Research Assistant (Fixed-Term Employment)

The Department of Economics belongs to the Faculty of Social Sciences at Stockholm University and has approximately 90 employees. The department conducts high-quality research and education in economics with support from a well-functioning administration. We are an international and dynamic institution and located centrally on the university campus in Frescati.

Main responsibilities
The Department of Economics at Stockholm University is looking for a full-time pre-doctoral research fellow for a year starting in October 2024.

The research fellow will support and collaborate on a series of new and ongoing projects related to political economy. The work includes everything from data collection and processing to advanced econometric analysis in research projects with large survey and text databases. The research fellow will work closely with Associate Professor Ferenc Szucs and Assistant Professor Mitch Downey.

The successful applicant will receive mentoring from the above-mentioned team of researchers. Research fellows are physically based at the Department of Economics, Stockholm University, and work closely with the group members. Previous assistants at the Department of Economics, Stockholm University, have gone on to top-ranked doctoral programs in economics.

Concrete Job Tasks:

• Processing and handling of large data sets
• Statistical and econometric analysis
• Writing reports summarizing analysis
• Writing literature reviews.

Qualification requirements
Required:

• Bachelor’s or master’s degree in a subject that includes substantial quantitative coursework, for example Master in Engineering, Economics or Statistics
• Strong interest in economics and social issues
• Good communication skills, both in written and oral presentation
• Ability to work independently
• Good organizational skills.

Meriting:

• A focus on quantitative analysis
• Programming skills in Stata, R, and Python
• Experience working with large data sets
• Experience working with Large Language Models (e.g. ChatGPT).

In the recruitment process, we attach great importance to your personal qualities, such as a positive attitude, service-mindedness, accuracy and cooperation skills, as well as your ability to be flexible and occasionally work under time pressure.

Terms of employment
The employment is fixed-term and full-time for 12 months starting from October 2024. Stockholm University applies individual salary setting, so please state your salary claim.

Stockholm University strives to be a workplace that is free from discrimination and offers equal opportunities for all.

Contact 
Further information about the position can be obtained from Associate Professor Ferenc Szucs, telephone: ferenc.szucs@su.se.

Union representatives
Ingrid Lander (Saco-S), telephone: +46 708 16 26 64, saco@saco.su.se, Alejandra Pizarro Carrasco (Fackförbundet ST/OFR), telephone: +46 8 16 34 89, alejandra@st.su.se, and seko@seko.su.se (SEKO).

Application
Apply for the position at Stockholm University’s recruitment system. It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure that the application is complete in accordance with the instructions in the job advertisement, and that it is submitted before the deadline.

The application should consist of:

• Cover letter, which in turn contains:
  – Description of why you want to work as a research assistant
  – Brief description of previous similar experience
• CV (please provide average grades for completed degrees)
• An example of academic work (e.g. master’s thesis or similar)
• Documentation of previous programming experience, such as well-structured code from thesis or course in any programming language
• Contact information for at least one to three academic or professional references.

The instructions for applicants are available at: How to apply for a position.

You are welcome to apply!

Stockholm University contributes to the development of sustainable democratic society through knowledge, enlightenment and the pursuit of truth.