The Lund University School of Economics and Management has a well established reputation for wide-ranging research with an emphasis on long-term processes, and with economic theory and quantitative methods as important methodological tools. Strong research areas at the department include economic growth and structural change, innovation, energy and sustainability, development economics, and economic demography, as well as financial history and education and the labour market.
Candidates should be interested in inequalities in health and survival and how to measure these, using innovative approaches based on register and survey data. The applicant should have demonstrable experience in quantitative analysis of individual-level data and data management of large micro-level longitudinal databases. Experience in working with R is considered a merit.
Project
The doctoral student(s) will work within the ERC-funded research project ‘RELATIVE HEALTH: Long-Run Inequalities in Health and Survival Between Families and Across Generations’ (PI Ingrid van Dijk). The project is motivated by inequalities in lifespan and health in populations, and seeks to find new ways to quantify such differences between populations, using intergenerational persistence of health and similarities between relatives. Using a variety of longitudinal register and survey data, new approaches to measuring inequalities in health and survival between populations will be developed. In the project there will be close collaboration with other project members, to also understand better the factors that affect inequalities and change over time and differences between countries and regions.
Assigned duties
Those appointed to doctoral studentship shall primarily devote themselves to their studies, aimed to result in a doctoral degree. Work carried out during the studentship consists of participation in research projects as well as successful participation in postgraduate (third-cycle) courses. Those appointed to doctoral studentships may also work, to a limited extent, with educational tasks and administration at the Department of Economic history. However, duties of this kind may not comprise of more than 20 per cent of a fulltime post.
The ERC-funded research project ‘Relative Health. Long-Run Inequalities in Health and Survival Between Families and Across Generations’ (PI Ingrid van Dijk) is looking to recruite 1-2 PhD students. The PhD student(s) will work in this project in collaboration with other project members, including the project leader and other researchers. The project aims to measure inequalities in health and survival from a family perspective, comparing developments over time and between different contexts. A variety of data sources will be used, including historical and contemporary register data, survey data, twin registers, and biobanks. We are looking to fill one or more PhD positions in the project.
Eligibility / Admission requirements
A person meets the general admission requirements for third-cycle courses and study programmes if they have:
- Been awarded a second-cycle degree; or
- Satisfied the requirements for courses comprising of at least 240 credits of which at least 60 credits were awarded in the second-cycle; or
- Acquired substantially equivalent knowledge in some other way in Sweden or abroad.
(Higher Education Ordinance, Chapter 7, Section 39)
Specific admission requirements for doctoral studies in each subject are specified in the relevant general syllabus, available at Doctoral studies | Lund University School of Economics and Management (LUSEM); A proficient level of English is required in both written and oral communication. Demonstrated quantitative skills are required and good abilities in data management and statistical programming are considered as merits.
Terms of employment & Application
Fixed-term employment, maximum four years (fulltime studies). Only those admitted to third-cycle courses and study programmes at a higher education may be appointed to doctoral student.
For regulations concerning employment of doctoral students etc, see the Higher Education Ordinance, Chapter 5, Sections 1-7. For regulations concerning admission to third-cycle courses and study programs, see the Higher Education Ordinance, Chapter 5, Sections 34-41.
- Type of employment: Temporary position
- First day of employment: 2025-08-25
- Monthly salary
Please use Lund University job application portal when applying: Work at Lund University | Lund University.
The application must be written in English and should contain:
- Personal letter in which the applicant gives a short description of him/herself and his/her research interests and its relevance for the project, maximum 3 pages
- Curriculum vitae
- Grade transcripts
- Master thesis or similar degree projects
- If appropriate, documented language skills relevant for third-cycle studies
- Other documents that the applicant wishes to submit
- The applicant is encouraged to provide the names of a maximum of two teachers or researchers who are willing to provide references and the department can contact, but recommendation letters should not be included in the application.
Lund University welcomes applicants with diverse backgrounds and experiences. We regard gender equality and diversity as a strength and an asset. We kindly decline all sales and marketing contacts.