1 vacancy: Predoctoral or doctoral scholarship

Modality: 100% online
Start date/end of course: February21/July21
Duration:  5 months
Teaching Language: English
Research areas:  Sociology, Public Health, Demography
Hardware requirements: a computer, a stable internet connection, a webcam
Required computer skills: a good command of any writing software and of any statistical processing software (Stata, R, SPSS)
Qualification obtained: Research certificate
Academic requirements: Candidates should have completed their doctoral studies or, alternatively, hold a Master's degree and be enrolled in a doctoral programme in areas relevant to this project (Sociology, Public Health, Demography) or related disciplines.
Additional requirements: Candidates should have an advanced level of English; some knowledge of Spanish would be desirable. They should also have a good training in research methods and a strong command of quantitative skills.
Other information of interest: This research grant offers the opportunity to carry out a 5 months online collaboration at the Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED) from February 2020, under the "PERIFACT" project supervision. The project and the scholarship offered are within the scope of the following Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Good Health and Wellbeing (#3) and Reduced Inequalities (#10).

More information about the PERIFACT Project: Since Merton's notion of cumulative advantages and disadvantages was put forward, scholars interested in social inequalities have considered that the initial socioeconomic position that individuals hold are crucial to understand later (dis)advantages. Small advantages or disadvantages get accumulated over the individuals' life course and promote virtuous or vicious cycles that can materialize in the health, educational, or professional domains. The study of perinatal health, i.e. health around the time of birth, offers an interesting scenario to quantify early (dis)advantages and assess their consequences. The sociology of social stratification has actually intensified, in the last years, the analysis of this life event as a predictor of life chances. In this project, we analyse the correlates and consequences of perinatal health (using three relevant indicators: birth weight, gestational week, and foetal mortality), and produce empirical evidence comparable, in the methods used and the scientific rigour applied, to contributions in the United States and some European countries. We specify three topics for research: (1) the micro-level determinants of perinatal health, focusing especially on maternal and family characteristics, (2) the macro-level, contextual, determinants of perinatal health (natural disasters, pollution, policy changes), and (3) the consequences, in terms of later health and cognitive and socio-emotional development, of an adverse birth outcome.

Más información y solicitudes en: https://mujeresporafrica.es/becas/uned-predoctoral-or-doctoral-scholarship-at-uned-social-inequalities-in-perinatal-health-factors-and-consequences-perifact-project/