Research Assistant for the Project “Shocking Religion”

The Department of Economics, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Copenhagen (UCPH), invites candidates for a position as a Research Assistant for the project 'Shocking Religion' (financed by the Independent Research Fund Denmark).

The position is for 14 months and 37 hours weekly. The expected start date is 15 May 2024 or as soon as possible thereafter.

Introduction
In this position, you will join a team of researchers at the Department of Economics. You will help us conduct the project “Shocking Religion”, which examines the impact of religion on economic factors using shocks to religion as natural experiments. We will exploit data on millions of individuals and companies across the globe to explore how religion influences factors, such as the development of science, gender roles, and economic growth. The project contributes to a growing international literature examining the causes and consequences of religion. More broadly, the project is part of a tendency in the social sciences to focus on cultural values as an important determinant of social factors.

The position is located within the Macroeconomics and the Historical Record (MEHR) group in the Department of Economics, University of Copenhagen.

Your competences and responsibilities
We expect you to hold a master’s degree in computer science, economics, or social data science and to have a solid interest in working with quantitative data.

You will be assisting with a) gathering large unstructured data using different methods such as web scraping or document data extraction, or by structuring existing digitized data, b) cleaning, merging, and visualizing these data, and c) analyzing these data using Natural Language Processing and network analysis. It is not a requirement that you master these methods already. Instead, the most important requirement is that you have an interest in learning these types of methods and the substantive questions they are used to answer. You may also assist in econometric analysis and literature reviews, but this is not a requirement.

Your opportunities
As a Research Assistant in our group, you will learn:

• Experience in handling and analyzing large datasets
• Familiarity with methods used to conduct empirical research in social science
• Exposure to scholarship in political economy, economics of religion, and economic history
• Active involvement in all steps of the research process

Strategy of the Faculty of the Social Sciences
The Department of Economics is part of the Faculty of the Social Sciences. The Faculty is a successful academic community that strives to put knowledge into action by:

• Engaging partners in the co-creation of knowledge, learning and social change.
• Empowering our students to become reflective and responsible citizens who have the vision, the knowledge and the competence to change society for the better.
• Energizing global, European and Danish communities of knowledge by innovating research methodologies and by research findings with impact

For more on the Faculty strategy, SAMF strategy. You can read the Department’s strategy here: Strategy Department of Economics

Terms of Employment

• Further information on qualification requirements as research assistant can be found in the Memorandum on Job Structure for Academic Staff at Danish Universities 2019 here: https://employment.ku.dk/faculty/criteria-for-recognising-merit/dokumenter/Ministerial_Order_no._1443_of_11_December_2019_on_Job_Structure_for_Academic_Staff_at_Universities.pdf
• Terms of appointment and salary is in accordance with the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations (Akademikerne).
• The salary range starts at approximately DKK 31,000/EUR 4,200 per month + a 17.1 % contribution to the pension scheme. It is possible to negotiate salary supplements on an annual basis.

The recruitment process
Further information on the recruitment process at University of Copenhagen can be found here: https://employment.ku.dk/faculty/recruitment-process/

An Equal Opportunity Workplace
The University of Copenhagen is committed in its pursuit of academic excellence to equality of opportunity and to creating an inclusive working environment and therefore encourages all qualified candidates to apply, regardless of personal background, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, ethnicity etc. For more on the diverse working place environment at the University and the University’s participation in the HRS4R HR Excellence in Research, see https://employment.ku.dk/working-at-ucph/eu-charter-for-researchers/

International applicant?
The University of Copenhagen offers a broad variety of services for international researchers and accompanying families, including support before and during your relocation and career counselling to expat partners. Please find more information about these services as well as information on entering and working in Denmark here: https://ism.ku.dk/

Contact information
Information about the recruitment process is available from HR, Dorthea Andersen, e-mail: [email protected]. Please refer to ID number: 211-0284/24-2O #1.

Additional information about the position can be obtained from Associate Professor Jeanet Sinding Bentzen, e-mail: [email protected].

How to Apply
Submit a complete application at our online portal. Click on the “Apply now” icon at the bottom of the page to apply. The documents must be in Adobe PDF or Word.

Your application can be written in either Danish or English and must include the following documents:

• Motivated application (cover letter)
• Curriculum vitae
• Diploma (master and bachelor)
• Other relevant material: Publications (if any), including master thesis and other pieces showcasing your data abilities.

The closing date for applications is 7 April 2024 at 23:59 CEST.

Applications or enclosures received thereafter will not be considered.