You will:

• be affiliated with the AISSR and participate in its organized PhD training. The academic work is to result in a doctoral thesis that will be defended at the Faculty of Social Sciences with the goal of obtaining the degree of PhD.
• conduct PhD research on democratization and the persistence of political violence, including quantitative analysis of data, surveys and survey experiments, and fieldwork interviews.

• co-author publications with other project members;

• take active part in DIViNE training network activities including network training modules, PhD colloquia, research workshops, secondments, and training workshops;
• take active part of the research environment at the AISSR, including PII research seminars, AISSR center activities, among others.
• teach Bachelor-level courses, depending upon availability and as suitable for the PhD schedule (for a max. of 10%).
• assist with administrative responsibilities related to the project, such as the organization of workshops, conferences, or other project events.
• make Amsterdam (or a location within commuting distance) your primary residence for the initial three years of the PhD project, and Göttingen (or a location within commuting distance) for the one-year extension. We will assist with finding adequate housing and with applying for visa and residence permits.

You have the following credentials:

Essential:

• a Master’s degree or equivalent in political science or closely related discipline. The degree must have been obtained by the start of your employment;
• an excellent command of social science research methods, including quantitative methodology such as panel regression, analysis of large administrative data, survey data, causal inference design, and statistical programming in Stata/R/etc.;
• an interest to conduct fieldwork in the Global South;
• excellent oral and written communication skills in English;
• independent thinking and critical analytical skills;
• the ability to work independently and in a team.

Desirable:

• knowledge of regional contexts of special relevance to project members and supervisors, such as South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa;

• experience with qualitative methods and mixed-methods approaches;
• expertise in research on political violence.

The position concerns temporary employment of 38 hours per week for a maximum term of three years at the University of Amsterdam, under the MSCA Doctoral Network employment conditions. The initial employment is for one year with an intended starting date of January 2027. Following a positive assessment and barring altered circumstances, this term will be extended by a maximum of two years. A one-year extension at the Max Planck Institute of Political and Social Science in Göttingen is envisioned. The employment should result in the conferral of a doctorate. We will put together a curriculum which will also include the opportunity to attend training courses and both national and international events. You will also be tasked with teaching Bachelor's students.

Please follow the links to learn more about the Department of Political Science and the AISSR at the University of Amsterdam, the Department of Peace and Conflict Research at the University of Uppsala, and the Max Planck Institute for Political and Social Science.