Assistant professor in economics of education

We are looking for an up-and-coming researcher who wants to conduct pioneering research to take up a position as an assistant professor (associate senior lecturer) in economics of education.

What we offer the successful candidate

Those who want to become a research leader of tomorrow, through pioneering projects and research ideas, have the opportunity to start as an assistant professor (associate senior lecturer) at Lund University. You develop your qualifications over a period of 4 years and can then be promoted to permanent employment as a senior lecturer and eventually professor.

You will receive five weeks of training in teaching and learning in higher education and also get the opportunity to learn Swedish through the University’s Swedish language courses for new international staff. We offer you support for the move to Sweden. If you have a family, they will find new contacts and support through Lund’s International Citizen Hub.

The Swedish Research Council, Sweden's largest research funding organization, will announce attractive funding for assistant professors with an international background at the turn of the year 2025/2026. Lund University is now making a joint announcement that also aims to find candidates that the university can nominate to the Swedish Research Council at the end of 2025.

Read more about the Swedish Research Council: https://www.vr.se/english.html 

Read more about the University joint announcement: https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/shape-future-research

Duties – what we expect from you

As an associate senior lecturer, you will have the chance to apply a long-term focus on the challenging research questions you are passionate about. To qualify as a senior lecturer, you will also need to develop your teaching skills during your time as an associate senior lecturer, have the opportunity to learn Swedish, be a good colleague and show that you are good at interacting with the surrounding community. Of course, you will also participate in the department’s everyday work and development.

At the Lund University School of Economics and Management you will primarily work with research and teaching in the field of economics of education. At the Department of Economics, there is a large and active research group studying a range of topics in economics of education, such as the effects of early interventions in schools, incentives and goals for learning, mechanisms for school choice, segregation, resource allocation, and educational and career choices. The research group uses a wide range of methods, including field and survey experiments, register data studies, and theory. We welcome applicants with various methodological orientations.

You will work closely with an internationally recruited research group that has strong institutional support and access to extensive data infrastructure, including through the Centre for Economic Demography (CED). There are also good resources for independent data collection, an active seminar program, and support for organizing workshops and conferences.

The position includes 60% research, 35% teaching, and 5% administrative duties. Teaching may take place at the undergraduate, graduate/advanced, and doctoral levels.

Qualifications for employment as an associate senior lecturer

You hold a doctoral degree or have corresponding research expertise in economics. We will primarily prioritise those applicants who have obtained a doctoral degree within the last 5 years from the closing date for applications for the position. If you have documents recognised in Sweden proving that there are special grounds, such as parental leave, military service or illness, after graduating that have prevented you from working as a researcher, the doctoral degree in the subject can in such cases have been awarded earlier.

Requirements – what you must have in order to carry out duties

We hope that one of your first duties will be to conduct an innovative research project that is funded by the Swedish Research Council. Therefore, we are seeking those who have:

• A good ability to initiate, develop and implement high-quality research
• Good teaching ability
• Relevant experience from research in economics outside Sweden
• A project description for an innovative project within research in economics of education, that you submit with your application
• Documented good leadership skills, e.g. through elected office assignments, leadership courses and assessed leadership skills
• Good communication skills
• Very good oral and written English language skills and good motivation and the ability to learn new languages
• Not received funding through salary or scholarship from Sweden since December 31, 2021.

Additional qualifications – other credentials that we consider desirable  

We very much want you to thrive at Lund University and be able to make the best of your time at the Department of Economics, and for that reason we consider it preferable if you can also demonstrate that you:

• Contribute in a positive way to the work environment
• Have obtained research funding from funding bodies outside Sweden
• Currently hold an international position in the research field

Many of our employees are men and we would like to include more women in order to bring different perspectives into the research. For this reason, we particularly encourage women to apply!

Promotion – what is required to be promoted to senior lecturer

When you are an associate senior lecturer, you can apply for promotion to permanent employment as a senior lecturer. You will undergo a special assessment to determine if you fulfil the faculty’s requirements for employment as a senior lecturer. It is important for you to know that you can only apply once for promotion and that you must apply for promotion at least six months before your employment as an associate senior lecturer ends.

When you apply for promotion, you will be assessed based on whether you have: 

1. High scientific skills and progression in your area of research. These requirements are assessed according to the department’s journal list: https://www.lusem.lu.se/internal/sites/lusem.lu.se.internal/files/2024-11/Journal List 2023-2025.pdf

• Condition 1 (high quality). One of the following conditions must be fulfilled when it comes topublications: i) 2 A; ii) 1 A och 2 B*; iii) 1 A*
• Condition 2 (productivity and independence): The applicant needs at least 16 points frompublications ranked as B or higher. A single authored publication has the following points; A*=20, A=10,B*=5, B=2 and b=1. Each additional author reduces the total number of points with 10 percentage units.Hence, an A-publication with three authors gives 8 points while the same article with five authors gives 6points.
• Another important indicator is the ability to apply for and obtain competitive research funding, both nationally and internationally.
• The applicant is also expected to be active in the research environment of the department and faculty, for example by participating in and organizing seminars. In addition, emphasis is placed on engagement in the broader international research community, such as participation in conferences and workshops, serving as a referee or expert, and other forms of scientific collaboration.

2. High pedagogical skills:

• At least 1500 hours of teaching (so-called clock hours, which includes preparations).
• Five weeks of training in teaching and learning in higher education.
• Ability to participate in the supervision of doctoral students in their studies toward a doctoral degree. Assessed through documented experience in supervising doctoral students, for example as an assistant supervisor, teaching in doctoral courses, or other assignments related to doctoral education.

3. An ability to cooperate with the society outside academia and a high degree of collegiality.

• Ability to collaborate with the surrounding society and to communicate about one’s work. Assessed through documented initiatives for collaboration, participation in policy work, or dissemination of research results outside academia.
• General ability to lead and develop activities. Assessed through experience in leadership roles, such as organizing conferences, seminar series, or holding administrative assignments.

Application procedure

Please send in your application by clicking on the ”log in and apply” button in the upper right-hand column of the vacancy notice. The application should be written in English.

The Lund University School of Economics and Management uses a special qualifications portfolio system to document and present merits. Please, create your application according to the disposition described in the document ”Instructions to applicants for employment as professors or senior lecturer at LUSEM”, https://www.lusem.lu.se/sites/lusem.lu.se/files/2024-02/instructions-to-applicants-for-emlpoyment-as-professor-and-senior-lecturer-at-LUSEM.pdf

For further information on how to apply including the template for application, please see https://www.lusem.lu.se/about-lund-university-school-economics-and-management-lusem/work-lund-university-school-economics-and-management/apply-academic-position-lusem

Form of employment

Fixed-term position, 4 years, in accordance with Chapter 4, Section 12a of the Higher Education Ordinance, with the opportunity for promotion to permanent employment as a senior lecturer.