1 Doctoral studentship in Human Ecology

Job assignment:
The doctoral candidate program amounts to 240 credits (equivalent to four years of full-time study). It formally ends with the doctoral candidate publicly defending his/her printed doctoral thesis. The holder of a doctoral position has as primary obligation to successfully fulfill the third cycle education ending with a PhD degree. Regulations concerning appointment as a full-time doctoral student can be found in the Higher Education Ordinance Chapter 5, 1-7 §§.

The holder of a doctoral position is expected to participate actively in the research and teaching environment of the department and may have to perform departmental duties, above all teaching, amounting to about 20 percent of full time.

This call recognises that the world is going through a crisis of unprecedented global scale engendered by a dominant regime that has resulted in deepening inequalities, increasing deprivation in old and new forms, the destruction of ecosystems, catastrophic climate change, ruptures in socio-cultural fabrics, and the violent dispossession of living beings.

However, there is an increasing emergence and visibility of an immense variety of radical alternatives to this dominant regime, contesting its roots in capitalist, patriarchal, racist, statist, and anthropocentric forces. We are seeking doctoral candidates who are interested in researching the broad question: What does anti-colonial/capitalist/patriarchal transformation look like and how are human-nature relations being reconfigured to support this?

Communal alternatives ‘from below,’ while different in scale and reach, constitute multiple forms of resistance and struggles for re-existence revealing other horizons of the possible – a world where many worlds fit. These include initiatives with a specific focus like sustainable and holistic agriculture, community led water/energy/food sovereignty, solidarity and sharing economies, worker control of production facilities, resource/knowledge commons, and inter-ethnic peace and harmony, to more holistic or rounded transformations such as those being attempted by the Zapatista in Chiapas and the Kurds in Rojava. Alternatives also include the revival of ancient traditions and the emergence of new worldviews that re-establish humanity’s place within nature, as a basis for human dignity and equality.

This call welcomes doctoral proposals seeking to explore post development and pluriversal transformation based in empirical case study research grounded in a specific community or territory in the Global South and theoretical and conceptual development, for example, of the pluriverse; prefigurative politics; politics of hope; and real utopias. An engagement with decolonial and feminist methodologies would be a benefit. 

The holder of the position should direct research to the fields of human ecology, human geography, sustainability science, anthropology or a related field. More information on the PhD program at the Division of Human Ecology is available at https://www.keg.lu.se/en/research/phd-education/phd-human-ecology  

 Eligibility/Entry Requirements:
To be eligible for third cycle studies an applicant must:
•    Have been awarded a second cycle degree
•    Have completed studies the equivalent of at least 240 higher education credits, of which at least 60 credits are at the second cycle level, or
•    Have acquired comparable qualifications in some other way in Sweden or abroad.

Those who have completed course requirements of at least 30 credits in the subject area (or equivalent) or areas of relevance to the subject area, of which at least 15 credits consist of independent projects at second-cycle level, or equivalent knowledge acquired in Sweden or abroad, meet the specific admission requirements for the third-cycle programme in human ecology. The applicant must also have proficiency in spoken and written English corresponding to English B from Swedish upper secondary school. The assessment will be based on national guidelines.

The employment of doctoral students is regulated in the Swedish Code of Statues 1998: 80. Only those who are or have been admitted to PhD studies may be appointed to doctoral candidate positions. When an appointment to such a position is made, the ability of the student to benefit from PhD studies shall primarily be taken into account. In addition to devoting themselves to their studies, those appointed to doctoral positions may be required to work with educational tasks, research and administration, in accordance with specific regulations in the ordinance.

Basis of Assessment:
In accordance with the Higher Education Ordinance Chapter 5, paragraph 5, particular emphasis for admission shall be placed upon the applicant’s ability to successfully complete PhD studies, as indicated by academic qualifications and merits.
Applications will further be reviewed according to the pertinence of research interest and profile in relation to the above-mentioned research field. Previous essays and published material are important documents for assessing this ability. Particular emphasis is placed on experience in the application of qualitative field methods related to the subjects of human ecology or equivalent. Because the candidate is hired for a project that relies on original data gathering through fieldwork and interviews, proficiency in the language of proposed fieldwork is preferable.

Application:
The application must contain:
•    A cover letter of a maximum of 700 words, which contains a brief presentation of you as an applicant and your qualifications as they relate to the above-mentioned project. Upload as a single pdf-format file.
•    Concise research proposal (max. 2000 words including references) including literature review, aim, research questions and methodology. The proposal must clearly show how it relates to the above-described research field on post development and the pluriverse. Upload as a single pdf-format file.
•    Curriculum vitae. Upload as a single pdf-format file.
•    An example of independently written academic work (in English). This will typically be a master’s thesis. Upload as a single pdf-format file.
•    If available, copies of scientific publications in English authored or co-authored by you. Upload as a single pdf-format file.
•    Name and contact information of 2-3 people we may contact for personal references (in type-in box).
•    Copies of examination certificates and grades. Upload as a single pdf-format file.
 The application must be in English and entered into the Lund University job application portal.

 Type of employment:
Limit of tenure, four years according to HF 5 kap 7§.