PhD scholarships in Economics at the Department of Economics, University of Southern Denmark

Applications are invited for one or more fully funded PhD scholarships at the Department of Economics, University of Southern Denmark, Odense.

Depending on academic qualifications, applicants may be enrolled in either the 4+4 or the 5+3 PhD programme. Both programmes include a research stay abroad, typically of six months’ duration, and offer a competitive full-time salary.

We aim to appoint the successful candidate as soon as possible, ideally with a start date of 15 January 2027, while remaining flexible regarding the exact timing.

About the Department and Research Environment

The Department of Economics is an international department with a strong tradition of excellence in research and teaching across a wide range of fields within economics. Research, teaching, and outreach activities are organized within four research groups: Econometrics and Data Science; Economic History; Macroeconomics; and Microeconomics. Further information about the department and its research groups is available on the department website.

The PhD student will be affiliated with the Historical Economics and Development Group (HEDG), which focuses on Economic History with a strong emphasis on applied microeconomics and causal inference. HEDG is internationally acknowledged as a leading research group and attracts substantial grants and media coverage, as well as publishing books and articles with top outlets.

The position

The successful candidate will become part of an international research environment and work closely with Associate Professor Anthony Wray on Private Foundations, a Carlsberg Foundation-funded project on the roles of private investment and medical education in shaping innovation and inequality in the United States during the early twentieth century. For further information about the project, please see this link.

These are applied microeconomic questions in health, labour, education, and demographic economics, approached with historical data. We are interested in strong applied microeconomists broadly, not only in candidates who already identify as economic historians, and there is scope for the PhD student to develop their own questions within the project.

The successful candidate is expected to contribute to high-quality research within the scope of the project, including independent, single-authored work. In addition, the candidate will be involved in teaching and supervision within economics at both undergraduate and graduate levels.

The PhD student will be supervised by Associate Professor Anthony Wray and will join a research group that includes two postdoctoral researchers and scientific research assistants, with access to an international network of collaborators.

The project has its own GPU environment — university hardware, reserved for this project and its research team. It runs open-weight models locally for large-scale digitisation and data extraction from historical sources, alongside frontier models. We are also building an autonomous workflow for agentic-supported academic research, and the PhD student will have the chance to help develop that workflow.

Applicants’ profile

Applicants should have completed a relevant master’s degree in Economics, Mathematics and Economics, or related disciplines. Qualified candidates currently enrolled in a relevant master’s programme are also welcome to apply.

Furthermore, we expect applicants to

• Have solid knowledge of econometrics and applied quantitative methods, with experience using Python, R, Stata, or similar tools, and be eager to learn and apply new methods.
• Be dedicated, capable of working independently and in cooperation with a PhD supervisor.
• Have strong English skills, both spoken and written.
• Have good interpersonal skills, be interested in engaging with national and international researchers.

The following qualifications are an advantage

• Have an interest in, or potentially experience with, machine learning, large language models, and natural language processing.
• Experience working with large datasets and conducting empirical research.
• Demonstrated interest in economic history or cultural economics.

We are an international department, and the working language is English.

Further information about the position can be obtained from Head of Administration Astrid Holm Nielsen, e-mail: astni@sam.sdu.dk. For general questions regarding relocation, housing, taxes etc., contact the SDU’s International Staff Office.

How to apply for this position

Employment as a paid PhD fellow takes place in accordance with the circular of 20 December 2021 on the collective agreement for academics in the state – appendix 5, protocol on PhD fellowships.

For more information on the department guidelines for qualification and recruitment please see our Appointment Guidelines.

The application must include (all attachments must be in Adobe PDF format):

• Detailed CV - the education and work history must be month and year specific.
• A certified copy of your master’s degree certificate, including transcripts of all examination results. Foreign diplomas that are not in Norwegian, Swedish or English must be accompanied by a translation into Danish or English, as well as a translation of the official description of the marking scale used. If your degree has not yet been completed, please state your expected date of completion.
• A motivational letter describing why you are a good match for analyzing the topic and how your skills provide a solid foundation to do so (max. 5 pages incl. reference list).
• A project description (max 5 pages of 2400 characters each, including spaces, notes, appendices, bibliography etc.).

When applying for a PhD scholarship, please fill in the application form available on our web page.

On the webpage of the PhD-school, you can find the guidelines for preparing your project proposal.

All non-Danish documents must be translated into English.

Applications will be assessed by an assessment committee. The committee may request additional information, and if so, it is the responsibility of the applicant to provide the necessary material.

Once the assessment committee has submitted its report, the applicant will receive the portion of the evaluation that pertains to them.

Applications that are incomplete regarding the above requirements will not be assessed by the committee.

Shortlisting and tests may be used in the assessment process.

As part of the overall assessment of the applicant’s qualifications, an interview may be applied.

Documents should not contain a CPR number (civil registration number) – in this case, the CPR number must be crossed out.

The application and CV must not exceed 10 MB.

The application deadline is November 1, 2026, 23.59 CET/CEST.

Applications must be submitted electronically using the link "Apply online". Uploaded files must be in Adobe PDF (unlocked) or Word format.

We recommend that you read the guideline for applicants. If you experience technical problems, you must contact hcm-support@sdu.dk before the application deadline.

The University of Southern Denmark wishes to reflect the surrounding community and therefore encourages everyone, regardless of personal background, to apply for the position.

Salary and employment terms

Salary is determined in accordance with the applicable collective agreement and based on objective and gender-neutral criteria, including the content of the position, responsibilities, and qualification requirements.

As an applicant, you are entitled to information about the starting salary and salary range for the position. This information will be provided during the recruitment process.

SDU does not collect information on applicants’ previous salary.