Doctoral student in Educational Measurement – orientation national tests/SweSAT

Umeå University, Sweden

Updated: 3 months ago

Umeå University is one of Sweden’s largest higher education institutions with over 37,000 students and about 4,700 employees. The University offers a diversity of high-quality education and world-leading research in several fields. Notably, the groundbreaking discovery of the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing tool, which was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, was made here. At Umeå University, everything is close. Our cohesive campuses make it easy to meet, work together and exchange knowledge, which promotes a dynamic and open culture.

The ongoing societal transformation and large green investments in northern Sweden create enormous opportunities and complex challenges. For Umeå University, conducting research about – and in the middle of – a society in transition is key. We also take pride in delivering education to enable regions to expand quickly and sustainably. In fact, the future is made here.


Specialization of the doctoral studentship
In the Educational Measurement unit, we do research related to quality issues (reliability, validity, fairness) and individual and group differences in large-scale educational tests and other educational and psychological assessments. Both the Swedish test for admission to higher education (SweSAT) and Swedish National Tests are developed at the department, and the doctoral student will preferably concentrate the research to one or both these test environments. The position will be oriented towards issues of digitalization of educational tests, alternatively to issues of test adaptations for students with special needs. The specific focus of the doctoral project will be jointly decided by doctoral student and supervisor, but examples of relevant topics for investigation could be issues of fairness and inclusion; effects of digitalization on performance and test development; how test format affects the construct measured, or how test adaptations for students with special needs can affect properties of the test and test-takers’ performance.

Qualifications
The applicant must meet the requirements for both basic and subject specific qualifications. Basic qualification is held by those who have either obtained an advanced level degree, completed course requirements of at least 240 higher education credits, of which at least 60 credits are at an advanced level, or in some other way within or outside the country have acquired essentially equivalent knowledge.

Applicants meet the subject specific entry requirements for admission to doctoral studies in Educational Measurement if they have passed at least 90 credits in either educational measurement, pedagogy, psychology, sociology or statistics, or have equivalent and proven knowledge.

Criteria’s for Selection
In selecting among eligible applicants, consideration will be given to

  • the ability to benefit from the training
  • previous academic results
  • the quality of the submitted research plan

The applicant needs to be familiar with processing and analyses of quantitative data. Proficiency in English is a requirement.

Terms of employment
Doctoral students will primarily devote themselves to their education at third-cycle level. Employment as a doctoral student is for the time necessary for the completion of research studies at a normal rate of study, which corresponds to a full-time position for four years. Doctoral students may work with teaching and administration up to a maximum of 20 percent of their full-time employment. In such cases, the period of employment is extended with the equivalent time spend on teaching/administration, up to a maximum of one additional year. The workplace is Umeå University, and doctoral students are expected to actively contribute to the research environment.

According to The Higher Education Ordinance, Chapter 12 §2, a decision of appointment to a doctoral studentship cannot be appealed.

Application
The application must contain:

  • Curriculum vitae (CV), including name and contact information of two reference persons
  • A letter in English, Swedish or another Scandinavian language that states the relevance of your previous merits and your motivation for undertaking research training leading to a PhD in educational measurement.
  • Research plan in English, Swedish or another Scandinavian language – must not exceed 15000 characters including spaces – that contains: purpose and research problem, previous research, implementation: that is, method, material and theory, relevance and time plan
  • A transcript from the Ladok student registry, a degree certificate, and/or equivalent attested copies of your academic transcripts proving that general and specific requirements are met
  • Copies of relevant BA and MA theses and other relevant publications

    • Incomplete applications will not be considered.

    Please note: the Swedish version is the official version of this advertisement. In the case of any differences in information between this translation and the official version, the latter takes precedence and is the legally binding document.

    Additional information
    The department of applied educational science (TUV) has approximately 100 employees working in teaching, research and commission service. The research at the department has a broad coverage and includes PhD programs in pedagogical work and educational measurement.  To the educational measurement unit, we are now looking for at least one doctoral student. For more information about the department, please see https://www.umu.se/forskning/grupper/beteendevetenskapliga-matningar/

    For more information about the Department of Applied Educational Science and the research discipline, contact Professor and Deputy Head of Department, Bert Jonsson, [email protected],  +46907867612. For more information about the doctoral programme in Educational Measurement, contact docent Hanna Eklöf, [email protected], +46907867851


    Similar Positions