[ecrea] PhD Position Stockholm University

Doctoral Student Position in Media and Communication Studies

Doctoral Student Position in Media and Communication Studies at the 
Department of Media Studies, Section for Journalism, Media and 
Communication. Reference number SU FV-0639-15. Deadline for 
applications: April 15, 2015.

The Department of Media Studies (IMS) is an internationally-oriented 
research environment comprised of three sections: Journalism, Media and 
Communication (JMK), Cinema Studies, and the Centre for Fashion Studies. 
JMK hosts a range of externally-funded research programmes and has been 
awarded the status of a nationally outstanding and internationally 
prominent research environment by Stockholm University and an external jury.

JMK is now announcing one doctoral student position in Media and 
Communication Studies leading to a PhD degree. The position is connected 
to the research programmeExistential Terrains: Memory and Meaning in 
Cultures of Connectivity (et.ims.su.se/), headed by Associate Professor 
Amanda Lagerkvist (Wallenberg Academy Fellow), financed by the Knut och 
Alice Wallenberg Foundation, the Marcus och Amalia Wallenberg Foundation 
and Stockholm University.

Within the research programme we are exploring one of the major issues 
of our time: what it means to be human in the digital age. Our rapidly 
changing communication culture offers new spaces for exploring what is 
important in life, but our digitalised lives also pose new challenges 
that heighten the vulnerabilities of being human. Digitalisation affects 
our existence in a number of ways, and the overarching research question 
concerns how people navigate the transformations involved in the 
digitalisation of our lifeworlds. One pertinent area for such emergent 
existential issues is the desequestering of death in the digital age: in 
the Global North death has returned to everyday life in digital memory 
practices; on digital memorials, in communities of grief and 
remembrance, on suicide sites and in cancer blogs. We live in a world 
where our memories and identities emerge through socio-technological 
ensembles, but these rely upon storage in rapidly ageing and dying 
machines. Questions about the quantified and wired self, and its 
archiving in our era of hyper-connectivity, have been accompanied by 
debates about the ‘right to be forgotten’ in a world where algorithms 
trace and shape our movements online. The very nature of memory is 
simultaneously transitioning in our era of temporal instantaneity. And 
hyperconnectivity is also supplemented by different forms of disconnection.

Setting out from theoretical debates within the fields of media, 
religion and culture, digital memory studies and existence philosophy, 
and by employing a multimethod research design (combining online 
ethnography, interviews and analysis of digital form and content) the 
project aims to develop an existential approach within media studies. 
The purpose of the programme is to produce new knowledge about the the 
possibilities for meaning-making in relation to the profundity of our 
lives, existential and spiritual issues, while acknowledging the 
fundamental affective ambivalence, potential loss of meaning and 
predicaments for existential public health in the digital age.

The successful candidate will pursue independent research within the 
framework of these studies. Duties will involve completing 60 ETCS 
credits of coursework, designing and completing a doctoral dissertation 
within 4 years of fulltime study, and participating in conferences in 
Sweden and abroad. Publications will also be encouraged and supported.

The successful applicant will be an important contributor to the 
research group, and will participate in the broader research community 
within the department. The position also enables international 
conference participation and the project generously covers such expenses.

Eligibility
The basic eligibility requirements stipulate that successful candidates 
will have completed course work corresponding to 240 ECTS credits, of 
which at least 60 must be for second-cycle courses and study programmes, 
or possess a second-cycle degree, an equivalent degree from outside 
Sweden, or qualifications that correspond to this.

Applicants who met the basic entry requirements prior to 1 July 2007 
(i.e. had completed a programme of higher education for at least 120 
credits or the equivalent) are also eligible to apply.

Specific eligibility requirements – three additional requirements must 
be fulfilled for admission to the JMK doctoral programme.

    * Candidates must have completed 150 ECTS credits or the 
equivalent, including studies at the advanced (Master’s) level resulting 
in at least 60 credits in the appropriate field.
    * Candidates must have completed an independent research project in 
the appropriate field, reported in a scholarly paper, for which they 
have been awarded at least a grade of ‘pass’ and 15 ECTS or the equivalent.
    * Candidates must have documented proficiency in English 
corresponding to at least 550 credits on the Test of English as a 
Foreign Language (TOEFL). (This formal requirement is waived for 
graduates of Swedish universities, where English proficiency is a 
general eligibility requirement.)

Applicants who have acquired equivalent skills may also satisfy 
eligibility requirements.

Admission procedure
>From the pool of eligible applicants, a successful candidate will be 
chosen on the basis of their ability to benefit from the doctoral 
training provided. Admission procedures for doctoral studies at 
Stockholm University can be found 
at:www.regelboken.su.se/pub/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=1031&a=16354.

Information regarding eligibility criteria, local admission 
arrangements, and other aspects of postgraduate study can be found on 
the IMS 
website:www.ims.su.se/english/education/courses-and-programmes/phd-studies/phd-studies-1.119567.

After selection and shortlisting according to the above-mentioned 
criteria, candidates considered especially qualified may be interviewed 
face-to-face or via skype in early June.

Applications will be reviewed by an admission committee appointed by the 
department, and the head of the Existential Terrains team. On the basis 
of their recommendation, a decision as to which candidate will be 
awarded the position will be taken by the Head of Department by the end 
of June. Employment will begin on September 1, 2015.

Terms of employment
Doctoral students are initially employed for a period of one year, with 
the position normally renewed for up to two years at a time. The total 
period of employment may not exceed the equivalent of four years of 
full-time study and research.

Doctoral students may be asked to work up to 20 % with teaching or other 
departmental tasks, in which case the period of employment will be 
extended accordingly, up to one year.

Decisions on doctoral employment (doktorandanställning) cannot be appealed.

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

Information
Further information about the position and research programme can be
obtained from Amanda Lagerkvist, Head of Programme, telephone:
+46 8 16 44 31, (amanda.lagerkvist /at/ ims.su.se), and at: et.ims.su.se/.

Union representatives
Anqi Lindblom-Ahlm (Saco-S) and Lisbeth Häggberg (Fackförbundet ST),
telephone: +46 8 16 20 00 (operator), and Gunnar Stenberg (SEKO),
telephone: +46 70 316 43 41.

Application
The application should include the following documents:

    * cover letter
    * curriculum vitae containing information on previous studies, 
employment and publications
    * a copy of diplomas or equivalent documenting eligibility and 
academic qualifications
    * a research plan (see admission requirements) outlining the 
relationship of the proposed dissertation to the Existential Terrains 
project and the wider field, containing a clearly formulated research 
problem or aim, key concepts and discussion of methodological approach
    * a copy of the independent works (essays) for evaluation
    * references
    * other documents of relevance to the evaluation of the application.

Applications are to be submitted electronically, in Word (.doc/.docx) or 
PDF format, no later than 15 April 2015 to: (registrator /at/ su.se).

The reference number SU FV-0639-15 must be included in the application 
and in the subject line of the e-mail.


Amanda Lagerkvist
PhD Associate Professor
Wallenberg Academy Fellow

Dept. of Media Studies (IMS/JMK)
Stockholm University
PO. Box 27861
115 93 Stockholm

email: (amanda.lagerkvist /at/ ims.su.se)
phone: +46 (0)8 161530
mobile: +46 (0)73 6600574
http://www.su.se/
http://www.wallenbergacademyfellows.se
http://et.ims.su.se



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