Working with me

Before writing, look at the research on this site. The work here sits between economics and computational social science, and almost all of it uses large-scale administrative or digital data to study education, social structure, and how algorithms and AI are used in public decisions. If your interests are some distance from that, I am unlikely to be the right supervisor, however strong your application. I read everything I receive but cannot reply to all of it.

PhD positions here are funded through research grants and advertised through the University of Copenhagen's formal calls. There were more open positions in past years than there are now, so they appear irregularly. When one opens I announce it under News. Unsolicited applications rarely lead anywhere on their own, with one exception: if you have your own funding, or are applying for a scholarship that would cover a PhD in Denmark, write to me early rather than after the application is submitted.

Most people who end up doing a PhD with me have worked with me first as a research assistant. Others have gone on to PhD positions elsewhere, which is a good outcome and a common one. If you are a strong master's student and the research here interests you, this is usually the way in. Positions depend on current grant funding and appear irregularly, so there is not always something available, but I would rather hear from someone good at the wrong time than not at all.

Write with a CV, your transcript, and a short paragraph on what in this work interests you and why.

I sometimes take master's students who want to write a thesis using Danish administrative registers through Statistics Denmark. This is not formal supervision, your supervisor remains at your own department, but it means access to data most students never get near, and a question worth asking with it. This is open to students at other Danish universities as well as UCPH.

If that appeals, write with your CV, transcript, and a sense of what you would want to work on. Register access takes time to arrange, so write at least a semester before you plan to start, not when the thesis is already underway.

I can host visitors at SODAS and, in some cases, arrange access to Danish administrative registers through Statistics Denmark. Both take time and administrative work, and register access in particular needs to be arranged months ahead. That means I can only host a small number of people, and I say no more often than yes.

If you are considering a visit, write with a short description of what you would work on, what data you would need, your timeline, and your CV. Say early if you have your own funding. If register access matters to your project, tell me that in the first message rather than after arriving.