This weekly digest is a collection of news, upcoming events and other opportunities from the Faculty of Social Sciences, Lund University and the wider area, compiled for Graduate School students.
- Seminar: CMES Research Seminars
- Seminar: Preparing the Truth Commission for the Sámi people in Sweden
- Seminar: What language models do and don’t do in studies of political behaviour
- Opportunity: Penta Young Reporters Programme 2025–2027
- Other: Swedish for Immigrants, SFI
CMES Research Seminars
Seminar
The CMES Research Seminar is the main collective seminar at the Centre for Advanced Middle Eastern Studies. LU researchers and invited national and international leading scholars present ongoing research and analyses of a broad range of exciting topics of relevance for the Middle East. Upcoming events include:
18th September
The Racialization of Syrian Refugees in Jordan and Turkey,
Presentation by Dalia Abdelhady, Sociology, CMES
2nd October
Bringing in the Other Islamists – Comparing Arab Shia and Sunni Islamism(s) in the Middle East.
Presentation by Dalia Abdelhady, Sociology, CMES, on the racialization of Syrian refugees in Jordan and Turkey
Date and time: Thursdays 13.15 – 14.30
Location: CMES Seminar Room, Finngatan 16, 223 62 Lund
For more information, visit this page
Preparing the Truth Commission for the Sámi people in Sweden
Seminar
In this seminar – ”Out of the Ordinary or Business as Usual? Preparing the Truth Commission for the Sámi people in Sweden” – Malin Arvidsson, senior lecturer in Human Rights Studies, will present an article draft (co-authored with Astrid Nonbo Andersen).
This presentation will focus on how the international Truth and Reconciliation Commission model has been imported to the Nordic context. Although the Canadian TRC has been an important source of inspiration in this context, there is a fundamental difference: the Nordic commissions are not the result of a legal settlement, but of political deliberations. In the Nordic countries, claims for historical justice from indigenous groups and minorities have been handled by the established welfare state and been filtered through the state bureaucracy.
Using the theoretical framework ”administrations of memory” (McQuaid & Gensburger 2019; 2023), this article will focus on the role of the Swedish state bureaucracy in handling claims for truth and redress brought forward by indigenous and minority representatives. More particularly, we will trace the policy process leading up to the appointment of the The Swedish Truth Commission for the Sami People.
Date and time: 10 September, 2025 13:15 – 15:00
Location: Room A332 (Blå rummet), LUX, Helgonavägen 3, Lund.
For more information, visit this page‘
AI Lund lunch seminar: What language models do and don’t do in studies of political behaviour
Seminar
This seminar – ”What language models do and don’t do in studies of political behaviour” is presented by Annika Fredén , Associate professor of political science, Lund University and Denitsa Saynova , PhD Candidate computer science, Chalmers University of Technology.
Abstract
A recent trend in social science is to use language models (LMs) such as Chat GPT to mimic human behavior. When the use of similar tools accelerates, it is important to research their foundations to be able to estimate their usability and character when interpreting responses and output from politically oriented questions. We study the usefulness of word embeddings and LMs to detect differences between political parties, including subtleties and jargon and investigate if LMs can replicate results from social science experiments with human subjects. Drawing on results from our recent research, we show that natural language processing of political materials from parties benefit from pre-training on large, general data, rather than specialized data, and that LMs may indicate which social sciences experiments are robust to replication. We allude to a potential distinction between linguistic differences on the one hand, and oppositional differences on the other, when interpreting the performance of language models and their relevance for the social sciences.
Date and time: 10 September, 2025 12:00 – 13:00
Location: Online – link by registration
For more information, visit this page
Penta Young Reporters Programme 2025–2027
Opportunities
The Penta Young Reporters (YRs) Programme seeks to democratise science by making HIV-focused research more accessible and understandable to the communities most affected by paediatric and adolescent infectious diseases – empowering them to engage, question, and lead the conversation. Launched in 2022, the first edition of the project successfully trained six Young Reporters, equipping them to become skilled science communicators.
This project is led by the Fondazione Penta ETS, an organisation working paediatric health research. With a long-standing commitment to improving the lives of children, adolescents, and pregnant people affected by infectious diseases, Penta has been at the forefront of involving young people in research in meaningful, impactful ways. At the heart of this effort is a powerful mission: to share science in ways that are inclusive, understandable, and youth-driven.
YRs programme equips young people with the tools to become trusted science communicators. Through mentorship, media literacy training, expert interviews, and hands-on experience, you’ll learn to break down complex health topics – especially around HIV research and treatment-into content that resonates with youth around the world.
This new edition will train a new group of Young Reporters to:
- Create social media, video, podcast, and article content on HIV research
- Interview leading HIV researchers
- Promote mental health and tackle stigma
- Combat health misinformation
- Attend and report from global conferences
- Explore career paths in journalism, science communication, and public health Programme Timeline
Programme Timeline
- Duration of the project: 18 months
- Recruitment Period: September-October 2025
- Selection, Preparation and Coordination: November-December 2025
- Programme Implementation (training, meetings, events, content creation): January 2026 – January 2027
- Closing & Evaluation: February 2027
Who can join?
Students aged 18-25 with:
- A strong interest in HIV, public health, research and social impact
- At least 12 hours per month of time to dedicate to the program
- Fluent English for learning and collaboration
- Experience using social or digital media for communication
- No prior science or journalism experience is required!
Application Deadline: 28th September 2025, 23:59 CET
Location: Online
Click here to apply
For more information, visit this page
Swedish for immigrants, SFI Lund
Learning
The Swedish for Immigrants course is a qualified language course that gives you basic knowledge of the Swedish language. You learn to speak, read and write in Swedish and get to practice using the language in everyday and working life. After completing the course, you will receive a grade. All tuition is free.
Application Eligibility:
- You must have a personal identity number be registered in the municipality of Lund
- You lack basic knowledge of the Swedish language
- If you are an EU or ESS citizen without a Swedish personal identity number and want to study Swedish for immigrants (SFI) in Lund Municipality, you must first apply for the right to study SFI
Application Deadline: None
For more information, visit this page