The Faculty of Law invites applications for two postdoctoral positions in EU law, gender equality and empirical legal research from 1 January 2027, or as soon as possible thereafter (and no later than 1 July 2027).

The positions are fixed-term full-time positions for 24 months.

Introduction
The positions are part of the research project eFree – Gender (Gaps) in EU Free Movement Law, funded by the Independent Research Fund Denmark.

Although EU citizens formally enjoy equal rights to move, work and reside across the Union, mobility continues to reproduce gender inequalities in employment, care responsibilities and access to social rights. The project investigates to what extent this can be attributed to the mismatch between the demand for EU free movement rules (litigation before the Court of Justice of the European Union) and the supply of legal rules (EU legislation and policymaking).

The project combines legal and empirical research (interviews, statistical analysis, and content analysis).

Duties and Responsibilities
Successful candidates will contribute to one of two interconnected work packages.

Postdoctoral position 1 – Litigation, case law and empirical legal analysis
The postdoctoral researcher will contribute to the empirical study of gender and litigation before the Court of Justice of the European Union. Responsibilities include legal analysis of EU case law, development of coding protocols, quality control of annotated datasets, statistical analysis, collaboration with the project's data specialist, publication of research findings, and participation in international research activities.

Experience in one or more of the following is an advantage:

• EU internal market law, EU citizenship or non-discrimination law
• comparative law
• law and language
• corpus linguistics, computational linguistics or computational legal methods

Postdoctoral position 2 – EU policymaking, gender equality and legal institutions
The postdoctoral researcher will investigate the development of EU legislation and policy relating to gender equality, free movement and EU citizenship. Responsibilities include legal and policy analysis, development of coding protocols, qualitative and computational analysis of legislative and policy documents, conducting elite interviews with policymakers and stakeholders, publication of research findings, and participation in international research activities.

Experience or interest in one or more of the following is an advantage:

• EU social or labor law
• gender studies, feminist legal theory, critical race theory or socio-legal research
• qualitative methods, elite interviewing
• content analysis

The postdoctoral positions are primarily dedicated to research. The positions also include teaching obligations, and other duties (organization of conferences or workshops) may be required to a limited extent.

Qualification Requirements
Applicants must hold a PhD in law or a closely related discipline by the time of appointment.

For both positions, the Faculty will place emphasis on applicants who demonstrate:

• excellent research potential and publication record relative to career stage;
• the ability to conduct independent research while working collaboratively in an interdisciplinary team.

The following qualifications will be considered an advantage:

• research experience in EU law;
• experience with empirical legal research or socio-legal methods;
• comparative legal research;
• expertise in gender equality, feminist legal theory and/or critical race theory;
• experience with corpus linguistics, computational linguistics;
• knowledge of statistical methods is an advantage for Postdoc 1;
• experience with qualitative interviews or policy analysis is an advantage for Postdoc 2.

Knowledge of one or more of the following languages will be considered an advantage:

• Danish
• French
• Italian
• Spanish

Assessment Criteria
Applicants will primarily be assessed in relation to their research qualifications, including their publications, ability to conduct independent research and participate in research collaborations, and their experience of research management. In addition, the applicant’s research plan and research potential will be assessed in relation to the overall project as described above.

Documented teaching experience will be included in the overall assessment.

Application
To apply, please click on the "Apply now" icon at the bottom of this page. The application must be written in Danish, Swedish, Norwegian or English, and include the following attachments in PDF or Word format:

• CV
• Cover letter
• Documentation of qualifications (exam certificates and diplomas)
• Complete publication list (attached publications must be marked with an *). You can attach a maximum of 5 publications, of which no more than 2 may be monographs.

If citing work where the applicant has been a co-author, a co-author declaration, which addresses the applicant's share of these works, must be submitted. Material that has not yet published can be submitted. Please indicate if this is the case.

• Research plan (maximum 5 pages)

The plan should include a brief account of previous research, current research projects, and a forward-looking outline of the planned research contribution over the coming years. The plan should also describe your involvement in research organisation, research collaborations, and active participation in research environments at both local and international levels.

• Teaching portfolio (statement: maximum 5 pages; documented appendices: maximum 10 pages) Please refer to the UCPH guidelines for teaching portfolios available at: Job application portfolio.

Only documentation in Danish, Swedish, Norwegian and English will be assessed.

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 39,000/approximately EUR 5,300 + an 18.07 % pension contribution. It is possible to negotiate salary supplements on an annual basis.

Recruitment Process
After the application deadline, the chair of the Appointment Committee selects applicants for assessment on the advice of the Appointment Committee. All applicants are notified whether their application has been accepted for assessment by an expert assessment committee. Selected applicants are notified of the composition of the committee and are at a later point offered the opportunity of commenting on the assessment.

You can find further information on our recruitment process at: Recruitment process.

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.

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.

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.

Contact Information
For additional information about the position, please contact Urška Šadl, email: [email protected]

For more Information about the recruitment process, please contact HR South at [email protected]. Please refer to ID number: 211-2641/26-2I.
The application deadline is 30 August 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.

Københavns Universitet giver sine knap 10.000 medarbejdere muligheder for at udnytte deres talent fuldt ud i et ambitiøst, uformelt miljø. Vi sikrer traditionsrige og moderne rammer om uddannelser og fri forskning på højt internationalt niveau. Vi søger svar og løsninger på fælles problemer og gør ny viden tilgængelig og nyttig for andre.

Info
Ansøgningsfrist: 30-08-2026

Ansættelsesdato: 01-01-2027

Afdeling/Sted: The Faculty of Law