PhD scholarship in “Children and Stepfamilies”, University of Copenhagen (UCPH)

Applications are invited for PhD scholarship at the Department of Economics. Enrollment will be at the Faculty of Social Sciences under Copenhagen Graduate School of Social Sciences.

The position starting date is 1 September 2026.

The project
The fertility rate has plummeted across the globe and so has the share of nuclear families. In this project, we will investigate some of the potential roots of these empirical facts. Concretely, we will analyze how a range of factors, including non-biological children (stepchildren), can contribute to the decline in fertility using a combination of Danish register data available from Statistics Denmark, our own AI-assisted survey data to be collected, and economic theory.

Using recently proposed AI tools to carry out large-scale interviews, we will provide the first comprehensive, data-driven documentation of reasons and themes around having children. While several potential explanations for the global decline in fertility have been put forward, we do not have a good sense of how important these different motives might be or if other motives might be important. We will provide the first answer to this question.

A less studied hypothesis in economics is that secondary partnership and stepfamilies might be important for fertility behavior. We will explicitly test the importance of this channel using a theoretical model and Danish register data.

Your role
You will work together with PI Thomas H. Jørgensen (Associate Professor, Department of Economics, University of Copenhagen), and Mette Ejrnæs (Professor, Department of Economics, University of Copenhagen). You will work on specific sub-projects headed by Thomas H. Jørgensen, but you will also develop your own independent sub-projects.

You will help with the collection and analysis of survey data on how individuals plan and think about having children. You will use machine learning tools for text analysis and semi-structured interviews along with computational methods for estimation of models of household behavior.

You will be connected to the Center for Economic Behavior and Inequality, the Center for Computational Economics and the Labor group. This will provide you with many junior and senior colleagues to discuss both theoretical, empirical and computational aspects of your work. As part of your study, you will also travel internationally to visit other research environments.

Preferably, you have some prior experience with computational economics and/or data analysis.

The PhD programme
The PhD programme provides PhD students with strong research training which opens up a window of opportunity to a variety of careers within the private and public sectors. The programme includes the drafting of a PhD thesis, active participation in research networks, PhD courses, teaching, and other forms of knowledge dissemination. The PhD programme will be undertaken as a three year full-time study within the framework of the 5+3 study programme, or a four year full-time study within the framework of the 4+4 study programme.   

Duties and Responsibilities
Further information about the PhD study programme is available on the website of Copenhagen Graduate School of Social Sciences: PhD School in the Social Sciences – Faculty of Social Sciences - University of Copenhagen.

Under "Legal basis" on the website you will find information about the rules and guidelines for the PhD programme and the Danish Ministerial Order on the PhD programme at the Universities. 

Information about the PhD study programme is also available on the PhD website of the Department of Economics: Please see: https://www.economics.ku.dk/phd/.

Applicants should familiarise themselves with the research strategy and the ongoing research at the Department before submitting their application. Further information can be found here: https://www.economics.ku.dk/research/.

Qualification requirements
Applicants must have qualifications corresponding to master’s level related to the subject area of the project, e.g. MSc in Economics. If you have completed your education in Denmark, you must have a master’s degree covered by the collective agreement for academics in the state sector.

If you have completed your education outside of Denmark, you must either have a master’s degree equivalent to a Danish master’s degree (two years) or as minimum a bachelor’s degree equivalent to a Danish bachelor’s degree (three years) and be assessed as having professional qualifications at master's level.

If you have completed your education outside of Denmark, we will obtain an assessment of your education from the Danish Research Agency.

If you do not have an education equivalent to a relevant Danish master´s degree or qualifications corresponding to Danish master’s level, you might be qualified for the integrated MSc and PhD programme (4+4).

Scholarship in the 5+3 or the 4+4 PhD study programmes
The 5+3 PhD study programme 
PhD students are paid a salary in accordance with the agreement between the Ministry of Finance and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations (AC). The PhD student has a work obligation of up to 840 hours over the 3 year period of time without additional pay. The work obligation can include teaching, for instance. The PhD student is expected to seek funding for fieldwork as this is not included in the scholarship.

The 4+4 PhD study programme 
Until an MSc degree is obtained, the grant is paid partly in the form of up to 48 state education grant portions (in Danish: SU-klip). More specifically the PhD student will be paid two grant portions per month plus salary for work (teaching, presentations etc.) which totals a workload of at least 280 hours. Payment and conditions of employment are carried out in accordance with the agreement between the Ministry of Finance and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations (AC). Upon completion of the MSc degree programme, the student is transferred to the salary-earning part of the PhD studies. The PhD student is expected to seek funding for fieldwork as this is not included in the scholarship.

For more information on the specific requirements of the integrated PhD programmes, please visit this website: Integrated PhD – University of Copenhagen.

Please note assessment of applicants’ qualifications and eligibility for employment and enrolment will only take place after the application deadline.

How to apply
Please submit your application online. To apply, please click on the “Apply now” icon at the bottom of this page. Your application must be written in English, and include the following attachments (with descriptive titles) in either PDF or Word format:

• Cover letter (max. 1 page detailing your motivation and background for applying with the specific PhD project)
• CV
• Project description (max. 12,000 characters incl. spaces not incl. bibliography)
• Project abstract (max 1,200 characters incl. spaces)
• Diploma and transcripts of records (BSc and MSc). Please include the following documents: bachelor’s and master's degree - diplomas and transcripts, description of grading scale. Please note: If your degree diploma is not available by the application deadline, please include your latest transcript of grades.
• Time schedule 
• Budget (if relevant)
• Other information for consideration, e.g., list of publications, documentation of English language qualifications (if any).

Further details on the documents that should accompany your application are available on this website: Admission requirements and application procedures – University of Copenhagen.

Applicants holding a degree from a university where the working language is neither English nor a Scandinavian language must include translated versions of their diploma and transcripts, verified by the issuing university. The documents must be translated into English, Danish, Norwegian, or Swedish. In addition, an official description of the relevant grading scale (e.g. diploma supplement) must be included.

The recruitment process
Further information on the recruitment process at University of Copenhagen can be found here:  https://employment.ku.dk/faculty/recruitment-process/.

The following criteria are used when shortlisting candidates for assessment: 

1. Research qualifications as reflected in the project proposal. 

2. Quality and feasibility of the project.  

3. Qualifications and knowledge in relevant Anthropology disciplines. 

4. Performance (grades obtained) in graduate and post-graduate studies. 

5. Department of Economics can offer adequate supervision for the research topic in question. 

Selected applicants are notified of the composition of the assessment committee, and each applicant has the opportunity to comment on the part of the assessment that relates to the applicant him/herself.

As an applicant to the University of Copenhagen, you should be prepared to undergo a security screening related to international research collaboration as part of the recruitment process. The security screening will be conducted in cases where the University deems it appropriate based on an overall assessment. 

Enrolment
In order to be awarded a PhD scholarship, the applicant has to enroll as a PhD student at the Faculty of Social Sciences, cf. the rules of the Danish Ministerial order No 1039 of 27 August 2013.  

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. For more on the diverse working place environment at the University and the University’s participation in the HRS4R HR Excellence in Research, see https://employment.ku.dk/working-at-ucph/eu-charter-for-researchers/.

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 these services as well as information on entering and working in Denmark here: https://ism.ku.dk/.

Contact information
We kindly encourage you to consult our website, where most questions regarding the recruitment process as well as the academic content and structure of the PhD programme are answered:
Structure of the PhD programme – University of Copenhagen

How to obtain a PhD scholarship – University of Copenhagen

Information about the recruitment process is available from HR South, e-mail: hr-soendre@adm.ku.dk. Please refer to ID number: 211-2355/25-2H #2.

Additional information about the position can be obtained from Associate Professor Thomas Jørgensen, e-mail: tjo@econ.ku.dk.

The closing date for applications is 1 February 2026 (CET).

Applications received after the deadline will not be taken into account.