Doctoral students in Gender Studies (Tema Genus)

Doctoral students in Gender Studies (Tema Genus) formally based at the Department of Thematic Studies

At the Department of Thematic Studies research, research training, graduate and undergraduate education are carried out in multi- and interdisciplinary milieux and organized within the framework of four thematic units: Child Studies, Gender Studies, Technology and Social Change and Water and Environmental Studies. In addition to doctoral programmes, the Department of Thematic Studies also hosts international master’s programmes, programmes at undergraduate level and independent courses within Geography, Science for Sustainable Development, Gender Studies, and Thematic Natural Science. The Department also hosts three centres. (www.tema.liu.se)

Gender Studies (Tema Genus) is an interdisciplinary unit, which is part of the Department of Thematic Studies. Research and research training at the Unit of Gender Studies are organized with a thematic focus on meanings of gender in culture, society, economy, technology, medicine, natural science and knowledge production in general, and are based on multi-, inter- and transdisciplinary approaches to theories and methodologies. Priority is given to analyses of gender/sex, gender identities, gender relations and gendered power differentials in their intersections with other important sociocultural divisions and categorizations such as ethnicity, class, sexuality, age, dis/ability, nationality, geopolitical positioning etc. International research collaboration is given high priority as well as research which is related to current socially and culturally relevant issues.

The Unit of Gender Studies is one of the biggest interdisciplinary gender research units in the Nordic countries. Currently, the Unit is staffed by 26 researchers: 4 full professors, 3 senior lecturers, 2 research associates, 1 assistant professor, 5 postdocs and 11 doctoral students, divided into six sub-areas of Gender Studies: Gender and Culture; Critical Studies of Men and Masculinities; Gender and Knowledge Production in the Medical, Technical and Natural Sciences; Gender, Organization and Economic Change; the Post-humanities Hub and the Zoontology Research Team. Varying numbers of visiting scholars from abroad as well as from Sweden are also affiliated with the Unit as visiting scholars for longer and shorter periods of time.

The Unit directs an international Centre of Gender Excellence, GEXcel, in collaboration with the Centre for Feminist Social Studies at Örebro University and the Division of Gender and Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Linköping University. The excellence centre is co-funded by the Swedish Research Council [Vetenskapsrådet]. The Unit also hosts a Swedish-International Research School in Interdisciplinary Gender Studies, InterGender, and collaborates with the Centre for Gender Studies and Equality of Linköping University. For more information on the Unit, see www.tema.liu.se/tema-g/

Duties
To be employed as a doctoral student means that the person in question should first and foremost be dedicated to the pursuit of her/his PhD training in interdisciplinary Gender Studies, including a final doctoral thesis project. As employees, doctoral students are, to a limited extent, allowed to work with education, further research and administration. Before the doctoral exam, this kind of work must not exceed 20% of full time work.

The framework within which all six doctoral positions are embedded is the broadly defined, inter- and transdisciplinary field of Gender Studies. Within this broad frame, each of the six announced doctoral positions will have a primary affiliation with one of the below mentioned five sub-areas, but, in addition to this primary affiliation, the doctoral student can also have a further affiliation to one (or more) of the other sub-areas which profiles the Unit of Gender Studies (i.e. the below mentioned five sub-areas plus the sub-area Gender, Organization and Economic Change, which does not have a primary intake of doctoral students this time since the professorship in the area is momentarily vacant due to retirement). The five sub-areas which have primary intake of doctoral students now are:
- Gender and Knowledge Production within the Medical, Technical and Natural Sciences (2 doctoral students)
- Gender and Culture (including Critical Studies of Sexualities) (1 doctoral student)
- Critical Studies of Men and Masculinities (including Critical Studies of Violences) (1 doctoral student)
- The Posthumanities Hub (1 doctoral student)
- The Zoontology Research Team (1 doctoral student)

In the application, applicants must indicate with which sub-area they primarily seek affiliation, and they can also indicate that they would like to become affiliated with one or more additional sub-areas.

Requirements and Qualifications
To qualify for employment as a doctoral student it is necessary first to be accepted to the doctoral training programme. Decisions about acceptance to the doctoral training programme will be taken in connection with the employment as doctoral student.

Relevant educational background for the announced doctoral positions is a master’s degree (and 240 ECTS), first and foremost in humanities and/or social sciences, but other educational backgrounds (for example within medical, technical and natural sciences) may also be relevant. The applicant must have documented knowledge within the field of Gender Studies: a minimum of 45 ECTS or qualifications to the equivalent. The successful candidates must demonstrate a good ability for independent work and for pursuing a PhD training programme. Very good skills in written and spoken English are also required as the milieu is internationally oriented; a majority of seminars and other activities, including doctoral supervision, are often carried out in English.

Linköping University will continue developing as an attractive and creative working environment, characterized by gender and diversity awareness, and is, therefore, actively promoting equal opportunities.

As a majority of the doctoral students at the Department of Thematic Studies are women, men are granted precedence for the announced doctoral positions, in the case of equal qualifications.


Appointment time
The appointment is given for one year at a time, and will be renewed yearly subject to successful performances and duties. The programme corresponds to four years of full-time studies. Optionally, there may be teaching, further research and administrative commitments for 20% of the time, which means that the time to fulfil the requirements for the doctoral exam will be five years in total. At the most, a person can be employed as doctoral students for up to eight years. The funding as employed doctoral student is always subject to tax and social security deductions.

Starting date
2011-09-01

Salary
According to the present standard rate for doctoral students at the Department of Thematic Studies.

Information
Head of Unit of Gender Studies, Professor Nina Lykke, phone +46(0)13 286661, mobile: 0045 26704937, nina.lykke@liu.se. The trade union representatives are Örjan Lönnevik (SACO) phone +46(0)13 286634, orljo@ifm.liu.se, and Gabriel Thott (OFR/S), phone +46(0)11 363171, Gabriel.thott@isak.liu.se.
Staff manager Marita Wiktorsson, phone +46(0)13 282177, marita.wiktorsson@liu.se, can provide information about salary and the conditions for employment.

Application procedure
The application must be accompanied by certified documentation of exams, bachelor’s and master’s thesis or equivalents, a short self presentation, including a motivation for the application, as well as an idea for a PhD thesis project (max 4 pages in English); the latter must also include a short description of the ways in which the proposed PhD research can be related to the primary sub-area with which the applicant wants to be affiliated within the Unit of Gender Studies, and, optionally, also a reflection on possible links to one or more of the other sub-areas which profiles the Unit of Gender Studies (see above).

Deadline for applications:
At the latest 2011-05-06 (May 6, 2011), the application, marked Dnr TEMA-2011-00059, must have been received at:

Linköping University
Att. Registrator of Department of Thematic Studies
SE 581 83 Linköping
Sweden