Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) Internship 2018

Reference: #EPD PhD Intern12/17

Contract Type:Contract (36 Months)

Salary: Market Related

Location: Nationwide, Nationwide, South Africa

In delivering ‘social science that makes a difference’, the Research Programmes of the Human Sciences Research Council initiate and undertake policy-oriented research projects and programmes from its offices in Cape Town, Durban, Pietermaritzburg, Port Elizabeth and Pretoria. Its public-purpose mandate is set out in the Human Sciences Research Council Act of 2008.

Economic Performance and Development (EPD) seeks to generate robust knowledge, evidence and policy ideas to tackle the unsustainable levels of unemployment, inequality and poverty in South Africa. There is an emphasis on micro-economic and multi-disciplinary approaches to understanding the drivers and dynamics of economic and employment change within regions, cities, towns and rural areas. An underlying question is how to expand, upgrade and transform the trajectory of the economy in a way that benefits the many, not the few.

EPD’s work is structured around four themes:

•The spatial economy of city-regions
•Place making and development
•Rural Socio-Economic Transitions
•Employment creation and Inclusive development

EPD wishes to appoint a PhD Research Intern for a period of three years.

Research Intern for a period of three years.

PhD RESEARCH INTERN (1 Post)
Cape Town based
(Ref No: EPD PhD Intern 12/17)

The appointed intern will develop their research expertise by working with experts and project specialists. The successful candidate will be working on various projects under the Rural Socio-Economic Transitions theme.

Job Functions:Research

Industries:Research

Specification

Key responsibilities:

In addition to completing their degrees, research interns are required to participate in all aspects of the research process as they work on research projects. Among other duties, they will participate in the following activities under supervision:

•The conceptualisation and execution of research projects including formulation of research questions and funding proposals;
•Help design research projects and manage and oversee quantitative and qualitative fieldwork activities;
•The submission of research proposals for ethical review;
•Undertake qualitative and quantitative fieldwork;
•Conduct quantitative data analysis independently including appropriate statistics tests
•Conduct and organise literature reviews and other secondary data searches and qualitative analysis of data;
•Contribute to (and if desired lead) the preparation of peer reviewed academic journal articles, research reports, study protocols, presentations, manuscripts and proposals;
•Participate in and undertake Data management of research projects: data structure and flow management from data collection through to analysis in STATA, data cleaning, data verification, quality control, analysis and preparation of tables and figures communicating research results;
•Assist with administrative matters in the research environment.

Requirements

Key requirements:

•Applicants for the PhD internship must have graduated with a Master’s degree and be registered for a PhD in Economics (Development Economics, Econometrics), Agricultural Economics (Land Tenure and Rural Development), Innovation Studies and Development Studies at a South African university.
•Preference will be given to applicants whose PHD proposals have been accepted.
•A strong interest in the Economics of Land Policies, including redistributive land reform, land tenure, agricultural development interventions, rural innovation.
•Interest in any other research themes of EPD with an emphasis on Rural Socio-Economic Transitions, Employment creation and Inclusive development, Place making and development and The spatial economy of city-regions
•A sound conceptual grounding and experience in qualitative or quantitative research methods;
•Practical experience of working with household level survey data;
•A sound understanding of STATA;
•Familiarity with Macro-economic modelling (Social Accounting Matrices and Computable General Equilibrium Models) will be an added advantage;
•Demonstrated report writing skills;
•Competence in basic computer applications such as Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint;
•Applicants who are South African citizens registered at a South African University will be given preference.

The HSRC is committed to accelerating the improvement in the proportion of its interns who are black, female or disabled and therefore, in terms of our Employment Equity Plan, previously disadvantaged candidates are encouraged to apply. South African citizens will receive preference.