PhD student in International Relations

The Department of Economic History and International Relations is a dynamic and strong education and research department at the Faculty of Social Sciences at Stockholm University. Its International Relations (IR) section aims to be nationally leading and internationally prominent within its field of research and education, focusing especially on the three IR sub-fields of International Security, International Institutions, and Global Political Economy. For more information about the department’s research groups, see www.su.se/english/research/research-catalogue/research-subjects/f/international-relations

The department is looking for a PhD student in IR. The PhD position is fully funded for 4 years by the project “PROTECT – Protectionism in Place: Explaining How Subnational Change Affects Public Support for Protectionism” and positioned at the Department of Economic History and International Relations. Planned entry date is August 31, 2026. 

About the doctoral programme

The aim of the doctoral programme is to give the student specialised knowledge within the field of International Relations, a thorough training in research methods, and a good understanding of the problems occurring in research and in the practical application of results. The programme familiarises the student with different structures of politics, economics and society, and gives a broad orientation of the research development within the subject, with the purpose of making the student a critical and independent researcher with the ability to plan and develop scientific projects and publications. There are two main blocks in the programme: course work (75 credits) and work in connection with the Ph.D. dissertation (165 credits). For further information about the structure of the programme, please see the department’s website. The administrative language at Swedish universities is Swedish, with important information provided in English.

About the project

Protectionist policies have become more entrenched over the past decade. States have produced a slew of domestic subsidies, investment regulations, and labor migration policies––policies that can benefit certain industries, but are likely to curtail growth and international cooperation. Why some citizens support protectionism that is costly to them, while others do not, is the central puzzle underpinning the ERC-funded project “PROTECT – Protectionism in Place: Explaining How Subnational Change Affects Public Support for Protectionism”. It will focus on the effects of changing local circumstances on public support for protectionism. For this purpose, the project will collect new survey data and local context data from select western and non-western countries.

Main responsibilities

The PhD student will conduct research within the ERC-project “PROTECT – Protectionism in Place: Explaining How Subnational Change Affects Public Support for Protectionism”. The PhD student will mainly work with the collection and analysis of new local data from sources such as official statistics, meteorological re-analysis, satellite data, and analyse those in relation to survey data. This involves methods such as machine learning and instrumental variables estimation, as well as an application of a machine learning–based extension of the standard difference-in-differences (DID) approach to evaluate policy in relation to public opinion. Hence, fluency in machine learning methods, programming in Python, as well as knowledge of neural networks are merits for this position. The PhD student will be part of a collaborative research group engaged in quantitative research on the effects of changing local circumstances on public support for protectionism.

Qualification requirements

In order to be admitted to postgraduate education, the applicant must have the general and specific entry requirements. The qualification requirements must be met by the deadline for applications.

You meet general entry requirements if you have completed a second-cycle degree, or completed courses equivalent to at least 240 higher education credits, of which 60 credits must be in the second cycle, or have otherwise acquired equivalent knowledge in Sweden or elsewhere.

The Department Board may grant an exemption for an individual applicant from the general entry requirements if there are special grounds for doing so.

Specific entry requirements

Admission to doctoral studies in international relations requires the following:

• a completed first-cycle programme in international relations or an equivalent programme, such as computational social sciences or politics and data science, of at least 90 higher education credits, as well as a completed second-cycle programme in international relations or an equivalent programme of at least 30 credits, of which at least 15 credits (or equivalent) shall consist of independent thesis work at a second-cycle level (either 60 credit or 120 credit Master’s thesis)
• an additional 60 credits from completed higher education with a theoretical specialisation in subjects relevant to the doctoral studies, or equivalent studies
• sufficient knowledge of English to be able to benefit from the third-cycle education.

Selection

The selection is based on the applicant’s ability to successfully pursue the research education.

Selection criteria and admission regulations for Doctoral Studies at Stockholm University are specified in documentation provided at www.su.se/english/divisions/department-of-economic-history-and-international-relations/education/courses-and-programmes/phd-studies-in-international-relations.

More specific criteria for the selection process are:

• independence in the analysis and planning of previous degree projects
• demonstrated ability to work and communicate in teams
• previously demonstrated ability to complete tasks within specified time limits
• ability to formulate areas of investigation and problems, both in previous projects and in the research plan for the planned thesis project
• degree of methodological and scientific maturity in previously performed work, and in the research plan
• demonstrated experience with quantitative methods, in particular programming, machine learning, or geospatial analysis
• ability to communicate professionally, both verbally and in writing in English.

Admission Regulations for Doctoral Studies at Stockholm University.

About the employment

We offer a fixed-term employment as a doctoral student according to Chapter 5 of the Higher Education Ordinance (1993:100). The period of employment may not be longer than what corresponds to full-time doctoral education for four years. As a doctoral student, you should primarily devote yourself to your own doctoral education, but the employment may include work with education, research and administration to a limited extent (maximum 20 %).

A new employment as a doctoral student is for a maximum of one year, the employment is then renewed for a maximum of two years at a time.

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

Contact

For further information or details concerning the application procedure, please contact Lisa Dellmuth, Professor of International Relations and Director of Doctoral Studies in International Relations, phone: +46 8 16 10 76, lisa.dellmuth@su.se, or Johan Svanberg, Chair of the Department of Economic History and International Relations, johan.svanberg@su.se.

Application

Apply for the PhD student position at Stockholm University's recruitment system. Attach a personal letter and CV as well as the attachments requested in the application form. 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 instructions for applicants are available at: How to apply for a position.