We are hiring
About the position
The Feltrinelli Foundation together with the EUI is looking for a postdoctoral research fellow in the SOLID ERC project, commencing in January 2023 or as soon as possible thereafter. The position is for a period of 2 years.
The postdoctoral fellow will be provided with a unique opportunity to work in a research project that brings together scholars from three excellent institutions.
As a postdoc you will work at Fondazione Feltrinelli, closely collaborating with the EUI team leader, Prof. Hanspeter Kriesi and his team at the EUI, as well as collaborate with the project teams at the LSE and the University of Milan. The postdoctoral fellow will conduct research substantively related to any one of the following crises: the immigration crisis, the sovereign debt crisis, the COVID-19 crisis, the social crisis, the Ukraine crisis.
SOLID project description:
During the post 2008 decennium horribile the EU has been faced with unprecedented shocks (the Euro-crisis, the Great Recession and its dramatic social consequences, new security threats, the refugee crisis, Brexit). Such shocks have coalesced in a disruptive dynamic of unprecedented scope and depth. Conflicts over sovereignty, solidarity and identity sparked a “deep” political crisis, shaking the very foundations of the EU. Surprisingly, however, the utter collapse of the Union has been averted.
In dramatic moments EU leaders agreed on significant institutional advances or at least some backstops. How can one explain this peculiar mix of crisis and resilience? The SOLID project posits that sequences of policy crises tend to disrupt routine policy-making, jeopardize its responsiveness, unleash turbulent forms of crisis politics, and put political legitimacy (even polity durability) at risk. At the same time we also posit that severe crisis situation may also activate polity maintenance incentives for keeping the political community together “whatever it takes”.
Covering developments since 2009, SOLID ultimately aims at assessing the overall soundness of the EU’s foundations in the wake of the political crisis. In order to capture both disruption and resilience, we propose to disentangle the “deep” political dimension of the crisis from more policy-specific challenges and analyze it through a “coalition-centered approach”, which we have originally devised for the EU polity. Rooted in political economy, comparative political sociology and policy analysis, SOLID will collect extensive data on processes, conflicts and coalitions through qualitative and quantitative methods, including innovative techniques. A major original survey will also be organized.
We aim at providing an original general theory of political crisis, valuable as such, but making a strong impact on the study of EU politicization and its likely (constructive or destructive) outcomes.
Duties of the position
- Collect social media data related to the topics covered by the project.
- The analysis of this data set and the publication of academic papers based on this data set
- Conduct both collaborative and independent research within the SOLID framework, leading to high-quality publications.
- Participate in activities and events organized in the framework of the project.
Required selection criteria
- A doctoral degree in Political Science or other social science disciplines. Candidates who are in the final stages of their PhD will also be considered.
- A demonstrable research interest in one or more of the following areas: European Politics, EU Politics, European Integration, Comparative Politics, Political Behaviour, Political Economy, Political Communication
- A demonstrable research ability to work on any one of the following crises: the immigration crisis, the sovereign debt crisis, the COVID-19 crisis, the social crisis, the Ukraine crisis.
- Experience in collecting and working with social media data or big data in general (e.g. text, image, video)
- Experience in applying one or more of the following quantitative methods, such as text-as-data approaches, machine learning, survey design and analysis and media based content analysis
- Fluency in English, both written and oral.
Personal characteristics
- Independence and initiative
- Cooperative skills
- High level of personal responsibility
- Willingness and ability to contribute to a good work environment
We offer
- exciting and stimulating tasks in a strong international academic environment
- an open and inclusive team with superb colleagues
- favourable salary scales
Salary and conditions
The contract is the italian contratto di collaborazione coordinate e continuativa, for a gross salary (RAL) between 50.000 and 60.000 euro yearly.
Application deadline: 2/12/2022
To apply, please send a CV and a letter of motivation to: eleonora.scigliano@consultant.fondazionefeltrinelli.it