Research group

The research group on Psychosocial risks, Work Organization and Health (POWAH-UAB) of the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) is a multidisciplinary group composed by sociologists, biostatisticians and public health professionals, accredited by the Catalan Government. We are a small but very active group, with permanent links with trade unions and other research groups in the social sciences field, at national and international level. We have taken part in the core team responsible for the adaptation and validation of the three versions of the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ) in Spain, -a tool for the assessment and improvement of the psychosocial work environment changing working conditions-; and in the Spanish psychosocial risks surveys (2005, 2010 and 2016). At the present time we are developing two main projects: a) The COTS2 study, conceived to describe the working conditions, labour management practices and health of the salaried workers residing in Spain during the COVID-19 pandemic; b) The MOT study (ref: 2020PANDE00024), devised to establish a permanent monitoring system of work organization and health indicators, paying special attention to the employment/occupational situation of young people (including informal workers). This system should enable us to describe the evolution of the indicators over time and to carry out longitudinal panel-type studies to generate sound evidence.

Institution

UAB occupes an outstanding position among Spanish universities in world rankings such as the Times Higher Education World University Rankings (it is the second Spanish university, occupying position 182 in the world ranking and 84 in Europe). It has 68 PhD programmes and 4,790 PhD students. Since the launching of the Horizon 2020 Programme of the European Commission UAB has been awarded more than 76M€ for 170 H2020 projects. Of those 34 are IF-MSC projects. Also during H2020 Programme UAB has participated in 18 MSCA-ITN projects, 15 MSCA-RISE projects, 1 MSCA-COFUND project and 1 MSCA-NIGHT project.

UAB is situated in a purposed build campus thirty minutes from the center of Barcelona by public transport. It has all the services the researcher might need for his/her day to day life: restaurants, shops, sports facilities, accommodation and even primary school. All the information is available on UAB’s website and on a specific welcome pack.

What are we looking for?

A postdoc researcher interested in the study of the relationships between labour management practices, working conditions, exposure to psychosocial risks factors at work, gender, sickness presenteeism and health, with a special attention in young people (16-34 years old). He/she will have a key participation in the establishment and development of a monitoring system and the creation of panel-type studies and other initiatives that he/she can lead. We’re looking for a researcher who is able to make very relevant and original contributions to this area of knowledge. Profiles from the social and health sciences (sociologists, political scientist, economists, epidemiologists, public health professionals, etc), with experience in qualitative and/or quantitative methodologies, are welcome.

What do we offer?

We offer training in writing a successful proposal for the next MSCA-PF call with the guidance by a project advisor of the UAB International Projects Office and the POWAH researchers. We will be happy to support qualified candidates who are interested in our research lines.

Eligibility criteria

1. At the call deadline, supported researchers must have a maximum of 8 years fulltime equivalent experience in research, measured from the date that the researcher was in a possession of a doctoral degree and certified by appropriate documents (maternity and paternity exceptions apply).

2. Nationality: Any.

3. Mobility: The researcher must not have resided or carried out his/her main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Spain for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to the deadline for submission of proposals (15th September 2021).

Selection process

Interested applicants should send their CV and motivation letter to the UAB potential supervisor (albert.navarro@uab.cat).

Proposals will be pre-selected on the basis of internal evaluation. Candidates will be informed of the results of the pre-selection a week after the internal deadline (31th May 2021).