Research assistant

The department
The Department of Peace and Conflict Research was established in 1971 to conduct peace research and offer courses in peace and conflict studies. Currently approx. 90 persons are employed at the Department and approximately 1000 students are enrolled every academic year. Courses offered include undergraduate and post-graduate courses, as well as a Ph.D. programme. For more information, visit www.pcr.uu.se.

The research project
The project Societies at risk: The Impact of armed conflict on human development, started up in January 2022 with funding from Riksbankens Jubileumsfond and will run through 2027 (www.pcr.uu.se/research/sar/). This multi-disciplinary program, led by Research Program Leader Håvard Hegre, takes a risk-analysis perspective, studying the expected impact of armed conflict as a function of hazard, exposure, and vulnerability. The goal is to assess the effects of conflict at both the macro and micro level on economies, health, water security, political institutions, human rights, forced migration, socio-psychological well-being, and gender equality. Conflict hazard will be modeled through an early warning system that expands the well-established ViEWS system (www.viewsforecasting.org), to forecast political violence and its impacts on a range of societal outcomes. The research program collaborates closely with research projects at the Peace Research Institute Oslo (www.prio.org/projects/1977).

The department and the project Societies at risk, are now looking for one research assistant for a 12 months employment, starting in July 2024.

Duties

• Advanced data collection, processing and analysis
• Management, analysis and ingestion of quantitative data in the project infrastructure
• Production of visualisations (e.g. maps, plots, tables)
• Workshop assistance and miscellaneous writing tasks
• The research assistant will report to the project leader, and work closely with other research assistants and researchers within ‘Societies at Risk’.
• Outreach activities in the form of reports, information sessions, and contacts with partners in UN and other IGOs.

Requirements

• Master’s degree in peace and conflict studies
• Knowledge and experience of software such as Python, R, QGIS
• Proficiency in oral and written English
• Good communication skills
• Very good collaborative ability and ability to work independently
• Good knowledge of scientific methods
• Ability to independently analyse data and to develop scientific texts on a scientific basis
• Knowledge of advanced statistical and machine learning techniques
• Experience in developing data visualization.

Additional qualifications
Attention to detail and exactness, analytical and problem-solving skills, and good interpersonal abilities are of high importance. Experience with web presentation and CMS is also meritorious. Experience in working with satellite data at a geographical level, and knowledge of software for spatial analysis (e.g. QGIS) is very positively evaluated. Emphasis will also be placed on personal suitability.

The application
The application should contain a personal letter (1 page), clarifying why you are interested in the service, as well as a CV.

About the employment
The employment is a temporary position (12 months). Scope of employment 100 %. Starting date 1 July, or as agreed. Placement: Uppsala.

For further information about the position, please contact: Håvard Hegre, havard.hegre@pcr.uu.se

Please submit your application by 20 May 2024, UFV-PA 2024/1463.

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