Postdoc on Youth Movements, Climate Change and Development

Social Sciences/Economics

The Department of Social Science and Business, Roskilde University, Denmark, invites applications for a 3-year postdoctoral position to be filled by 1 September, 2023.

Job content
The postdoc will be part of the “Sapere Aude” research project Universal Aspirations vs. Geopolitical Divides: Imagining the World as a “Post-Millennial” in the SDG Era, funded by the Danish Independent Research Fund.

Youth across the world have jointly mobilized to combat climate change and participated in coordinated collective actions, such as school strikes. This project focuses on young people who are concerned with finding solutions to global challenges like climate change, but live in disparate parts of the world under very different conditions, exemplified in the project by Tanzania and Denmark. The project will use qualitative ethnographic methods to investigate how these young people reconcile the tension between wishing to engage in joint collective worldwide action and the challenges they face as a result of geopolitical divides, comprising hierarchies and unequal power relations. For a brief presentation of the project see: https://dff.dk/en/grants/research-leaders-2021/researchleader-22?set_language=en

The research project will focus on three cohorts of Tanzanian and Danish youth who are invested in sustainable development problematics: upper secondary school activists, university students and university student interns. The postdoc researcher will together with the PI, Associate Professor Mette Fog Olwig, and another postdoc carry out collaborative data collection, analysis, publication and dissemination. While the project is collaborative, the postdoc will be responsible for a specific component of the research project.

In addition to participating actively in the research project, the candidate is also expected to

The position is three years, of which two thirds of the time will be spent on research and one third on teaching activities (spread out over all three years). The postdoc is also given the opportunity to further their qualifications by completing the university teaching accreditation program (adjunktpædagogikum).
The applicant is expected to reside in Denmark throughout the postdoc period as well as spend 4 months in Tanzania in connection with fieldwork.

 

Qualification requirements
Applicants must hold a PhD or equivalent within a relevant field, for instance development studies, human geography, anthropology, African studies, global studies, sociology or political science. Qualifications within the following scientific areas are required:

  • Relevant research background (for example related to youth, social movements, development, sustainable development, climate change)
  • A good grasp of relevant academic literature
  • Strong academic writing skills
  • The ability to work independently as well as collaborate with other members of the research team
  • Experience working with qualitative methods (such as qualitative interviews, focus group discussions, as well as less conversation-oriented methods like participant observation and participant-generated visual methodologies)
  • Fluent in English
  • Knowledge of Danish and/or Swahili is a plus

 

Questions
For further information about the postdoc position, please contact Associate Professor Mette Fog Olwig by email, mettefo@ruc.dk.

About Roskilde University
Roskilde University (RUC) is a one-campus university founded in 1972. It is located in green surroundings between Denmark’s urban center, Copenhagen, and the historic city of Roskilde. RUC was originally established to challenge academic monodisciplinary top-down traditions and to experiment with new ways to teach, create and acquire knowledge. RUC has thus pioneered an interdisciplinary and project- and problem-oriented approach to teaching and knowledge creation in Scandinavia. Today Roskilde University follows a 50% teaching, 50% project work model for its approximately 7500 students, and continues to have a strong focus on interdisciplinarity.

About working in Denmark
If you are applying from abroad, you may find useful information on how it is to work in Denmark here: http://www.nyidanmark.dk/en-us/frontpage.htm and https://www.workindenmark.dk

Terms of employment
The position is full-time and it is under the Head of Department Peter Kragelund.
The position will be filled according to the Agreement between the Danish Ministry of Finance and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations (AC) and Job Structure for Academic Staff at Universities. 

Application procedure
After the deadline for applications the Dean will shortlist applicants for assessment with assistance from the recruitment committee including the chairperson of the assessment committee.
Shortly after the application deadline all applicants will be notified whether or not their application has been selected for assessment.
The shortlisted applicants will be informed about the composition of the assessment committee, and each applicant will be given the opportunity to comment on the composition of the committee and – later on – their assessment.
Once the recruitment process is completed, all applicants will be informed of the outcome of their application.

 

Application
To apply for the position go to www.ruc.dk/en/job/
Only applications in English are accepted. 

 

Applications must include:

1. Cover letter 

2. CV 

3. Documentation of education 

4. Teaching portfolio (read more about teaching portfolio at Roskilde University here) 

5. A complete list of publications 

6. A maximum of 5 relevant scientific works that you want included in the assessment 
If any of the publications that you want included in the assessment are the result of a joint effort, the extent and the nature of your contribution to each individual work must then be clarified in a co-author statement (find template here)
 

Please submit your application no later than May 15 2023.
Material received after this date will not be taken into consideration.
Roskilde University wishes to reflect the diversity of society and welcomes applications from all qualified candidates regardless of personal background. 

Deadline: 2023-05-15 at 23:59
Unit: Instititut for Samfundsvidenskab og Erhverv

Read the job description at the university homepage or apply.

Post expires on Monday May 15th, 2023