Postdoctoral researcher in Sociology

The Department of Sociology at Umeå University is looking for a postdoctoral fellow. The employee will be part of the NordForsk financed project "PastForward: The political uses of the past in digital discourses about Nordic futures".

The employment is for 2 years and starts on September 1st 2024 or by agreement.

Project description and work tasks

The Project is a collaboration between Assistant Professor Manuel Menke (Copenhagen University - PI), Associate Professor Karoline Andrea Ihlebæk (Olso Metropolitan University), Assistant Professor Katarina Pettersson (University of Helsinki), and Associate Professor Samuel Merrill (Umeå University). It will study the use of the past in the digital campaign material and social media content of political parties in Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland during the build-up to these countries’ most recent past elections. Its focus concerns which pasts Nordic political parties refer to in their communication, how they embed the past in visions of the future, and how they strategically employ the past to create a sense of collective identity and shared interest to connect with potential voters.

The advertised position relates primarily to the Sweden and Finland cases and will be supervised by Samuel Merrill at Umeå University’s Department of Sociology and Centre for Digital Social Research (DIGSUM) with the remote support of Katarina Pettersson (University of Helsinki). During the project a second post-doctoral fellow, with whom the recruited individual will also work, will be based at Copenhagen University (focusing primarily on the Danish and Norwegian cases).

The recruited employee is expected to conduct and publish academic research related to the project's objectives. Specifically, the employee is expected to be able to understand and analyze Finnish and possibly Swedish language material and to strengthen the project team's use of computational methods to collect and analyze social media data.

For more information about the project: https://www.umu.se/en/research/projects/pastforward/

Competence

For this position, applicants must have a PhD in sociology or another discipline that is deemed relevant in relation to the research being conducted within the current project (e.g. Media and Communication Studies, Political Science, etc.). The degree must be completed at the latest at the time when the employment decision is made.

Since employment as a postdoctoral fellow is a qualifying position for junior researchers, we are primarily targeting those who have a doctoral degree that is no older than three years at the time of the application deadline. In special conditions earlier doctoral degrees can be considered. Special conditions include leave due to illness, parental leave, clinical service, positions within trade unions or other similar circumstances, as well as service/assignments relevant to the subject area.

Importance will be placed on previous and planned research of relevance to the project. The assessment is based primarily on the relevance and quality of the submitted research plan and secondarily on other scientific merits.

Given the character of the research project knowledge of Finnish is a requirement as well as good knowledge of English and/or Swedish. Experience of computational methods for data collection and analysis are also highly desirable.

The ability to collaborate as well as work independently is required.

The employment

The position is a full-time employment on a fixed term of two years and includes research time amounting to a minimum of 80% of full time. Teaching and supervision at the undergraduate/advanced level can amount to a maximum of 20% of full-time.

The employment as a postdoctoral fellow follows the Agreement on fixed-term employment as a postdoctoral fellow which applies from February 1, 2022.

Our employees are expected to carry out their work in Umeå and participate in common departmental activities.

Application

The application must contain:

• Research plan (maximum two pages including references) that describes research that you could conduct within the framework of the project.
• A cover letter regarding your scientific interests and your motives for applying for the position (maximum one page)
• CV / curriculum vitae with a list of publications
• Maximum 5 scientific publications relevant for the position
• Certified copies of grades and diplomas
• Any other merits of relevance for the position (optional)
• If you plan to complete your doctoral degree after the deadline for applying, please upload information about the planned examination and expected examination date.
• Name and contact information to 2-3 references

Apply via our recruitment system Varbi. The deadline for applying is May 7, 2024.

 The Department and DIGSUM

The Department of Sociology offers a stimulating environment with good career opportunities. At present the department employs about 60 persons. 

DIGSUM is an interdisciplinary academic research centre for the study of the relationship between digital technology and society. Composed of a community of senior scholars, post-doctoral fellows, and doctoral candidates, DIGSUM’s research projects and interests connect with local, national, and international networks of leading researchers and practitioners in the field of the study of digital society.

For more information about the Department: https://www.umu.se/en/department-of-sociology/

For more information about DIGSUM: https://www.umu.se/en/centre-for-digital-social-research/