You will be engaged in a research project titled “Sports for the Planet? The Sustainability of Major Sports Events”, which is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation. As resource-intensive and highly visible undertakings, major sports events have a heightened responsibility to be sustainable. Yet, the sustainability of these events is largely under-studied. This project aims to fill this gap by developing a conceptual model, indicator framework and contextual analysis of the sustainability of major sports events.

Career Opportunities: Doctoral Student SNSF in Sociology of Sport (21031)

Presentation

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ISSUL, the Institute of Sports Sciences of the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences opens a position of Doctoral Student SNSF in sociology of sport, funded by a SSH grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation.

Job description

You will be engaged in a research project titled "Sports for the Planet? The Sustainability of Major Sports Events," which is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation. As resource-intensive and highly visible undertakings, major sports events have a heightened responsibility to be sustainable. Yet, the sustainability of these events is largely under-studied. This project aims to fill this gap by developing a conceptual model, indicator framework and contextual analysis of the sustainability of major sports events along four thematic axes: Cities & Environment, Governance & Performance, Integrity & Human Rights, Media & Diversity. The project will create a comprehensive global database encompassing a wide variety of sports events from 1990 to 2022, utilizing a mixed methods approach. The quantitative component will deliver a systematic, comparative analysis of sustainability outcomes for major sports events across time. Meanwhile, the qualitative component will delve into an in-depth examination of eight case studies to compare and explain sustainability outcomes.

The grant recipients for this project are Martin Muller from the Faculty of Geosciences and Environment (UNIL), Stefano Caneppele from the Faculty of Law, Criminal Justice, and Public Administration (UNIL), Markus Lang from the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (UNIL), and Lucie Schoch from the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (UNIL). Your responsibilities

In your activities, you will:

• Participate in the SNSF research project "Sports for the planet? The sustainability of major sports events" where you will have the opportunity to actively contribute to the collection and analysis of a unique dataset
• Play an integral role in carrying out various tasks associated with the implementation of the research project.
• Write and complete a PhD in sports sciences under the supervision of Dr. Lucie Schoch
• Interact with experts, practitioners and representatives of international sports organizations
• Present your results at international conferences and publish them in scientific journals; and coordinate with the other researchers of the SNSF project.

Job information

• Starting date: February 1, 2024
• Contract length: 1 year, renewable for 3 years (4 years in total)
• Activity rate: 100% 
• Workplace: University of Lausanne, Synathlon (Lausanne-Dorigny)

Salary: salary scale

• 1st year : CHF 47'699.-
• 2d year : CHF 49'220.-
• 3d and 4th year : CHF 50'741.-

Plus a monthly allowance : CHF 761.-

Your qualifications

To complete our team, we are looking for someone with the following qualifications:

• A Master’s degree in sports sciences, sociology, social sciences, gender studies, communication/media studies or another relevant social science discipline (completed at the start of the project in February 2024)
• Strong interest in scientific research on sports media/communication and/or gender and sport studies
• High motivation to complete a doctoral dissertation as part of SSH project (see project description)
• Excellent qualitative methods skills and an interest in mix-method
• Knowledge of statistics and experience in using a statistical software suite such as SPSS, Stata or R.
• Ability to work independently as well as collaboratively in a research team.
• Highly organized, detail-oriented, and able to meet deadlines.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English (working language) and French.

What the position offers you

• You will have a chance to be a part of a project which aims at producing integrated empirical evidence on the sustainability of major sports events.
• You will gain experience in working in an interdisciplinary team with both academic and non-academic experts in the field of sports.
• You will work in a rich and stimulating environment of interdisciplinary research and have opportunities to be integrated in ISSUL
• You can benefit from the support for conference participation but also of the ISSUL doctoral school

Contact for further information

Dr. Lucie Schoch: lucie.schoch@unil.ch

Your application

Deadline application: July 31, 2023

Please submit the following documents through the UNIL application platform:

• A cover letter highlighting your research interests and motivation for the position.
• A comprehensive CV, including a list of publications (if applicable).
• Copies of university diplomas and degrees, with transcripts (indicating marks/grades).
• A copy of your Master’s thesis (if not available, please send another research work realized during your Master).
• Contact information for 2-3 references who can speak to your qualifications and potential.

Job interviews will take place on August 28-29, 2023, at the University of Lausanne.

Please, send your full application in Word or PDF.

Only applications through this website will be taken into account.

UNIL is committed to equal opportunities and diversity. www.unil.ch/egalite

UNIL supports early career researchers. www.unil.ch/graduatecampus