PhD at Linkoping University
Ref IFM-2023-00283
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We are looking for a PhD student in Analytical Sociology
PhD Project
Approximately 900 million people, with one-third residing in Africa, experience extreme poverty. Development agencies have implemented various projects aimed at breaking the cycles of deprivation, commonly referred to as "poverty traps." However, due to a lack of comprehensive poverty data, scholars face challenges in understanding the existence of poverty traps and the effectiveness of interventions in overcoming them.
The Observatory of Poverty project seeks to address the data challenge by developing new methods to produce geo-temporal poverty data. Our AI and Global Development Lab is already working on this challenge, and the prospective candidate will join the team to utilize this data for evaluating the impact of local development programs using a causal-inference design.
The candidate will contribute to the project's goal of assessing the extent to which African communities are trapped in poverty and how different development interventions affect their ability to break free from deprivation. The project will focus on the following objectives:
- Investigate how World Bank (WB) development programs and Chinese programs select African communities and their impact on breaking the cycle of deprivation, utilizing the data from Objective 1.
- Develop theories on the various forms of poverty traps by examining their prevalence in different social contexts, which influence local governance and public-service provisioning. The study will explore the relative significance of these contexts in Chinese- or WB-styled projects.
PhD Qualification
To be eligible for the PhD program, you need a postgraduate degree (MA or equivalent) in a relevant social science or data/computational science.
Proficiency in English, both written and spoken, is essential for the PhD studies as the program operates in an international research environment. The courses and seminars are conducted in English, and Swedish language skills are not required. The PhD student is expected to primarily work at the IAS campus in Norrköping, Linköping University, but should also be able to spend some time at project partner institutions.
We encourage applicants from diverse social science disciplines, including sociology, economics, political science, development studies, data science, and social epidemiology. Various sub-fields are also welcome, such as computational social science, political economy, economic sociology, development economics, social determinants of health, poverty, inequality, global issues, sustainable development, and methodology. For candidates interested in methodology, we can customize the position to focus on methodological development for causal inference within the listed objectives.
Regardless of academic background, to contribute to this research, the candidate should posses the following skills and experiences:
- Excellent communication skills in written and spoken English.
- Excellent coding skills in R, Python, or equivalent language.
- Research interest in causal inference (see e.g., Morgan and Winship, 2014, Counterfactuals and Causal Inference or Imbens and Rubin, 2015, Causal Inference for Statistics, Social, and Biomedical Sciences, or Pearl, 2016, Causal Inference in Statistics)
Desirable skills and experience include:
- Working with temporal and geographical data (or willingness to learn using such data).
- Experience in using machine learning models is welcomed (or willingness to learn using such models).
- Research interest in global development, poverty, inequality, or governance, international institutions, Chinese politics, World Bank, social demography, political sociology, or political economy.
PhD Benefits
The salary of PhD students is determined according to a locally negotiated salary progression.
More information about employment benefits at Linköping University is available here.
How to Apply
Apply for the position by clicking the “Apply” button below. Your application must reach Linköping University no later than 13 June 2023.
Applications and documents received after the date above will not be considered.
We welcome applicants with different backgrounds, experiences and perspectives - diversity enriches our work and helps us grow. Preserving everybody's equal value, rights and opportunities is a natural part of who we are. Read more about our work with: Equal opportunities. We look forward to receiving your application!
Linköping university has framework agreements and wishes to decline direct contacts from staffing- and recruitment companies as well as vendors of job advertisements. For further information related to the PhD, please visit this Scholarship Link.
