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

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

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

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

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

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

Administration within the employment

• Management of administrative systems (for example, 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. Compensation for teaching is calculated in clock hours. The department applies the faculty’s conversion factor system for teaching. The model stipulates a conversion factor of 3 for lectures and 2 for seminars; one clock hour of lecture activity presupposes two clock hours of preparation; one clock hour of seminar activity presupposes one clock hour of preparation. For seminars requiring extra preparation (such as reading papers beforehand), a factor of 3 is used. Examinations are reimbursed separately and differentiated based on course level.

Courses at first and second cycle level 

The time frames vary depending on the scope of the course and the number of students on the course. Each course and module has a course coordinator with special compensation for course responsibility, a teaching budget and an examination budget. The course coordinator decides together with the teaching team how the teaching budget is to be distributed between different teaching activities such as lectures and seminars. The basic principle is that a seminar group should contain 16 students. Compensation in addition to the budget is paid for special teaching elements, for example guest lectures, study visits and special pedagogical exercises. Elements that require such extra compensation must be approved by the Director of Studies in advance. 

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. 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 per thesis for supervision, 4 clock hours for examination.
• Bachelor's thesis: 11 clock hours per thesis for supervision of individually authored theses, 14 clock hours for theses written in pairs; 4 clock hours for examination.
• Master's thesis (15 credits): 16 clock hours per thesis for supervision, 4 clock hours for examination.
• Master's thesis (30 credits): 20 clock hours per thesis for supervision, 6 clock hours for examination.

Doctoral education

The total amount of supervision allocated for a doctoral student is 400 clock hours, with a maximum of 80 clock hours 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 is paid. For manuscript conferences, a total remuneration of 24 clock hours 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. 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. Professors do not normally receive remuneration for teaching on doctoral 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 up to three weeks; no special compensation is paid for participation.