About the position
MINARET is a doctoral network in the sociology of post-imperial Islamic legal cultures, led from Lund University's Department of Sociology of Law and funded through the EU's Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions. Doctoral students join the NORCA Nordic Central Asian Studies research environment, with Rustamjon Urinboyev as principal supervisor.
This project asks whether religiously informed governance and legal strategies in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan strengthen accountability, public trust and institutional effectiveness, drawing on research on Islamic public administration and legal culture.
What you will do
- Carry out independent research within the project, including fieldwork in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.
- Complete two compulsory secondments abroad, one academic and one outside academia.
- Take part in the network's training events, workshops and conferences, and work with international supervisors and peers.
- Contribute to teaching and seminars in the department, up to 20% of your time.
Who can apply
- A master's degree in sociology of law or another relevant subject, with at least 240 credits of which 60 are at advanced level, including at least 30 advanced credits in sociology of law or a related subject and a thesis of at least 15 credits.
- Marie Skłodowska-Curie mobility rule: you must not have lived or had your main activity (work or study) in Sweden for more than 12 months in the 3 years before recruitment, and you must not already hold a doctorate.
- Excellent spoken and written English; the working language is English, and you are expected to learn basic Swedish during the post.
- Valued: knowledge of legal sociology, Islamic legal cultures or the region, and experience of qualitative fieldwork.
What is offered
- Full-time, fixed-term employment as a doctoral student in Lund for four years, starting in September 2027.
- Joint supervision, placements outside academia and training in research methods, ethics, open science and transferable skills through the MINARET Doctoral Network.
- Up to 20% of your time may go to teaching and seminars.
How to apply
- Apply through Lund University's recruitment system, linked below, quoting reference PA2026/2939, by 31 January 2027.
- A cover letter in English (up to 1,000 words), a CV, degree certificates and transcripts in English, and the names of two referees.
- A research proposal of up to 13,000 characters that fits the project, your master's thesis or another writing sample, and any publications.
- Top-ranked applicants are invited to an interview.