Project Assistant

Centre for Demographic and Ageing Research (CEDAR)

The Centre for Demographic and Ageing Research (CEDAR) at Umeå University seeks applications for a Project Assistant. The successful applicant is expected to contribute to the project The effects of unemployment on health of family members (HEALFAM) financed by the European Research Council (ERC) and led by professor Anna Baranowska-Rataj. The employment contract starts on May 1, 2025, or by agreement.

Project- and job description

The aim of the HEALFAM project is to examine how losing a job affects health outcomes of partners, children and elderly parents of the unemployed and whether the magnitudes of these influences differ across families and societies. The HEALFAM team assesses the consequences of unemployment for family members taking a multi-actor perspective and international comparative approach.

The Project Assistant will be involved specifically in the component of HEALFAM project, which investigates the impact of unemployment from intergenerational perspective, focusing on adult children and their parents’ health. This will be done using data from large scale longitudinal surveys on ageing and health. Some analyses will be also carried out using register data.

For more information about the HEALFAM-project, see: https://sites.google.com/view/healfam/ 

Qualifications

We are looking for a candidate with a master degree in sociology, demography, human geography, or economics and experience in the research area described above. You have documented experience in demography and statistics. The job position requires excellent speaking and writing skills in English. 

We place great emphasis on your personal qualities, such as good cooperation and communications skills. Additionally, we expect you to be physically present at the workplace in Umeå and participate in the department's joint activities.

Preferred qualifications if you have experience in the analysis of international and / or longitudinal survey data (such as the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, SHARE) or register data using advanced statistical methods is also expected. Experience of conducting academic presentations in English, is a strong advantage. 

Application

A full application can be written in either Swedish or English and must include:

• CV, including a list of publications and conference presentations
• Copies of diplomas relevant to the position 
• Letter of motivation describing your planned contribution to the HEALFAM project
• Other documents that the applicant wishes to claim
• Contact information for at least two reference persons.

The application is to be submitted via e-recruiting system Varbi and must be received April 8 2025 at the latest. For more information please, contact project manager Anna Baranowska-Rataj (anna.baranowska@umu.se).

Terms

The employment is a special fixed-term full-time position (100 %) for 8 months. The start of the employment is May 1, 2025, or by agreement. The place of employment is Umeå.

More about us

CEDAR is a centre at which interdisciplinary research is conducted on demographic changes and ageing at an individual and societal level in a long-term perspective. Research on aging encompasses both the opportunities that an older population entail, as well the effort to understand aging processes from a life course perspective.

One central theme relates to the transition from a young to an ageing society and how people’s living conditions are shaped when the population structure is transformed. Other key research issues relate to both contemporary and historical demographic processes, and how the living situation and living conditions for vulnerable groups change over time.

There are several large databases at the unit, and most researchers at CEDAR use register data, survey data or longitudinal population data in their research. Research is conducted using both quantitative and qualitative methods, although quantitative research does dominate.

CEDAR also hosts two of the Swedish Research Council’s national infrastructures, SHARE-Sweden and SwedPop. CEDAR plays an active role in a number of national and international networks, and the research conducted here features a high degree of internationalization.

We are looking forward to receiving your application!