1 - 3 PhD students in Human Geography

Reference number PAR 2023/340

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The Department of Economy and Society at the School of Business, Economics and Law, University of Gothenburg announces 1-3 positions as PhD student in Human Geography. The Department of Economy and Society conducts education and research within three different subject areas; Economic History, Human Geography, and Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Management of Intellectual Asset. The different subjects within the department create possibilities to carry out interdisciplinary education and research.

In Human Geography societal processes are studied from a spatial perspective, globally and locally, as well as at individual and household levels. This includes human’s interaction with the surrounding environment, as well as how activities and places develop in relation to the world around. The research at the unit focuses the following thematic areas: Landscape and planning, Development geography, and Mobility, communication and transport geography. The unit offers doctoral education as well as education at Bachelor and Master level. Several of the courses are part of educational programmes at the University of Gothenburg. For further information please click here.  

Duties   

The PhD student shall spend working time for PhD training. This includes, in accordance with an individual study plan and in collaboration with the supervisor, to formulate and carry through a PhD project and complete a number of PhD courses. The PhD student is expected to be active in the research environment and the daily activities at the Unit. The Department encourages and supports, considering the available funds, that parts of the PhD training is carried out at another University, also abroad. 

More information about the the doctoral education at the department can be found here.

Eligibility   

Entry requirements for third-cycle (doctoral) programmes require both general and specific eligibility.

The general entry requirements for third-cycle (doctoral) programmes are:  

  1. academic degree at an advanced (Master’s) level, or
  2. attainment of at least 240 higher education (HE) credits for courses, of which at least 60 HE credits are awarded in the second cycle, or
  3. equivalent training either in Sweden or abroad.  

In addition, admission to the third-cycle programme in Human Geography at the University of Gothenburg also requires: completed 90 HE credits in Human Geography/Geography, of which at least 15 HE credits are made up of an examination thesis at advanced level in the discipline, or in a closely related discipline.

Assessment    

Applicants will be assessed based on the general and specific eligibility requirements and their estimated ability to benefit from the study programme. You have the ability to work independently as well as in a group. Good ability to oral and written communicate skills in English and/or Swedish is required. 

The assessment particularly focus on documented qualifications regarding:

  • Education of particular relevance, beyond what gives general and specific
  • Experience of qualified research and other investigation
  • Publications and/or theses at BA and MA
  • Research plan (relevance, processing of information and own ideas, as well as language).
  • Interviews may be held with short-listed candidates; 

Admission requires that supervision competence and capacity is available for the planned PhD project. It is therefore an advantage if the applicant’s research plan is related to some of the research themes at the Unit, see here. 

Employment   

The position is a temporary position of four years according to the Higher Education Ordinance with an extent of 100 %. The employment is located at the Unit for Human Geography, the Department of Economy and Society. First day of employment is 2023-10-01 or upon agreement.

Regulations for the evaluation of qualifications for education on a doctorial level are given in SFS 1993:100.

Only those who are admitted to third-cycle (doctoral) programmes may be employed as PhD student. Departmental work such as education, research or administrative assignments may be relevant.

A new employment is valid for maximum one year. The employment extends with maximum two years at a time. The total employment time cannot extend more than four years of doctoral education on full-time.

The university applies a local agreement regarding setting of wage rates for PhD students.  

Contact information 

Kanchana N Ruwanpura, Head of Research Education kanchana.ruwanpura@gu.se

Anders Larsson, Head of Unit  anders.larsson@geography.gu.se

Unions 

Union representatives at the University of Gothenburg can be found here:   
https://www.gu.se/om-universitetet/jobba-hos-oss/hjalp-for-sokande   

Application   

Please attach the following in the application:

  • A one page cover letter with a motivation for interest in applying for your doctoral studies/PhD; 

  • A CV of no more than two pages summarizing education, relevant work experience, language proficiency and other relevant skills; 

  • Transcripts of grades achieved in MA, BA, MPhil, and certified copies of diplomas;

  • A master’s thesis, academic publications and/or other relevant works. These will be used to assess the applicant’s ability to formulate and delimit research problems and to analyze and present research results. 
  • Reference persons – maximum of two from academic supervisors, thesis supervisors etc;
  • A research proposal (maximum of 2000 words including list of references) that presents some preliminary ideas about how the applicant envisions that their PhD work will contribute to research on the focus The research proposal will be assessed for the applicant’s ability to formulate a research problem and his/her familiarity with and handling of methodological and theoretical issues. The research proposal should suggest a research problem and it should include:
    • Purpose, aims and research questions; and indicate;
    • tentative ideas on theory, research design, methods, and data;
    • provisional timeline;
    • Reference list; use Harvard (author-date) referencing.

Additional information may be requested at a later stage in the recruitment process for candidates currently completing their Master’s thesis.

Please clearly state your Swedish social security (personnummer) in the application, preferably in the CV and Cover Letter. If you do not have a Swedish social security number, please use the format to only provide your birthdate: YEAR-MM-DD

Also clearly state the reference number to this recruitment case.

Applications must be received by: 2023-04-27

 

The University works actively to achieve a working environment with equal conditions, and values the qualities that diversity brings to its operations.

Salaries are set individually at the University.

In accordance with the National Archives of Sweden’s regulations, the University must archive application documents for two years after the appointment is filled. If you request that your documents are returned, they will be returned to you once the two years have passed. Otherwise, they will be destroyed.

In connection to this recruitment, we have already decided which recruitment channels we should use. We therefore decline further contact with vendors, recruitment and staffing companies.