The Department of Culture and Communication at Aalborg University invites applications for a fully funded 3-year PhD scholarship beginning on 1 January 2027, or as soon as possible thereafter. The position is fixed term and full-time and includes both research and teaching activities.

The PhD scholarship is part of the research project Not Liking School: Lived Experience of School Emotions, funded by Independent Research Fund Denmark. The project is based at the Centre for Education Policy Research and explores lived experiences of not liking school in Danish comprehensive schooling from the late 1950s and onwards. Through a combination of history of emotions, educational history, historical ethnography, and policy analysis, the project explores how students' discomfort with, resistance to, and disengagement from school have been lived, understood, and addressed over time. The project explores how students expressed dissatisfaction through practices such as truancy, silence, restlessness, withdrawal, classroom disruption, and school protests, and how these experiences were addressed through pedagogical and policy responses.

The overall aim of the PhD project is to explore the lived experiences of former students in the Danish folkeskole, with particular attention to school strikes and other forms of resistance, disengagement, and withdrawal from school life. Through ethnographic history interviews and related qualitative methods, the PhD fellow will explore how students experienced, negotiated, and articulated dissatisfaction with schooling. The PhD fellow will contribute to the development of the project's conceptual framework on school emotions and not liking school and participate actively in an interdisciplinary research environment that brings together educational history, history of emotions, ethnography, and policy studies. Further description of the project can be found here: https://dff.dk/en/our-funded-projects/meet-the-researchers/research-leaders/eksterne-personer-en/research-leaders-2026/mante-vertelyte/ and here: Can history help us understand why children do not like going to school?

The project is led by Associate Professor Mante Vertelyte (PI), Department of Culture and Communication. Associate Professor Mante Vertelyte (principal supervisor) and Professor Mette Buchardt (co-supervisor) will supervise the PhD project. The successful applicant will become part of an international research environment that includes international collaborations and research stays abroad.

Qualification requirements
PhD stipends are allocated to individuals who hold a Master’s degree. PhD stipends are normally for a period of 3 years. It is a prerequisite for allocation of the stipend that the candidate will be enrolled as a PhD student at the Doctoral School of Social Sciences and Humanities in accordance with the regulations of Ministerial Order No. 1124 of September 19, 2025 on the PhD Programme at the Universities and Certain Higher Artistic Educational Institutions. According to the Ministerial Order, the progress of the PhD student shall be assessed at regular points in time. As part of the PhD study, you are among other things required to complete PhD courses corresponding to 30 ECTS, gain experience with teaching or other forms of knowledge dissemination and complete an external research stay outside of Aalborg University, preferably 3-6 months at a foreign research institution.

SSH PhD candidates must have achieved the grade 10 or above in the Danish grading system (or the equivalent in a different grading system) for their Master’s Thesis/final exam. Please visit the website of the doctoral school for further information on admission requirements.

Who we are
The Department of Culture and Communication deals with human life in its complexity. We ask fundamental questions about life and contribute knowledge about how human beings create meaning, interact, flourish and participate in society. The Department has activities at both Campus Aalborg and Campus Copenhagen. Read more about the Department here.

The position is affiliated with the research group: Centre for Education Policy Research

How to apply
Your application, written in English, must include the following:

• Application stating reasons for applying and qualifications in relation to the position
• Curriculum Vitae (CV)
• Diplomas (bachelor's and master's degree diploma, including grades)
• Project description (approx. 5 pages). Read more about the project description
• Applicants WHO are planning to complete a doctoral thesis in English and who do not have English as a first language or WHO have not completed an English language-based Master's programme (or an equivalent educational achievement in English) shall provide documentation that they have passed one of the following official tests with the respective minimum score: IELTS (band score): 7, TOEFL (paper-based): 600, TOEFL (internet-based): 100. The language test must be no more than five years old at the time of the application. Read more on how to document your English qualifications.
• Other relevant documents

The application must be submitted via Aalborg University’s recruitment system, which can be accessed under the job advertisement on Aalborg University's website.

Aalborg University wants to reflect the surrounding society and has diversity as a core value. Therefore, everyone, regardless of personal background and orientation, is encouraged to apply for the position.

Do you have any questions?
If you have any questions about the position, you are more than welcome to contact us. You will find contact persons at the bottom of the jobpost.

Interviews are expected to take place in the first week of December 2026.

Further information
Read more about our recruitment process here.

The assessment of candidates for the position will be carried out by qualified experts.
Shortlisting will be applied. This means that after the application deadline, the head of the department, with the assistance of the hiring committee, will select the applicants to be assessed. All applicants will be informed whether they have been shortlisted for assessment or not.

The hiring process at Aalborg University may include a risk assessment as a tool to identify potential risks associated with new hires, ensuring the safety, compliance, and integrity of the workplace.

Read more about The Doctoral School of Social Sciences and Humanities

Salary and terms of employment
The employment is in accordance with the Ministerial Order on the Appointment of Academic Staff at Universities (the Appointment Order) and the Ministerial Order on Job Structure for Academic Staff at Universities (in Danish).

Salary and terms of employment are in accordance with the collective agreement between the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations and the state (AC collective agreement) (in Danish)

There is a mutual probationary period of 3 months for the position.

Aalborg University - Knowledge for the world
Aalborg University is an international workplace with more than 3,700 employees. We offer real-world-oriented education and create world-class research results through collaboration between researchers, students, and public and private companies. This is how we achieve insights, new solutions to societal problems, and knowledge that changes the world. Our main campus is in Aalborg, but we also have campuses in Esbjerg and Copenhagen.

Contacts

• Mante Vertelyte: +4526503210, vertelyte@ikk.aau.dk

Ansættelsestype

Full time

Ref. nummer

2026/1003

Ansøgningsfrist

16.10.2026