PhD scholarship opportunity: Exploring CONFINED LIVES as they intersect in London, UK and Freetown, Sierra Leone

Aalborg University, Denmark, invites applications for a PhD position funded by the European Research Council. This position is part of a collaborative, comparative project on CONFINED LIVES. As a core member of a small team(with Luisa Schneider, Andrew M. Jefferson& Steffen Jensen) the successful applicant will explore various dimensions of confinement associated with migration and the maintenance of everyday family lives in Freetown, Sierra Leone and Southwark, London. The research will focus on how young adults navigate experiences of confinement arising from kinship relations and informal economies, and how they reconcile these with the infringement of formal economies and their institutions(welfare and penal). Attention to the intersectional effects of gender and generation will be encouraged but applicants may suggest a lens through which they would like to approach the topic based on their specific expertise.

About the project

This PhD is part of a larger project that explores confinement and confined lives across four transnational sites. The overarching project investigates confinement as both a restriction of freedom and a form of protection, highlighting its unequal distribution in contexts of urban marginality, displacement and incarceration. Family relationships and trans-country mobility serve as a common entry point to understanding confining dynamics and their effects across the four transnational sites.

Qualification requirements

The ideal candidate will have:

• A Master's degree in the social sciences or humanities.
• Intellectual curiosity and a commitment to conducting grounded, empirical, qualitative field research.
• The ability to navigate sensitive, politically charged research sites reflexively and critically.
• A commitment to a transdisciplinary approach to knowledge generation.
• Previous experience in West Africa and knowledge of kinship mapping and life-history interviewing(advantageous but not required).
• Near native English language skills

After successful application, the PhD project will be finalised in close collaboration with collaborators from the CONFINED research team and a Supervisor from Aalborg University. As a member of the broader research team the successful candidate will benefit from being an integral part of a small team and part of an international research community as well as the academic networks of team members.

The PhD scholarship has a duration of three years. Applicants to the PhD scholarship must hold a degree equivalent to a Danish Master’s degree. Applicants enrolled at a Danish Master programme who expect to graduate before the date of appointment must forward statement from thesis supervisor, verified transcripts, a copy of thesis contract and documentation for the date of their final exam.

Application requirements 

• letter of motivation
• project proposal(3-5 pages) related to the themes outlined above.
  • Please include: the conceptual lens you would like to employ(based on your expertise)
  • a methodology section
  • and a discussion of how you would divide fieldwork time between London and Freetown.
• curriculum vitae
• diplomas confirming academic degrees(Master degree), including academic transcripts
• Documentation for English language skills(Applicants who do not have English as a first language or have completed an English language-based Master's programme(or an equivalent educational achievement in English) shall provide documentation that they have passed one of the following official tests with the respective minimum score: IELTS(band score):7 TOEFL(paper-based): 600, TOEFL(internet-based): 100. 
• Co-author statement. If publications that have been written in cooperation with others are submitted, a declaration from each of the authors must be enclosed. The declaration must state the extent of the applicant’s contribution to the total work and be signed by the authors
• Application for credit transfer if relevant.

 Assessment

Shortlisting will be applied. This means that after the deadline for application, the head of the department supported by the chair of the assessment committee will select candidates for assessment. All applicants will be informed whether they will be assessed or not.

The application can only be submitted by using the link on AAU’s job portal https://www.stillinger.aau.dk/(not at any other online job portals that may have reposted the position). Please note that zipped files are not supported by the recruitment system, please upload only Word or PDF files.

The Faculty draws your attention to the fact that the applicant's project description may be tested for plagiarism in the IT system iThenticate.