PhD Candidate in Analytical Sociology

PhD candidate in Analytical Sociology

Norrkoping

Reference number IEI-2025-00345

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Position description

The Institute for Analytical Sociology (IAS) seeks to fill one to two 4-year PhD position/s in Analytical Sociology. The IAS is an international, interdisciplinary research center located in Norrköping, Sweden, with a PhD program in Analytical Sociology and an international Masters’ program in Computational Social Science.  The research strengths of the IAS include the study of segregation, culture, and politics, as well as social network analysis and computational text analysis. IAS is also home of the Swedish Excellence Center in Computational Social Science (SweCSS). More information can be found here: ?url=https%3A%2F%2Fliu.se%2Fen%2Forganisation%2Fliu%2Fiei%2Fias&module=jobs&id=3114088" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">?url=https%3A%2F%2Fliu.se%2Fen%2Forganisation%2Fliu%2Fiei%2Fias&module=jobs&id=3114088" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">https://liu.se/en/­organisation/­liu/iei/ias

The successful candidate will be enrolled in the IAS doctoral degree program in Analytical Sociology (including coursework totaling 60 ECTS credits) and join an international research team with backgrounds in sociology, political science, network science, statistics, and machine learning. More information on the PhD program can be found here: ?url=https%3A%2F%2Fliu.se%2Fen%2Farticle%2Fdoctoral-studies-in-analytical-sociology&module=jobs&id=3114088" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">?url=https%3A%2F%2Fliu.se%2Fen%2Farticle%2Fdoctoral-studies-in-analytical-sociology&module=jobs&id=3114088" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">https://liu.se/en/article/­doctoral-studies-in-­analytical-sociology

The area of specialization for the advertised PhD position is open, but applicants must demonstrate interests that align with current researchers at IAS.  Furthermore, applicants should indicate interest in one or more of the following four research groups:

The Segregation Group examines how people become unevenly distributed across social space, whether residential, organizational, or relational. Segregation is a recurring topic in analytical sociology, offering a key example of how interacting individuals may unintentionally bring about macro-level outcomes. The group at IAS focuses on the dynamic processes that lead to a concentration of individuals with certain socio-economic or ethnic characteristics in different workplaces, schools, and neighborhoods, and the consequences this has for the life courses and well-being of individuals. The research often uses the Swedish population registers, with existing projects studying how residential and school segregation are interconnected, how school peers shape educational outcomes, and how the depiction of neighborhoods in social media impacts residential choices.

The Politics, Culture, and Knowledge Group supports research on the mechanisms that produce large-scale social change. The main theoretical and empirical domains of the group are the study of science, the arts, norms, and politics. The group sponsors seminars, workshops, and PhD courses in collaboration with the Swedish Excellence Center for Computational Social Science (SweCSS).  Current and recent projects have examined political polarization and radicalization in online forums, traditional media, and legislative bodies, the diffusion of musical tastes, the dynamics of scientific and literary change, and the selection of Nobel laureates.

The Text Analysis Group joins computational text analysis specialists focused on methodological innovation with social scientists attuned to social and political dynamics. This makes IAS a unique place for deriving insights into the evolution of political discourse through the use of theoretically driven computational innovations.  Recent projects study the discourse dynamics between politicians, media, and the public to understand meaning making, explore shifts in sentiment, and follow how collectively recognized narratives arise. In particular, the group seeks to understand the emergence and transformation of the public debate on immigration in Sweden.

The Social Network Analysis Group develops and applies novel methods to examine the formation of social ties and the consequences of these ties for patterns of segregation, inequality, polarization and social change.  Network approaches offer a good framework for understanding how a system of interdependent actors functions. The group at IAS specializes in the analysis of large social systems. Research in the group focuses on topics such as labor mobility and residential mobility using data from Swedish national population registers to understand patterns of inequality and segregation. Other research investigates the consequences of online-facilitated connectedness--for example, the formation of opinion "echo chambers"--using network data derived from online databases.

Duties

As a PhD candidate, you devote most of your time to doctoral studies and the research projects of which you are part. Your work may also include teaching or other departmental duties, up to a maximum of 20% of full-time.

Project duties include primarily the contribution to innovative research that is publishable in highly ranked social science journals. Attaining a PhD at IAS requires the publication of several high-quality papers in a leading author role. Contributions to methodologically oriented journals and conference proceedings can also be part of the work, depending on the interest of the applicant.

Your qualifications

Applicants must have completed a master’s degree in the social sciences, data science, and/or digital humanities before the starting date of the PhD position. Applicants should further possess:

• Strong quantitative and/or computational skills, including programming and data management.
• Demonstrated knowledge of social science within the subject areas of IAS research. An interest in working in a collaborative environment. 

Desirable skills and experience include:

• Experience with state-of-the-art research methods, such as social network analysis, computational text and image analysis, or machine learning.
• Scientific outputs within the subject areas of IAS research.

Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of Swedish is also desirable. 

The employment

When taking up the post, you will be admitted to the program for doctoral studies. More information about the doctoral studies at each faculty is available at  Doctoral studies at Linköping University

The employment has a duration of normally four years’ full-time equivalent. Extension of employment up to five years is based on the degree of teaching and institutional assignment. Further extensions may be granted in exceptional circumstances. You will initially be employed for one year, after which your employment will be renewed for a maximum of two years at a time, depending on your progress through the study plan. 

Starting date by agreement. 

Salary and employment benefits

The salary of PhD candidates is determined according to a locally negotiated salary progression.

More information about employment benefits at Linköping University is available here.

Union representatives

Information about union representatives, see Help for applicants .

Application procedure

Apply for the position by clicking the "Apply" button below. Your application must reach Linköping University no later than 31 August 2025. 

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!

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Contact persons

Maria Brandén

Head of Division, Professor

maria.brandenliu.se

Malin Thunström

HR-partner

+46 13 282583

malin.thunstromliu.se

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