Terms of service and remuneration rules at the Department of Political Science

• Conditions for senior lecturers and associate senior lecturers
• Conditions for professors
• Administration within the employment
• Research and professional development within the employment
• Time allocation and course budgets
• Administrative assignments at the department
• Administrative assignments within the Faculty of Social Sciences
• Pedagogical training

Conditions for senior lecturers and associate senior lecturers

The working time agreement at Lund University regulates annual working hours for lecturers as follows: 

1,756 clock hours for employees with 28 days of annual leave (up to the year the lecturer turns 29)

1,732 clock hours for employees with 31 days of annual leave (from the year the lecturer turns 30)

1,700 clock hours for employees with 35 days of annual leave (from the year the lecturer turns 40)

For senior lecturers, the basic division of tasks is 70 per cent teaching, 20 per cent own research and professional development and 10 per cent administration. If a senior lecturer has external funding for research and/or has administrative assignments, the above percentage is calculated on the part of the working time remaining after the time for externally funded research and/or assignments has been deducted. A senior lecturer must teach an average of at least 25 per cent of his/her working time over a three-year period. 

Associate senior lecturers normally have 50 per cent faculty-funded research in their position and no reduction for professional development and administration. If an associate senior lecturer has external funding for research and/or has assignments, this is deducted in the same way as for senior lecturers.

Example A: Lecturer without external funding

Annual working time 1700 clock hours

Administration 170 clock hours

Research/development 340 clock hours

Teaching 1190 clock hours (297.5 lecture hours)

Example B: Lecturer with 50 per cent external research funding

Annual working time 1700 clock hours

Research external funding 850 clock hours

Administration 85 clock hours

Research/development 170 clock hours

Teaching 595 clock hours (148.75 lecture hours)

Example C: Associate senior lecturer with 50 per cent external research funding

Annual working time 1700 clock hours

Research external funding 850 clock hours

Research faculty-funded 425 clock hours

Teaching 425 clock hours (106.25 lecture hours)

If a decision on research funding is announced late in the year, it is not certain that the funds can be utilised to the extent requested in the first half of the following year. In such cases, the conditions must be agreed with the Director of Studies.

Any changes to external research funding, contracts or teaching assignments that occur during the calendar year must always be approved by the Director of Studies. There is no guarantee that reimbursement/compensation will be given for activities not authorised in advance. 

The main rule is that all activities must be accommodated within the regular working hours. Should excess time arise during a calendar year, it should firstly be redistributed/reallocated so that the proportion of externally funded research is reduced during the current year. Secondly, the time for research/professional development should be postponed, while upholding the general distribution of tasks laid out above in a three-year perspective. Any excess time will be calculated in connection with the final adjustment of the staff plan for the year. 

Conditions for professors

Professors are expected to carry out own research and, in addition, to endeavour to attract external research funding for themselves and other staff members, to supervise doctoral students, to develop postgraduate courses and to take collegial responsibility for research seminars, research retreats and the development of the department's research environments. 

Professors without external research funding normally have 50 per cent faculty-funded research in their position and no compensation for professional development and administration. For professors who have external research funding and/or administrative assignments, 50 per cent faculty-funded research is granted on what remains after the time for externally funded research and/or administrative assignments has been deducted. However, as is the case for senior lecturers, professors must teach an average of at least 25 per cent of their working time over a three-year period. 

Example A: Professor without external funding

Annual working time 1700 clock hours

50% research faculty funding = 850 clock hours 

50% teaching = 850 clock hours (212.5 lecture hours)

Example B: Professor with 50 per cent external funding

Annual working time 1700 clock hours

Research external funding 850 clock hours

Research faculty funding, 50% of 850 clock hours = 425 clock hours

Teaching, 50% of 850 clock hours = 425 clock hours (106.25 lecture hours)

Administration within the employment

• Management of administrative systems (e.g. Primula and Lupin)
• Department Board
• Budget Committee
• Election Committee
• Board of Supervisors
• Department retreats
• Teacher meetings
• Teaching team meetings
• Working Group on Equality, Non-discrimination and Diversity (JLM)
• Collaboration/engaging with society (tredje uppgiften)
• Mentoring of colleagues

Research and professional development within the employment

• Applications for research grants
• Examination boards
• Research retreats
• Pedagogical courses (and other relevant courses)
• International exchanges
• Conference participation
• Production of teaching materials
• External review assignments 
• Scientific texts for publication

Time allocation and course budgets

The point of departure is that the same time frames apply to courses and thesis supervision/examination in Political Science, Peace and Conflict Studies and Intelligence Analysis. For all forms of teaching, a conversion factor of four applies: one clock hour of student contact presupposes three clock hours in the form of preparation and follow-up work.

Courses at first and second cycle level 

Modules within the introductory level in Political Science (7.5 credits): as a starting point 96 clock hours (24 lecture hours) but may vary depending on the number of seminar groups 

Modules within the introductory level in Peace and Conflict Studies and Intelligence Analysis (7.5 credits): 96 clock hours (24 lh)

Intermediate level modules (7.5 credits): 96 clock hours (24 lh)

Elective courses at the Bachelor’s level (7.5 credits): 96 clock hours (24 lh)

Advanced level courses (15 credits): 160 clock hours (40 lh)

In all cases, additional compensation is paid if the number of students require teaching elements to be doubled. The basic principle is that a seminar group should contain 16 students. Compensation in addition to the budget is paid for special teaching elements, e.g. guest lectures, study visits and special pedagogical exercises. Elements that require such extra compensation must be approved by the Director of Studies in advance. 

Examination is included in the hourly remuneration for a course. As an exception, at the introductory level in Political Science, compensation for examination is paid corresponding to four clock hours for the grading of eight take-home assignments.

For all sub-courses of the introductory course in Political Science, compensation of 40 clock hours is paid for course coordination. The same compensation is paid for course coordination for the methods courses in Political Science at the intermediate, Bachelor's and Master's levels, for the module Democracy on the intermediate level in Political Science and for the combined methods and thesis course at the intermediate level in Peace and Conflict Studies.

Course development

Development of completely new courses is compensated by granting teachers 1.5 times the course budget on the first occasion that the course is given. Thus, a teacher who develops a completely new 96 clock hour undergraduate course receives 144 clock hours on the first occasion that the course is given. When the course is next given, the standard compensation applies. Revision and development of existing courses is considered an integral part of the teaching assignment and is to be covered within the existing budget. 

Thesis supervision and examination

Intermediate level: 8 clock hours (2 lh) per thesis for supervision, 4 clock hours (1 lh) for examination

Bachelor's thesis: 11 clock hours (2.75 lh) per thesis for supervision, 4 clock hours (1 lh) for examination

Master's thesis (15 credits): 16 clock hours (4 lh) per thesis for supervision, 4 clock hours (1 lh) for examination

Master's thesis (30 credits): 20 clock hours per thesis (5 lh) for supervision, 6 clock hours (1.5 lh) for examination

Doctoral education

The total amount of supervision allocated for a doctoral student is 400 clock hours (100 lh), with a maximum of 80 clock hours (20 lh) per year at full activity. Normally, these are distributed according to the principle of 48/32 clock hours between the main supervisor and the co-supervisor, but other agreements may exist. For senior lecturers, remuneration for supervision is provided in accordance with the agreed principle. Professors do not normally receive special remuneration for supervision of doctoral students.

For senior lecturers who act as discussants at mid-seminars, remuneration of 8 clock hours (2 lh) is paid. For manuscript conferences, a total remuneration of 24 clock hours (6 lt) is provided. This is to be divided among the participants in agreement with the supervisors. If an external discussant is engaged, compensation of SEK 3,000 may be paid. The other participants at the manuscript conference then share 16 clock hours (4 lh). Professors do not normally receive compensation for participation in plan- or mid-seminars or manuscript conferences. No special compensation is given for green reading of thesis manuscripts. 

For teaching on doctoral courses at the department, senior lecturers receive remuneration in accordance with the course budget. For a course of 15 credits, the budget is normally 160 clock hours (40 lh). Professors do not normally receive remuneration for teaching on PhD courses at the department.

Administrative assignments at the department

For certain assignments, special remuneration is paid (based on full-time service): 

Administrative assignments within the Faculty of Social Sciences

For administrative assignments in committees and councils at the Faculty of Social Sciences, compensation is paid as follows: 

Chairing any of these bodies will yield double remuneration (except for the review group).

Pedagogical training

For senior lecturers and professors, participation in pedagogical training courses is included in the teaching obligation and covered by the compensation for research/professional development. Doctoral students may be granted a two-week extension for an introductory course in teaching and learning in higher education, but are welcome to take additional courses, however without any further extension. For postdocs and researchers, the department can pay the course fee for an introductory course in higher education pedagogy; however, no hourly compensation is provided.