Following the Center’s call for a doctoral student employment position funded by the Herlin Fund (Tiina ja Antti Herlinin Säätiö), we are pleased to announced that Mr Kangle Zhang has been awarded the position as of 1 August 2016. He will be working on  a doctoral dissertation under the title: “Private Credit Rating in the Construction of Neoliberal Society” at the Faculty of Law, University of Helsinki.

In December 2015, the Center received a donation of 40 000€ from the (Tiina ja Antti Herlinin Säätiö). The purpose of this grant is to cover the salary of one PhD student for a year. A call for applications was circulated in April and May 2016. In response to this call we received 8 applications. All applications included a research plan, a work plan and a CV. The doctoral students who applied are enrolled in post-graduate programs at the University of Helsinki, University of Lapland and University of Turku.

In order to assess the applications, each Member University of the Center appointed a representative to the Selection Committee. The selection procedure began with the review of each applications by the members of the Committee. The members assessed the quality of the research plans and the competence of the candidates to carry out the project. By 9 June 2016, each member of the Committee shortlisted three to four candidates, whose qualifications and motivation were to be further assessed during interviews. The interviews took place on Monday, 13 June at the Faculty of Law, University of Helsinki. After interviewing the shortlisted applicants, the members of the selection committee agreed, that all candidates conduct relevant and promising research, yet Mr Kangle Zhang demonstrated the best competences to carry out his research project successfully and contribute to the further development of Sino-Finnish cooperation.

CALL FOR PAPERS 

Edited volume on the Silk Road Initiative

Following the Call for Papers, we have received generous interest in the volume. We are sending this updated call to: first, specify the theme of the volume to facilitate the potential contributors in choosing topics; second, extend the deadline of submission.

The volume is a follow up of the conference “Road to New Paradigms: Impact of China’s Silk Road Initiative in China, Central Asia and the EU”, which took place in Helsinki (9- 10 May). We have made the conference brochure available online, with the programme included. There you can find a list of panels with different focuses, which might be of help when you are deciding on the topic.

The theme of the volume will be, “Legal Aspects of the Belt and Road Initiative“, in which general and specific aspects and issues involved in the construction of the “belt and road”, in relation to laws (international, comparative and domestic), legal education, legal research and legal practice is expected to be discussed. Also, contributions focusing on the philosophical and political ideas of the Initiative are welcomed.

Regarding the submission, the deadline will be extended to 31 January 2017. As the overall length and style will only be confirmed after our communication with the publishing houses, which will happen when we have a draft outline after we have received the submissions, the length and style are not strictly set yet. Yet the submission is expected to be around 10,000 to 15,000 words. Submission should be made by sending the paper to Kangle Zhang (kangle.zhang@helsinki.fi  ) in Microsoft Word format. For inquiries, please contact Kangle Zhang.

If you have problems accessing the links to the conference brochure, please find it below:

Conference brochure: http://www.helsinki.fi/oikeustiede/SilkkiRoadProgramme.pdf

The Director of the Center, Professor Liukkunen, and the Chair of the Center’s Board, Professor Nuotio, welcomed a delegation from the Confucius Institute, led by Professor Julie Yu-Wen Chen on Friday, 13 May 2016. This visit gave the opportunity to discuss the cooperation between the two entities. “Lawyers, our researchers and students, need to cooperated with social sciences to better their understanding of the complex Chinese culture within which law operates“, emphasized Professor Nuotio. A step in this direction would be the organisation of joint seminars and workshops, which provide tools for legal research on China.

The Director of the Center, Professor Liukkunen, and the Chair of the Center’s Board, Professor Nuotio, welcomed a delegation from the University of Bergen, led by Vice-Dean Professor Borvik  on Monday, 2 May 2016. This visit gave the opportunity to discuss the cooperation between Nordic scholars focusing on Chinese Law. The meeting was attended as well by Professor Letto-Vanamo, Professor Ditlev Tamm, representing the Danish Forum for Chinese Legal Culture, Dean Professor Shan Wenhua from Xi’an Jiaotong University and Dean Professor Shen Wei from Shandong University Law School.

The Vice-Dean Bjørnar Borvik presented the ongoing and growing cooperation with China based on student and staff mobility. He also shared his plans of developing this cooperation further by elaborating research projects into their activities. All the participants agreed that there is a growing interest among scholars and practitioners in exploring Chinese law in Nordic countries as well as in understanding the Nordic model in China. Various cooperation schemes are developing and therefore the discussants pondered the relevance of establishing in the future a Nordic network of China Law Centers.

The Finnish Center of Chinese Law and Chinese Legal Culture invites applications for

ONE DOCTORAL CANDIDATE EMPLOYMENT POSITION

for a 1–2 year period starting from 1.8.2016. The duration of the employment contract depends on the phase of the appointee’s thesis.

Description:

The Finnish Center of Chinese Law and Chinese Legal Culture, members of which include nine universities, is an institution that promotes research and education in Chinese law and Chinese legal culture. One of the main purposes of the Center is to support the research concerning Chinese law and legal culture currently undertaken by the member institutions.

In December 2015, the Tiina and Antti Herlin Fund made a donation to the Center with the purpose of funding the salary of a PhD Candidate conducting Chinese Law related research for 1 to 2 years.

The aim is to stimulate researchers to expand their research focus towards research connected with China. The main purpose of the scholarship is to enable the awardee to carry out his/her research work on Chinese Law.

Responsibilities:

The duties of a doctoral student are to work on his or her own doctoral dissertation and to complete his or her postgraduate studies. In addition to conducting research leading to the doctoral dissertation, the doctoral student will participate in teaching duties and other duties at the Center and the Faculty in which she/he will be enrolled.

Requirements:

A doctoral student must hold a second-cycle degree and have an approved research proposal. Other requirements include the ability and motivation, as demonstrated in previous degree studies or otherwise, to pursue postgraduate studies and a doctoral degree according to the study plan and research proposal.

The appointee must hold the right to pursue a doctoral degree at one of the member universities by the start of the appointment.

The member universities are University of Helsinki, Aalto University; Hanken School of Economics; Lappeenranta University of Technology; University of Eastern Finland; University of Lapland; University of Tampere; University of Turku; University of Vaasa.

Offer:

A doctoral candidate employment contract for a 1–2 year period starting from 1.8.2016 is offered. The offered salary dependent on the qualifications and work experience. The salary will be based on levels 2–4 of the job requirement scheme for teaching and research personnel in the salary system of Finnish universities. In addition, the appointee shall be paid a salary component based on personal work performance.

Application procedure:

The applicants must submit an electronic application form with enclosures:
https://elomake.helsinki.fi/lomakkeet/69819/lomake.html

Following enclosures must be attached to the electronic application form:

–        research plan (max 6 pages)

–        a working plan, which specifies the work intended to be accomplish during the funding period; the plans should include timetable and information on possible previous tasks and funding for this research project

–        curriculum vitae and a list of (possible) publications (or alternatively, an academic portfolio containing the above mentioned documents and information) (max 3 pages);

The closing date for the applications is 20 May 2016.

** Prior to applying the applicant must be in contact with the supervisor of his/her doctoral studies.

Selection procedure:

The representatives of the member universities will jointly select the candidate and propose her/him to be employed by the home university of the candidate. If the proposed candidate does not want to take the offered position, it will be offered to the candidate who stands second on the reserve list. That candidate may be from another university.

Contact information:

Further information about the positions can be obtained:

Alice Neffe
Coordinator
Finnish Center of Chinese Law and Chinese Legal Culture

Faculty of Law
P.O. Box 4
FI-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland
Visiting address: Yliopistonkatu 3, 4th floor, P456
Tel. +358-2941 22858; Mobile: +358-5-03199620
www.helsinki.fi/chinalawcenter/

The China Law Center’s Newsletter aims to keep all interested well informed about the news and events of the Center, the Member Institutions and the Academy of Finland research projects. It will also collect information about opportunities for China Law Research worldwide.

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