Two Postgraduate Positions in in Political Science with a specialization in Comparative Politics

88 vizualizari | Fii primul care comenteaza

The doctoral candidate programme amounts to 240 credits (which is equivalent to four years of study full time). It formally ends with the doctoral candidate publicly defending his / her printed doctoral thesis.

The holder of a postgraduate position has as his/her primary obligation to successfully complete his/her third cycle education ending with a PhD degree. Regulations concerning appointment as a full time postgraduate student can be found in the Higher Education Ordinance Chapter 5, 1-7 .

The holder of a postgraduate position is expected to participate actively in the research and teaching environment of the Department. He / she will normally have to perform departmental duties, above all teaching, amounting to about 20 per cent of full time.

Cerinte Termene de aplicare Contact

Termenul de aplicare a fost pana la 15 Februarie 2012

These two positions are associated with the research project The Reform Capacity of Governments, which is led by Associate Professor Johannes Lindvall and funded by the European Research Council (ERC). The project starts on 1 May 2012 and ends on 30 April 2016.

This project examines the effects of political institutions on the ability of political parties and interest organizations to resolve distributional conflicts. All researchers in the project (that is, the principal investigator, one post-doctoral research fellow, and two Ph.D. students) will be expected to conduct comparative research on institutions and public policy that contributes in some way to the fulfilment of the project’s general research objectives. But each member of the project will conduct independent research and will be entirely free to choose his or her own research questions, develop his or her own theoretical ideas, and choose the methods that he or she finds most appropriate.

In order to allow the research group to function as a team, all participants will be expected to have the Department of Political Science in Lund as their main place of work. All participants will also be expected to contribute to certain joint efforts, such as the development of a database of policy reforms in six selected policy areas (with the assistance of a research assistant who will also be employed in the project).

Eligibility / Entry Requirements

To be eligible for third cycle studies an applicant must (1) have been awarded a second cycle degree, (2) 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 (3) have acquired basically the same qualifications in some other way in Sweden or abroad. Students that met the requirements for basic eligibility for third cycle studies before 1 July 2007, shall also be considered eligible for third cycle studies after the new regulations came into force, but only until the end of June 2015 in accordance with the following paragraph: the requirements for basic eligibility for third cycle studies are met by those who have completed first cycle education corresponding to at a minimum 180 higher education credits or acquired basically the same qualifications in some other way in Sweden or abroad.

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 perceived ability to successfully complete their studies, as indicated by academic qualifications and merits. The statement of research interests as well as previously written theses and publications are important indicators of this ability.

Strong methodological skills in one or more of the following areas is a big plus: (a) game theory and other types of formal theoretical modeling, (b) quantitative research methods, and (c) qualitative research methods, especially country-level case studies and comparative studies. Describe your methodological skills carefully in the cover letter. Proficiency in spoken and written English is a requirement.