PhD-position in Social and Economic Geography

PhD-position in Social and Economic Geography The Department of Social and Economic Geography at Umeå University is an interdisciplinary research environment of around 45 employees.Social and Economic Geography is concerned with the world's peoples and how their lives and activities are influenced by distance to natural resources, other activities and other people.The department provides a spatial perspective on demographic, economic, social and cultural conditions and processes, from the local to the global.For further information about the department see: www.umu.se/soc_econ_geography and for more information about the PhD programme in general see http://www8.umu.se/soc_econ_geography/forskning/Fo-utbplan.pdf Eligible applicants must fulfil the following prerequisites: 240 ECTS-credits of higher education studies of which 60 should be on an advanced level (Master level), at least 90 credits must be in social and economic geography or related disciplines, and at least 30 credits have to be awarded for successful thesis work in social and economic geography or related disciplines.Eligible are also applicants who have gained equivalent knowledge in other ways.In case the studies were completed prior to 1 July 2007 the following prerequisites are applicable: 180 ECTS-credits (120 svenska poäng) of higher education studies, at least 90 credits must be in social and economic geography or related disciplines including 22.5 credits for thesis work.Three copies of the application and enclosed documents should be submitted to the Registrar at Umeå University.The application should be accompanied by a CV in which referred educations, publications and other activities are presented.A short description (1-2 pages) of your research interests should be enclosed to the application.The successful candidate is expected to enter the PhD program on September 1, 2009.Agglomeration economies are at the heart of much work in economic geography and the term is often referred to as the economic benefits of co-location.The benefits of co-location have traditionally been related to different kinds of cost reductions, but recently scholars have emphasised advantages triggered by social interaction and learning.Long-term competitiveness is found to be based on innovation processes where skilled labour is becoming increasingly important.In this PhD-project the successful candidate is expected to continue this strand of research by analysing the interactions between labour market dynamics and mobility networks.The candidate will be working in close contact to a research group whose work mainly draws on longitudinal register data, which implies that familiarity with quantitative methods is needed.For further information, please contact Prof.Your complete application, marked with reference number 313-448-09, should be sent to the Registrar, Umeå University, SE-901 87 Umeå, Sweden to arrive June 16, 2009 at the latest.