Post-doc position at the Center for Wellbeing, Welfare and Happiness at SSE, Stockholm

About the Center for wellbeing, welfare and happiness and research area

Wellbeing research examines how people experience and evaluate their lives, what enables them to thrive, and how individuals, organizations and societies can contribute to better lives. The field brings together perspectives from psychology, economics and behavioural science to understand different dimensions of wellbeing, including happiness, meaning in life and psychological richness. At the Center for Wellbeing, Welfare and Happiness (CWWH), we connect these questions to the development of knowledge that can inform policy and practice.

A central methodological challenge is how to capture the richness of people’s experiences through reliable and valid measures. Advances in natural language processing and large language models offer opportunities to complement traditional rating scales with systematic analyses of people’s own descriptions of their lives, emotions and experiences. This research combines wellbeing science, psychometrics and computational methods to investigate what language-based assessments can reveal about wellbeing, how they relate to established measures, and how they can capture differences between people and changes over time. The position will contribute to developing and validating these approaches, with relevance to the center’s research in Sweden and across countries.

The role

The postdoc will develop an independent research line on the measurement of wellbeing beyond traditional rating scales, with a focus on natural language (open-ended responses, text and speech) analyzed with computational methods, including large language models.

The postdoc will contribute to the center's work on wellbeing in Sweden and across nations, co-author with center researchers, and connect CWWH to international collaborators and funding opportunities. The role also includes active participation in the center's outreach, such as media, public lectures and events. 

Your profile

The applicants must hold a PhD by time of employment and to be eligible, applicants must have obtained their doctoral degree within the three years preceding the date of employment. This period may be extended only where special circumstances apply. Professional proficiency in English (written and spoken) is a requirement. We expect the candidate to relocate to Stockholm. 

Qualifications

• PhD in business administration, psychology or a related field. Candidates with a set dissertation date may also apply.
• A strong publication record in wellbeing science, including first-authored articles in leading international peer-reviewed journals
• Documented expertise in language-based assessment of psychological constructs
• Methodological and quantitative competence and programming in R and/or Python
• Demonstrated research independence and an established international research network
• Documented experience communicating research to non-academic audiences, e.g., media, public lectures or popular science

Meritorious

• Experience with assessment methods beyond self-report, e.g., implicit measures or automated coding of text
• Development of open research software or openly shared models
• Applied collaborations with organizations or industry, e.g., in work-related wellbeing or psychometrics 

How to apply: 

Formal submission will be via the SSE Varbi online platform by latest December 15, 2026. The following documents should be included in your application: 

• A curriculum vitae 
• A separate document listing published articles (if any) and articles submitted to journals, as well as other academic peer-reviewed publications (e.g., book chapters, conference proceedings). 
• Copies of representative research, that is, copies of your publications or work in progress (max 5) 
• Evidence of stakeholder engagement, for example copies or links to blogs, opinion pieces, podcasts, LinkedIn posts 
• Names and contact information for two people willing to provide references. 

We recommend that you apply as soon as possible and at the latest before December 15, 2026. Starting date is flexible but preferably around April 2027. The employment is postdoctoral employment of two years.

For further questions on the positions, please contact Assistant professor and Executive Director Fredrik Lange at [email protected]

About the Stockholm School of Economics

The Stockholm School of Economics is ranked as the top business school in the Nordic and Baltic countries and enjoys a strong international reputation. World-class research forms the foundation of our educational offering, which includes Bachelor, Master, PhD, MBA, and Executive Education programs. Through creativity and collaboration, the Stockholm School of Economics provides an environment where ambitious students and accomplished researchers meet to address contemporary challenges within business and economics, particularly those concerning sustainability, diversity and innovation.

Apart from delivering world class education within business and economics, SSE students are trained to be successful decision makers and leaders of the future. Our educational mission has over the years strengthened SSE students, and you can read more about it here.

SSE is a member of the Stockholm Dual Career Network (SDCN), a collaboration between universities, research institutes and companies in the Stockholm region. Through SDCN, partners of international recruits are offered professional support in establishing their careers in Sweden, including career coaching, networking opportunities, seminars and access to a broad professional network. We recognize the importance of supporting accompanying partners in international relocations and are committed to facilitating a smooth transition for the whole family.

SSE is committed to a balanced gender distribution and values a variety of backgrounds and experiences among our employees. We therefore welcome all applicants regardless of their gender, ethnicity, gender identity or expression, disability, sexual orientation, age, or religion or other beliefs. We strive to have a fair and inclusive recruitment process.