1 Teaching assistant/Amanuensis

The Department
The Department of Peace and Conflict Research was founded in 1971 with the aim of conducting research and offering education in peace and conflict studies. Today, the department is a young, dynamic, and international workplace with around 90 employees and about 1,000 students from all over the world. Courses are offered at both Bachelor’s and Master’s level, and we have a PhD programme. More information about the department is available at www.pcr.uu.se.

The department and the project Societies at Risk: The Impact of Armed Conflict on Human Development, are now seeking 1 Teaching Assistant (amanuensis), to work within the project for a part-time position (20%), over 5 months, starting in January 2026.

The project is led by Professor Håvard Hegre and started in January 2022 with funding from Riksbankens Jubileumsfond and runs until the end of 2027 (www.pcr.uu.se/research/sar). It is an interdisciplinary programme that studies the expected effect of armed conflict on human development as a function of conflict risk, exposure, and vulnerability. The project considers effects at both macro- and micro-levels on the economy, health, water security, political institutions, human rights, forced migration, socio-psychological well-being, and gender equality. The effects are modelled through an expansion of the well-established conflict forecasting system VIEWS in close cooperation with related research projects at the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) (www.prio.org/projects/1977).

Tasks
Tasks for a teaching assistant may include teaching, administration, or participation in research or artistic research. As a teaching assistant within the project Societies at Risk: The Impact of Armed Conflict on Human Development, your expected tasks are:

• Preparation and collection of data
• Programming tasks in Python for data analysis, development, and evaluation of VIEWS models, as well as producing illustrations (maps, statistical or data-based graphs, visual summaries)
• Translation of models developed in R into Python
• Development and writing of documentation material
• Writing and editing of technical reports
• Short country- or region-based case studies of particular relevance for the forecasts.

The teaching assistant reports primarily to the project leader but will also work closely with other staff in the Societies at Risk project and the VIEWS research consortium.

Qualifications
To be employed as a teaching assistant, you must be admitted to studies at undergraduate (Bachelor’s) or graduate (Master’s) level.

For this role, it is also a requirement that you; 

• are an active student in the Master’s Programme in Peace and Conflict Studies at Uppsala University, with at least a passing grade in the course “Forecasting Methods and Causal Inference for the Social Sciences”
  
  
• have good, documented knowledge of quantitative methods, including machine learning methods and the evaluation of machine learning models

• have good, documented knowledge and experience of working with R, Python, Git, and GitHub
  
  
• have experience writing programming code according to industry standards, including documentation, use of replication data, and publication of code packages (e.g. via PyPI)
  
  
• have experience working in LaTeX and Overleaf
  
  
• have excellent written and spoken English skills
  
  
• are able to work independently.

Great emphasis will also be placed on personal suitability, with particular attention to your attention to detail, your analytical and problem-solving skills, and your social skills.

Merits
It is also meritorious if you meet one or more of the following criteria:

• You are familiar with VIEWS’ previous “prediction challenges”
• You have experience working with one or more of the datasets on which the VIEWS models are based, e.g. UCDP and ACLED
• You have experience with the academic publishing process and can demonstrate a high academic standard in written work.

Application
Your application should include a cover letter (max. 1 page) describing your skills and explaining why you are suitable for the position, together with your CV.

For further information about the position, please contact: Project coordinator; 
Liana Lopes, liana.lopes@pcr.uu.se. 

About the employment
Type of position: fixed-term employment pursuant to Chapter 5, Section 12 of the Higher Education Ordinance. Scope and duration: 20%, over 5 months. Starting date: 19 January 2026, or as agreed. Location: Uppsala.

Please submit your application by 30 December 2025. Reference: UFV-PA 2025/3849.