Lund Universitetində Sağlamlıq Hüququ üzrə post-doktorluq vəzifəsi

Deadline: 30 September 2021 11:59 PM CEST

Location: Lund, Sweden

Subject description

The subject of health law covers various legal aspects of international, national, local and private functions and activities related to human health. Health law often raises fundamental human rights issues, such as the right to protection of life, the best attainable health, protection against inhuman and degrading treatment, protection of privacy and protection against deprivation of liberty. The subject deals with issues that affect people at different and vulnerable stages of life. Many areas within the field of health law concern the protection of the individual’s life, integrity, human dignity, and global health. The field of health law also concerns public efforts to prevent or tackle health-related problems through general contributions or actions in a society. Health law often adopts an interdisciplinary approach, which can include fields such as medical ethics, global health and medical technology.

The COVID19 pandemic illustrates the important role of health law in society, its timeliness and its multifaceted place on the legal map. There are many urgent issues connected to pandemics, future crises and global health. One major concern is about how to fulfil society’s goals in the event of a future pandemic to minimize mortality and morbidity in the population and other negative consequences for the individual and society by means of regulation. Legal restrictions and other public measures introduced to combat and pandemics can have both a positive and a negative impact on public health. For example, the measures can counteract the spread of the virus but also lead to restrictions in basic democratic freedoms and rights, freedom of movement and personal integrity. The topic calls for research on the relation between society and the individual, connected with a legal framework with rights and responsibilities. The situation has legal and ethical dimensions in both the short and the long run. How to fight a pandemic can affect different interests and values in society and how values and conflicts of interest can and should be managed. What values should be safeguarded and what principles should guide decision-making in the short and the long run are core research issues for legal and ethical perspectives of a pandemic or such global health crises. Legal analyses of the short and long-term consequences for the vulnerability of the individual (such as poverty, bad health, domestic violence, unemployment, discrimination) as well as the society as a whole are other issues of concern.

The position is partly financed by and part of the EU research program “The European Alliance for Global Health – Transformation through Joint Research and Innovation Action” (EUGLOHRIA) with researchers from five European universities, including Lund University. The program sets out an ambitious agenda with research addressing global health challenges ranging in tackling global health crises, especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. This interdisciplinary research program includes a joint action plan in research on pandemics with a focus on COVID-19 and its ramifications. The postdoc researcher will be part of the Swedish research team in this program with an individual project (self-designed or in collaboration with the research team). The researchers in law and ethics at Lund University in the program are Professors of Law Titti Mattsson and Jessica Almqvist and Professor of Medical ethics Nils-Eric Sahlin. The position will be placed at the Health Law Research Centre at the Faculty of Law at Lund University. The Health Law Research Centre is an interdisciplinary group of national and international experts in different areas of law and ethics. For more information, see https://www.law.lu.se/#!healthlaw.

Duties

Mainly research but work duties include teaching for up to a maximum of 20 per cent of working hours.

The researchers and teachers at the Faculty are expected to contribute to a dynamic research environment as well as to other Faculty activities and to perform work primarily in the workplace provided by the Faculty.

Teaching staff employed as a post-doctor are offered the opportunity to undertake further training in teaching and learning in higher education of at least three weeks within the scope of their employment.

Qualifications

A person shall be qualified for appointment as a postdoctoral fellow who has been awarded a doctor’s degree in legal science or a degree deemed equivalent to a doctor’s degree in legal science. The doctor´s degree must be completed no more than three years prior to the application deadline.

Candidates who have completed their degree earlier than this can be considered if special grounds exist. Special grounds include leave of absence because of illness, parental leave, positions as elected representative in trade union organisations and other similar circumstances.

For a post-doctor at Lund University, the general qualification requirements concern being suitable for and having the ability, in general, that is needed to satisfactorily carry out the duties of the appointment in question.

Assessment criteria

The assessment criteria for the current post are a good ability to develop and carry out high-quality research and teaching skills. The primary focus of the assessment shall be on research expertise.

Attention will also be paid to the applicant´s subject knowledge and interest in taking on a project that is a relevant topic of the EUGLOHRIA research program (global health law, EU health law, medical ethics, pandemics and the law etc). It is also a preference if the researcher has some experience and interest in working in a research group.

Application process

The application shall include:

• personal letter
• a brief curriculum vitae (CV)
• copy of the doctoral degree certificate
• certificates from other experiences and competencies relevant for the employment position
• a plan of the research project (including the plan of publications) the candidate wants to pursue as a post-doctoral researcher (max. 5 pages)
• list of the PhD thesis and two other academic texts the candidate wishes to submit for assessment
• the PhD thesis and two other academic texts
• short description of teaching qualifications

Duration

Fixed-term employment, two years. The appointment can be extended if special grounds exist.

Conditions

The position is based on a collective agreement between the social partners (trade unions and employer’s organisation) dated 4 September 2008.

The University applies individual salary-setting. You are welcome to state your salary requirements in your application.