Postdoctoral fellowship with strong quantitative competencies for research within public health, occupational psychology, and public management

Applications are invited for a 3-year Postdoctoral fellowship to be based at the Department of Political Science and Public Management at the University of Southern Denmark, Odense. 

The position will be part of and contribute to an existing research agenda on public health, absenteeism, occupational psychology, and public management led by Professor Signe Pihl-Thingvad. 

The planned starting date for the position is 1 January 2025. The position is available for a fixed term of 36 months and comes with a competitive, full-time salary.

The research

The postdoctoral fellowship will contribute to an overall research agenda which focuses on public health, occupational psychology, absenteeism, and management in public organizations. The postdoctoral fellow will work closely together with a small international team, including the principal investigator Professor Signe Pihl-Thingvad, Professor Vera Winter, a PhD candidate, and research assistants both at SDU and at the Bergische Universität Wuppertal. The research agenda builds on existing research collaborations with Danish public organizations and on data of public employees’ well-being, stress, absenteeism, presenteeism and management traceable over several years. The Postdoctoral fellowship may contribute to one or both projects described below:

Project 1: Public management and health 

This project focuses on how to manage the psychosocial work environment for public employees, so it becomes a resource for the organization. The project aims to develop theories in the field through advanced quantitative and qualitative analyses. Through a close cooperation with a large Danish municipality, the project sheds light on how public managers can work with the psychosocial work environment to reduce stress and increase well-being. The research team has already built up a unique database which combines annual employee well-being surveys of more than 8000 employees with management evaluations and registered sickness absence data traceable over several years (2013-2024). The Postdoctoral fellow will therefore primarily be working with quantitative analyses and writing research papers in collaboration with the research team. 

Project 2: Absenteeism and presenteeism in public organizations

Sickness absenteeism is a key concern in modern society and an increasingly important theme within management and HR practice. However, a growing body of research has shown that coming to work when sick (sickness presenteeism) also poses a substantial problem. The project adapts a holistic approach and focus on the antecedents, the interplay, and the consequences of both absenteeism and presenteeism in a coherent framework so managers can design effective organizational HR systems. Initiatives to reduce absenteeism and/or presenteeism may also be evaluated in this project in collaboration with other members of the project team. The project builds on data from a large cohort of employees and managers (covering more than 23,000 employees in different public organizations). The postdoctoral fellow will be working with analyzing data, writing papers and contribute to future grant applications to expand this agenda. 

Selection criteria and key responsibilities

To qualify for the position, you need to have a completed (or close to completion) PhD in Health Science or Social Science, (for example within Public Health, Psychology, Political Science, or related disciplines).

The ideal candidate will have: 

• Strong quantitative methods skills
• Good knowledge of software for data analysis (Stata and/or R)
• Experience with surveys designs
• Documented potential to publish in peer-reviewed journals at an internationally recognized level
• Interest in the fields of public health, occupational psychology, and public management
• Proficiency in English

Key responsibilities include the following:

• Different data management tasks
• Analysing research results, and writing research papers targeted at internationally recognized peer-reviewed journals
• Disseminating research results through research papers, academic blogs, international conferences, workshops, and outreach activities
• Participating in regular meetings of the project
• Support of the PI in project-related matters, for example contributing to the organization of events and activities within the projects, and helping with grant applications
• Participating in the intellectual life at SDU, including discussion groups, seminar workshops, and events.

About the Department 

As a Postdoctoral fellow, you will become a member of the Department's Public Administration, Welfare and Politics unit. We emphasize scientific curiosity, high-quality research, and team spirit. Ongoing research in this unit covers topics such as public management, leadership, public innovation and co-creation, public health, frontline workers, public administration, political economy, public policy, and comparative politics. The research unit covers a broad range of themes and methods.

The Department of Political Science and Public Management believes in fostering a stimulating and inspiring environment for both faculty members and students. The department's ambition is therefore to recruit, develop, and retain talented scholars committed to both academic excellence and departmental development. Furthermore, the department wishes our staff to reflect the diversity of society and thus welcomes applications from all qualified candidates regardless of personal background.

For more information about the department organization, research, strategy and teaching, please visit the website.

Enquiries about the projects and the position can be addressed to the Principal Investigator and Head of Department, Signe Pihl-Thingvad, email: ssp@sam.sdu.dk.

Application and assessment process

Appointment to the position requires a PhD or equivalent and will be in accordance with the salary agreement between the Ministry of Finance and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations.

Researchers who have not worked in Denmark before taking up this position may be eligible for a special tax scheme that reduces Danish income tax for up to 7 years. You can find more information about this tax scheme here. 

An application must include:

• A cover letter mentioning how your profile would fit the projects (max. 3 pages)
• A CV (max 5 pages)
• A research proposal mentioning ideas for how to contribute to the research projects (max. 2 pages)
• Certificates/Diplomas (MA and PhD degree)
• A complete list of publications
• Up to 2 of the most relevant publications or unpublished chapters of the PhD thesis. NOTE: If publications have been co-authored, co-author statements must be a part of this pdf and must include information like in this example. The statement is just for your inspiration.

The cover letter and the research proposal must be written in English. All non-Danish documents must be translated into English.

Documents should not contain a CPR number (civil registration number) – in this case, the CPR number must be crossed out.

Applications that are incomplete may be rejected without any substantive evaluation.

Assessment of applications will be done under the existing Appointment Order for universities. Applications will be assessed by an academic assessment committee that determines whether applicants are qualified to be a postdoctoral fellow according to the Scholarly Qualification Matrix. The committee may request additional information, and if so, it is the responsibility of the applicant to provide the necessary material. The committee reserves the right to arrive at a decision solely based on the material submitted.

Shortlisting may be used in the assessment process.

When the assessment committee has submitted its report, the applicants will receive the part of the evaluation that concerns them. The assessment report will subsequently be forwarded to the Head of Department who will assemble an appointment committee. The appointment committee will manage and complete a series of job interviews with especially promising applicants. On the basis of the applications, the written assessments, the job interviews, and a deliberation within the appointment committee, the Head of Department determines which candidate(s) will be offered the position.

Applications must be submitted electronically using the link "Apply now". Uploaded files must be in Adobe PDF. The application and CV must not exceed 10 MB.

Application deadline: 1 October 2024, 23:59 CET

Read the guideline for applicants

If you experience technical problems when submitting your application, you must contact hcm-support@sdu.dk.