Research/Scholarship Positions - ISSER

Starting June 27, 2017 - Ending June 27, 2018 Expired

The Institute for Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER) of the University of Ghana, in collaboration with the Centre on Conflict, Development and Peace building (CCDP) of the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies is pleased to invite self-motivated and promising persons to fill the following positions:  

POSITIONS:   

 a) Postdoctoral Researcher/Researcher - Law (50%)

 b) Postdoctoral Researcher/Researcher – Economics (50%)

 c) PhD Research Position – Economics (100%)

 d) PhD Research Position/Research Masters – Law (100%)

for the project entitled “Curbing Illicit Financial Flows from Resource-rich Developing Countries: Improving Natural Resource Governance to Finance the SDGs”, funded by the Swiss Programme for Research on Global Issues for Development (r4d programme), a joint initiative of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF).

Application Deadline: June 30, 2017

Start date: 1 September 2017  

POSTDOC/RESEARCHER - LAW

Tasks and responsibilities:

  •  Work closely with Elisabeth Bürgi and the law post-doc position at the University of Bern on the legal aspects pertaining to the study of illicit financial flows, including (but not limited to):
  •  The structure of the Ghanaian tax regime in general, the collection of data on tax payments and tariffs, and an analysis of tax regulations on different levels of governance (and related to  both direct and indirect taxes); and
  •  The study of institutional practices to deal with trade and transfer mispricing, including issues of data exchange, engagement with international organisations and initiatives (such as social    corporate responsibility policy and human rights-related tax jurisdiction).
  • Make inputs into the organisation of meetings, conferences and other project outputs; 
  • Contribute to the publication of academic papers, policy briefs and training materials, including co-authored deliverables with other r4d team members; and
  • Collaborate, under the guidance of Fred Dzanku in Accra and Gilles Carbonnier in Geneva, with the entire international project team on all research-related tasks necessary for the           successful implementation of this project.

 Requirements

  • PhD in Law (including a track record in jurisprudence and preferably also tax law);
  • Excellent English-language writing, drafting, and communication skills;
  • A proven interest/expertise in the field of natural resource governance, commodity trade, development finance or other fields related to the research project;
  • Strong organization, coordination and communication skills; and
  • Ability to work under time pressure, meet multiple deadlines, and work both autonomously and in a participatory manner within an interdisciplinary team.

B) POSTDOC/RESEARCHER - ECONOMICS

Tasks and responsibilities:

  • Take the lead in desk research and expert interviews, data compilation, dataset construction and quantitative analysis to ascertain the volume of commodity trade-related IFFs based on solid data and methods;
  • Contribute to the development of a trade-related IFFs database;
  • Make inputs into organisation of meetings, conferences and other project outputs; 
  • Contribute to the publication of academic papers, policy briefs and training materials, including co-authored deliverables with other r4d team members; and
  • Collaborate, under the guidance of Fred Dzanku in Accra and Gilles Carbonnier in Geneva, with the entire international project team on all research-related tasks necessary for the successful implementation of this project.

Requirements

  • PhD in Economics or related programme;
  • Excellent English-language writing, drafting, and communication skills;
  • Proven interest/expertise in the field of natural resource governance, commodity trade, development finance or other fields related to the research project;
  • Experience with the compilation and management of large datasets (command of relevant software packages);
  • Strong organization, coordination and communication skills; and
  • Ability to work under time pressure, meet multiple deadlines, and work both autonomously and in a participatory manner within an interdisciplinary team.

C) PHD RESEARCH POSITION/SCHOLARSHIP – ECONOMICS

Requirements

  1. Applicants should be a PhD student in Economics or related programmes.
  2. Should have completed their PhD Comprehensive Examinations and confirmed as a PhD candidate in an area relevant to the project. Fresh PhD applicants who demonstrate extra competence with relevant materials may apply.
  3. Strong quantitative analysis background will be an advantage.
  4. Knowledge and experience in the project area.

D) PHD RESEARCH POSITION/RESEARCH MASTERS – LAW (100%)

Requirements

  1. Applicants should either be pursuing a PhD or gained admission to a Master in Philosophy in Law or related programmes.
  2. PhD student applicants should have completed their Comprehensive Examinations and confirmed as a PhD candidate in an area relevant to the project. Fresh PhD applicants who demonstrate extra competence with relevant materials may apply.
  3. Knowledge and experience in the project area.
  4. Strong grasp of the regulatory environment pertinent to the project.

HOW TO APPLY

Interested persons should send a one-page letter of motivation and curriculum vitae via email to the following addresses ablay-abiti@ug.edu.gh/fdzanku@gmail.com. The subject for your application should be that of the position you are applying. For example “Postdoc/Researcher – Economics”.