assessment criteria:

Only applicants who are eligible for third cycle studies may be appointed to a doctoral studentship.

Admission is primarily to be based on the applicant’s ability to benefit from the third cycle programme.  

The applicants will be ranked based on an overall assessment of the quality and originality of their submitted papers and research plan, and their personal suitability. As third cycle studies in Sociology are very demanding, the applicant must be highly motivated and able to work independently under time constraints. Good collaboration and communication skills are also required, as is proficiency in both written and spoken English.

Interviews will be conducted with a shortlisted number of applicants during the final stages of the admission process. The applicants may be asked to provide work samples also after the application has been submitted.

Application procedure:

Applications are to be submitted electronically via the Lund University application portal.

The application must include:

• A cover letter in Swedish or English of max 1 000 words, which contains a brief presentation of yourself and your qualifications, as well as a brief explanation of why you are interested in third cycle studies at the Department of Sociology at Lund University.

• A CV in Swedish or English that demonstrated your qualifications for the third cycle program in Sociology.

• Degree and grade certificates in Swedish or English.

• Degree project or projects in Swedish or English corresponding to at least 30 credits in Sociology or other discipline deemed equivalent.

• A research plan of a maximum of 13000 characters with spaces, including references, in Swedish or English.

All plans must follow the instructions available here:

https://www.soc.lu.se/en/sites/soc.lu.se.en/files/template-research-plan.pdf

Please note that a plan not following these formal requirements means that the application will not be assessed.

• A work sample consisting of some free reflections over a scientific article. Choose for instance one of these two classic articles: Robert K. Merton’s (1948) “The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy” (The Antioch Review 8: 2: 193-210) or Dorothy E. Smiths (1978) “’K is Mentally Ill’. The Anatomy of a Factual Account” (Sociology 12: 1: 23-53).

You can also choose any other scientific article in sociology, new or old. Reflect on for instance these questions:

1) What do you see as the author’s main points?

2) How would you exemplify the reasoning in the article on your own?

3) Which strengths and weaknesses do you find in the article?

The text should be maximum 1500 words and can be written in English, Swedish, Danish or Norwegian.

• Name and contact information of two personal references.

• Other documentation of relevance to the position.