Three postdoctoral positions on the public engagement with The Agreement on a Green Denmark, University of Copenhagen
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Three postdoctoral positions on the public engagement with The Agreement on a Green Denmark, University of Copenhagen
Applications are invited for three postdoc positions at the Green Mandate project. The project is a collaboration between the Queen Mary Center, the Department of Psychology and the Copenhagen Center for Social Data Science (SODAS) at the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Copenhagen, as well as the Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies, Aarhus University.
The project
Green Mandate is a new research-praxis project that aims to strengthen the capacity of Danish society to implement the ‘Aftale om et Grønt Danmark’ (from now on ‘the Green Tripartite’), while mitigating public contestation and backlash. The project will achieve this through interdisciplinary and multi-method research clarifying the social mandate for transformational change to Danish landscapes and the experience of land use transitions at the local level. In so doing, the project aims to create a foundation for informed democratic debate and empowers decision-makers and stakeholders to effectively take citizen attitudes and engagement into account. Realising these aims promises to benefit the climate, environment, citizens, and the agrifood sector alike.
The project will establish an integrated monitoring platform, combining national and local surveys with systematic media analysis and local qualitative data to provide on-going knowledge on the public’s support and contestation around agreement’s implementation. The project team will map how citizens relate to key aspects of the relationship between the Green Tripartite and the citizenry such as land-use reforms, recreational nature use, agricultural changes, fairness perceptions, future expectations and perceptions of trust and accountability in the process, tracking how responses evolve across regions, social groups, and implementation phases. The project has a strong focus collaboration with key decision makers and sectoral stakeholders in the Green Tripartite process.
A more detailed introduction to the project, its aims and methods, can be found here: Green Mandate Project Description - ClimAct.
The postdoc researchers will form the core research team, supported by PIs, research- and student assistants as well as a management and communication team.
Positions are for 24 months, with a desired start date of 1st June or as soon as possible thereafter.
The positions
Each postdoc will be responsible for unique aspects of the project and managing different forms of data, but the expectation is that all postdocs will work together to identify and create synergies across their areas of work and to develop the overall focus of the research project.
Two positions for attitudinal data at the Department of Psychology
Two postdocs will be working with Professor Thomas Morton at the Department of Psychology UCPH to cover the topics of citizen attitudes and engagement:
Postdoc 1 will conduct in-depth qualitative research through specific Local Green Tripartites, involving interviews with participants, facilitators, and decision-makers, to document local engagement processes and analyse their effectiveness (or otherwise) for creating public buy-in and perceived legitimacy.
Postdoc 2 will conduct in depth quantitative research through national as well as local surveys to capture the full scope of public attitudes towards the Green Tripartite. This position also entails developing and leading survey experiments in order to test the effectiveness of communication and intervention strategies.
Relevant academic backgrounds for these postdocs include social psychology, environmental psychology, political science, sociology and other related fields of social science.
One position for media monitoring at SODAS
Postdoc 3 will work with Professor Anders Blok at SODAS to cover the development of the public debate around the agreement through monitoring of conventional and social media. This position involves collecting, managing, structuring and analyzing large text-based material from sources such as Infomedia, X, Facebook. Relevant analytical experience includes topic modelling, semantic network analysis, dictionary methods and quantitative and qualitative content analysis.
Relevant academic backgrounds include social data science, sociology, political science, data science and related fields.
The candidates
For all positions, the candidate must have attained qualifications equivalent to PhD level in a relevant field by the employment start date. In addition, they should have:
The Department of Psychology is one of the leading psychology departments in Northern Europe and covers a broad range of psychological approaches and disciplines in research and teaching. The Department has over 100 members of staff, and over 50 PhD students. For more information see: Department of Psychology – Department of Psychology - University of Copenhagen.
SODAS is an interdisciplinary social science centre based at the Faculty of Social Sciences, UCPH, which combines classic social science methods with new data science techniques to do cutting-edge and creative interdisciplinary research, teaching and impact at the fertile crossroads between the social sciences and data science. For more information see: Copenhagen Center for Social Data Science – University of Copenhagen.
The Queen Mary Center promotes interdisciplinary collaboration between researchers and practitioners with the aim of identifying and solving societal problems. The center creates new knowledge in close collaboration between the university and organizations in the public sector, industry, and civil society. For more information see: English – Queen Mary’s Centre - University of Copenhagen.
Application
Please submit your application online. To apply, please click on the “Apply now” icon at the bottom of this page. The application can be written in either English or Danish, and should include the following attachments in PDF or Word format:
You are encouraged to familiarize yourself with the faculty’s strategic landmarks here: Strategic landmarks – University of Copenhagen (ku.dk).
Salary and Terms of Employment
Terms of appointment and salary will be in accordance with an agreement between the Ministry of Finance and The Danish Confederation of Professional Associations (AC). The salary range for postdoctoral positions starts at DKK 39,200/approximately EUR 5,150 + an 18.07 % pension contribution. It is possible to negotiate salary supplements on an annual basis.
International Applicant?
The University of Copenhagen offers a broad variety of services for international researchers and accompanying families, including support before and during your relocation and career counselling to expat partners. Please find more information about our services at: For international researchers at the University of Copenhagen – University of Copenhagen (ku.dk).
An Equal Opportunity Workplace
The University of Copenhagen is committed in its pursuit of academic excellence to equality of opportunity and to creating an inclusive working environment and therefore encourages all qualified candidates to apply, regardless of personal background, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, ethnicity etc. To learn more about our diverse workplace and our participation in the HRS4R HR Excellence in research, please visit HR Excellence in Research – University of Copenhagen (ku.dk).
Contact Information
For more Information about the recruitment process, please contact HR South at hr-soendre@adm.ku.dk. Please refer to ID number: 211-2505/26-2I #2.
For additional information about the position, please contact Professor Thomas Morton, email: thomas.morton@psy.ku.dk.
The Application Deadline is 6 April 2026 at 23:59 CEST.
Any applications or additional material submitted after the deadline will not be considered. However, changes may be made to the submitted application right up until the deadline.
The project
Green Mandate is a new research-praxis project that aims to strengthen the capacity of Danish society to implement the ‘Aftale om et Grønt Danmark’ (from now on ‘the Green Tripartite’), while mitigating public contestation and backlash. The project will achieve this through interdisciplinary and multi-method research clarifying the social mandate for transformational change to Danish landscapes and the experience of land use transitions at the local level. In so doing, the project aims to create a foundation for informed democratic debate and empowers decision-makers and stakeholders to effectively take citizen attitudes and engagement into account. Realising these aims promises to benefit the climate, environment, citizens, and the agrifood sector alike.
The project will establish an integrated monitoring platform, combining national and local surveys with systematic media analysis and local qualitative data to provide on-going knowledge on the public’s support and contestation around agreement’s implementation. The project team will map how citizens relate to key aspects of the relationship between the Green Tripartite and the citizenry such as land-use reforms, recreational nature use, agricultural changes, fairness perceptions, future expectations and perceptions of trust and accountability in the process, tracking how responses evolve across regions, social groups, and implementation phases. The project has a strong focus collaboration with key decision makers and sectoral stakeholders in the Green Tripartite process.
A more detailed introduction to the project, its aims and methods, can be found here: Green Mandate Project Description - ClimAct.
The postdoc researchers will form the core research team, supported by PIs, research- and student assistants as well as a management and communication team.
Positions are for 24 months, with a desired start date of 1st June or as soon as possible thereafter.
The positions
Each postdoc will be responsible for unique aspects of the project and managing different forms of data, but the expectation is that all postdocs will work together to identify and create synergies across their areas of work and to develop the overall focus of the research project.
Two positions for attitudinal data at the Department of Psychology
Two postdocs will be working with Professor Thomas Morton at the Department of Psychology UCPH to cover the topics of citizen attitudes and engagement:
Postdoc 1 will conduct in-depth qualitative research through specific Local Green Tripartites, involving interviews with participants, facilitators, and decision-makers, to document local engagement processes and analyse their effectiveness (or otherwise) for creating public buy-in and perceived legitimacy.
Postdoc 2 will conduct in depth quantitative research through national as well as local surveys to capture the full scope of public attitudes towards the Green Tripartite. This position also entails developing and leading survey experiments in order to test the effectiveness of communication and intervention strategies.
Relevant academic backgrounds for these postdocs include social psychology, environmental psychology, political science, sociology and other related fields of social science.
One position for media monitoring at SODAS
Postdoc 3 will work with Professor Anders Blok at SODAS to cover the development of the public debate around the agreement through monitoring of conventional and social media. This position involves collecting, managing, structuring and analyzing large text-based material from sources such as Infomedia, X, Facebook. Relevant analytical experience includes topic modelling, semantic network analysis, dictionary methods and quantitative and qualitative content analysis.
Relevant academic backgrounds include social data science, sociology, political science, data science and related fields.
The candidates
For all positions, the candidate must have attained qualifications equivalent to PhD level in a relevant field by the employment start date. In addition, they should have:
- A good grasp of relevant academic literature.
- Strong academic writing skills.
- A strong interest in impact-oriented research.
- Experience with developing and applying qualitative, quantitative, or data-analytic research designs as is relevant to the specific position.
- Experience with coding and data management in common statistical programming languages (e.g., R, Python, SPSS) or packages for managing and exploring qualitative data (e.g., NVivo, Atlas.ti) as relevant to the position.
- Experience and a keen interest in collaborating closely with stakeholders and developing engaging communication products.
- Experience and a keen interest in collaborating across disciplines and methods.
- Experience with project management and leadership for research assistants and/or student assistants.
- Strong Danish and English language skills are essential.
The Department of Psychology is one of the leading psychology departments in Northern Europe and covers a broad range of psychological approaches and disciplines in research and teaching. The Department has over 100 members of staff, and over 50 PhD students. For more information see: Department of Psychology – Department of Psychology - University of Copenhagen.
SODAS is an interdisciplinary social science centre based at the Faculty of Social Sciences, UCPH, which combines classic social science methods with new data science techniques to do cutting-edge and creative interdisciplinary research, teaching and impact at the fertile crossroads between the social sciences and data science. For more information see: Copenhagen Center for Social Data Science – University of Copenhagen.
The Queen Mary Center promotes interdisciplinary collaboration between researchers and practitioners with the aim of identifying and solving societal problems. The center creates new knowledge in close collaboration between the university and organizations in the public sector, industry, and civil society. For more information see: English – Queen Mary’s Centre - University of Copenhagen.
Application
Please submit your application online. To apply, please click on the “Apply now” icon at the bottom of this page. The application can be written in either English or Danish, and should include the following attachments in PDF or Word format:
- CV
- Cover letter
- Documentation of qualifications (Master's and PhD diploma)
- A short proposal (maximum 1 page) for how you would approach the research, including which questions/ issues you would prioritise if given the opportunity.
- Complete publication list (attached publications must be marked with an asterisk). You can attach a maximum of 3 publications. The publication dates must be clearly marked on the list. The selected publications must be uploaded as attachments and numbered 1-3. The list must be structured systematically and divided into the following categories:
- Peer-reviewed publications:
- Monographs and anthologies
- Articles in journals
- Book chapters/anthology contributions, etc.
- Non-peer-reviewed publications:
- Publications disseminating research findings, etc.
- Peer-reviewed publications:
You are encouraged to familiarize yourself with the faculty’s strategic landmarks here: Strategic landmarks – University of Copenhagen (ku.dk).
Salary and Terms of Employment
Terms of appointment and salary will be in accordance with an agreement between the Ministry of Finance and The Danish Confederation of Professional Associations (AC). The salary range for postdoctoral positions starts at DKK 39,200/approximately EUR 5,150 + an 18.07 % pension contribution. It is possible to negotiate salary supplements on an annual basis.
International Applicant?
The University of Copenhagen offers a broad variety of services for international researchers and accompanying families, including support before and during your relocation and career counselling to expat partners. Please find more information about our services at: For international researchers at the University of Copenhagen – University of Copenhagen (ku.dk).
An Equal Opportunity Workplace
The University of Copenhagen is committed in its pursuit of academic excellence to equality of opportunity and to creating an inclusive working environment and therefore encourages all qualified candidates to apply, regardless of personal background, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, ethnicity etc. To learn more about our diverse workplace and our participation in the HRS4R HR Excellence in research, please visit HR Excellence in Research – University of Copenhagen (ku.dk).
Contact Information
For more Information about the recruitment process, please contact HR South at hr-soendre@adm.ku.dk. Please refer to ID number: 211-2505/26-2I #2.
For additional information about the position, please contact Professor Thomas Morton, email: thomas.morton@psy.ku.dk.
The Application Deadline is 6 April 2026 at 23:59 CEST.
Any applications or additional material submitted after the deadline will not be considered. However, changes may be made to the submitted application right up until the deadline.