Postdoctoral position in International Investment Law

The Faculty of Law, University of Copenhagen, is seeking applications for a Postdoctoral position. The position is part of the project ENERGIZE: Re-Shaping International Investment Law for the Green Transition, funded by the Independent Research Fund Denmark.

The position is available from 1. October 2022 and for the duration of 2 years

Introduction
The project combines perspectives of international investment law (IIL), EU law and institutional economics and seeks to develop tools for effective protection of environmental common goods in the energy sector in the context of energy security considerations. Based on the planned legal study and empirical research ENERGIZE will develop a new theory of public interest, incorporating the economic concept of common goods. The project will also examine possibilities for creating new substantive, procedural and institutional solutions within the regulatory framework of IIL and formulate recommendations for regulatory action

ENERGIZE is conducted at the Study Hub for International Economic Law and Development (SHIELD), University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Law in collaboration with Institute of Law & Economics, University of Hamburg and Research Group for Environmental Law and Biodiversity, University of Warsaw. The project is led by Professor MSO Joanna Lam.

About the position
The ENERGIZE team welcomes applications for a 2-year position of a postdoctoral researcher (postdoc) in the field of international investment law (IIL). Applicants with a background in international energy law, with established interest in law and economics and with experience in empirical research are particularly encouraged to apply. The candidates shall demonstrate strong academic credentials and ability to conduct teamwork in an international research environment.

The Postdoc will provide input on substantive IIL aspects of the project and will also contribute to the design and conduct of the planned empirical study (to be carried out in Brussels and in Vienna) and to theory development. Throughout the duration of the project, the Postdoc will collaborate closely with the PI Professor Joanna Lam, Director of SHIELD and with Professor Stefan Voigt, Director of the Institute of Law & Economics, University of Hamburg.

The Postdoc will become a part of a vibrant international academic community and a member of an established research team and will be employed by and residing at University of Copenhagen, consistently ranked among the top 1 percent of the world's universities. A 6-month research visiting stay of the Postdoc at University of Hamburg is also planned.  

Applicants are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the UCPH Faculty of Law’s research areas and education programmes by visiting the Faculty’s website: www.jura.ku.dk

The Faculty actively supports the effort to learn Danish.

Required qualifications
The position requires academic qualifications PhD, JSD or equivalent degree in law, economics or social science. All applicants are expected to be able to use English as the working language (written and spoken). Successful candidates will demonstrate a clear potential to deliver high quality peer-reviewed research publications.  

In the overall assessment, emphasis will be placed on the applicant’s research and teaching potential. Special emphasis will be placed on the applicant’s ambition to develop and implement new research ideas, which may have an international impact. Furthermore, the Faculty places emphasis on the applicant’s interest and preferably, prior experience, in working with other researchers to conduct collective research and teaching activities and welcomes the applicant’s proven ability to make a valuable contribution in this regard.

Salary and terms of employment
The appointment is permanent and will be made in accordance with the agreement between the Danish Ministry of Finance and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations (Akademikernes Centralorganisation, AC). In addition to the basic salary, you will receive an annual supplement per month and a total contribution to your pension fund equal 17,1 % of your salary and annual supplement is paid. It is possible to negotiate further salary supplements. 

The position include research and a teaching obligation according to the Dean’s instructions for Faculty staff.

For further information, please see ‘Job Structure for Academic Staff at Universities 2019’ . The documents are available on the Faculty’s website.

Application
Letter of motivation, appendices and the submitted research publications (including papers, articles and books), must be written in English. The application will be rejected if not all the required documents are submitted.

It is essential that you fill out all the mandatory fields in the electronic application even though the info is already stated in your CV, application, publication or other material you may find relevant to upload. The completed fields will be screened during the shortlisting and assessment process and in order to generate your final assessment, which we will send to you after the assessment work is finalized.

The application MUST include the following nine (9) elements:
1. Letter of motivation (a one-page document explaining the reasons for applying)
2. Curriculum vitae
3. Research project. Applications should include a proposal for a research project to be completed during the post-doctoral period. Proposals should be no more than four pages long. The proposal should demonstrate the capacity to develop a postdoctoral project, identifying the relevant methodological tools to achieve the outlined project.
4. Diplomas, PhD or JSD diploma or alternatively a document showing that the applicant submitted or will submit a dissertation
5. Publication list. (Complete, numbered list of publications)
6. Teaching portfolio, including documentation for teaching qualifications as well as a brief statement of the applicant's teaching visions within the research area. For more information regarding the teaching portfolio, please see the related guidelines
7. Academic references, if available (please upload under “other relevant material”)
8. A maximum of five (5) scientific publications that the applicant wishes to have included in the assessment, of which no more than one (1) may be a monograph. Applicants, who have written a PhD or JSD thesis or equivalent, must always submit the complete thesis (if the thesis is written in Danish, English, Swedish or Norwegian) and the written assessment of the thesis as a part of submitted publications.
9. If citing work where the applicant has been a co-author, a co-author declaration, which addresses the applicant's share of these works, must be submitted. Material that has not yet been published can be submitted. However, please indicate if this is the case.

In addition to the material which the applicant wishes to be included in the assessment, the Assessment Committee may require further material to assess the applicant. It is the applicant’s responsibility to provide such supplementary material, should this be requested.

Application procedure
Upload letter of motivation, appendices and the research publications electronically using the icon “APPLY NOW / SØG STILLINGEN” below. We advise you to have the above mentioned documents ready before you begin to fill out your online application, and it is essential that all required documents are enclosed.

Applications must be addressed to the Associate Dean of Research and uploaded electronically.

An automatically generated message is sent out acknowledging receipt of the uploaded application.

Applicants will be kept informed about the process of the application procedure on a regular basis via email.

Following the application deadline, the Associate Dean of Research selects applicants for assessment on the advice of the Appointments Committee. Applicants are selected based on an overall assessment of the applicants that best match the recruitment needs of the Faculty as described in this advertisement for the post. This is compared with the applicant's research and teaching profile as set out in the application, CV incl. list of publication, teaching portfolio and any research/development plan.  All applicants are then immediately notified whether their application has been passed for assessment by an expert Assessment Committee. Selected applicants are notified of the composition of the committee and when the committee has completed its assessment, each applicant has the opportunity to comment on the part of the assessment that relates to the applicants themselves.

University of Copenhagen wishes to reflect the surrounding society and therefore encourages all interested parties regardless of personal background to apply for the position.

Questions about the project can be addressed at Professor MSO Joanna Lam, [email protected]

Further information about the recruitment process is available from Sarah Lund HR, e-mail: [email protected]   Please refer to ID number 211-1079/22-2I

The application deadline is 24 June 2022, 23:59 GMT+1.

Applications received after the deadline has expired will not be accepted.

If your application does not include all the required supporting documents your application can be rejected and not be considered by the assessment committee.
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The Faculty of Law is one of six faculties at the University of Copenhagen. The Faculty carries out research, education and knowledge dissemination within the area of law. Research is partly organized in research centres and groups with focus on thematic areas of interest. The Faculty employs about 80 full time researchers and approx. 50 PhD students as well as approx. 70 administrative staff members. In addition, approx. 450 part-time lecturers teach on the legal programmes on which approx. 4,500 students are enrolled. See the Faculty website: https://jura.ku.dk/english for more information .

Part of the International Alliance of Research Universities (IARU), and among Europe’s top-ranking universities, the University of Copenhagen promotes research and teaching of the highest international standard. Rich in tradition and modern in outlook, the University gives students and staff the opportunity to cultivate their talent in an ambitious and informal environment. An effective organisation – with good working conditions and a collaborative work culture – creates the ideal framework for a successful academic career.