Post Doctoral Researcher (SDC-28)

The department „Survey Data Curation“ processes and prepares social science research data across a diverse range of data types to support sociological and political science research, especially in comparative perspectives across space and time. The curated data include long-running national (e.g., ALLBUS, GLES) and international (e.g., ISSP, CSES) survey programs.

The position is for the Horizon-funded project “Enhancing Democratic Support under Conditions of Geographic and Intersectional Inequalities in Europe” (EDGE). The project is co-led by Prof Alexia Katsanidou, GESIS – Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences and Prof Sofia Vasilopoulou, King’s College London. The EDGE project addresses a central challenge for the future of democracy: how are economic inequalities - both objective and subjective - related to European citizens’ democratic support? It aims: first, to advance knowledge on the mechanisms through which different types of inequality undermine or, under certain conditions, reinforce democratic support; and second, to causally assess policy interventions to identify efficient solutions that strengthen democracy across diverse territorial and social contexts. The project integrates geographic and intersectional perspectives to show how personal experiences, social identities, and territorial contexts interact with media and digital networks in shaping perceptions of inequality and democratic support.

The successful applicant will have an excellent academic track record, a strong knowledge of research methods, and ideally have expertise in surveys and/or social data science. They will be expected to work with the design, collection and analysis of new survey data and survey experiments, including a webtracking component, create innovative measures of objective inequalities using satellite and economic data, co-author research outputs from the project, and organize events to disseminate the project’s findings. 

• Designing measures of inequalities based on fine-grained economic data
• Supporting the design and and implementation of a survey with a web-tracking component
• Co-authoring research outputs from the project
• Contributing to and supporting project-related organizational and communication tasks

• PhD in Social Sciences with a focus on Political Science, Economics, Geography and/or Political Economy (completed or near completion)
• Demonstrated capacity for producing excellent published research in leading academic journals and presses
• Solid expertise in research methods, including experience with coding and data management in common statistical programme languages (e.g. STATA, R, and/or Python)
• A good grasp of relevant academic literature on economic inequalities and/or democratic support
• Ability to operate in small, highly collaborative teams, including regular coordination and communication with partners across multiple European countries

• The SDC department offers a welcoming work environment with excellent opportunities for intellectual growth and mentoring
• The EDGE project offers funding for workshops, conferences, and opportunities for developing a strong academic network
• Flexible working hours and regulations for mobile working
• Very good conditions for reconciling work and family life, e.g. subsidies for childcare for children who have not yet attained the age of compulsory schooling
• Holistic company health management and discounted participation in the university's sports programme 
• Generous support for your pension provision as a direct insurance policy
• Promotion of your skills through further training measures