Category: Postdocs

NYU: Postdocs in Liberal Studies: Global Works and Society (USA)

Postdocs
Postdoctoral faculty fellows: Global Works and Society, Liberal Studies, New York University, NY, USA.  Deadline: 15 November 2025.

Liberal Studies at New York University invites applications for two Postdoctoral Faculty Fellow positions to begin September 1, 2026, pending administrative and budgetary approval. The Liberal Studies Core is a dynamic liberal arts curriculum that provides a global and interdisciplinary foundation for nearly 100 NYU majors. The curriculum emphasizes conceptual and spatial frameworks to trace the movement of ideas and the interconnectivity of material culture, through the study of different texts, histories, exchanges, structures and systems, languages, arts, and writing from early antiquity through contemporary times. Small seminar-style classes and close faculty-student interaction ensure the benefits of a liberal arts college within a large urban research university. They are especially interested in hiring qualified candidates who can contribute through their research, teaching and service to the intellectual diversity and excellence of the Liberal Studies community.

Liberal Studies Postdoctoral Faculty Fellows teach two courses each semester in the Core Curriculum. Fellows work closely with an assigned Faculty Mentor, they attend pedagogy workshops that explore innovative approaches to interdisciplinary global teaching, and they have the opportunity to lead faculty development workshops or host program wide events in their area of scholarly, creative, or pedagogical expertise.The initial appointment is for one (1) year, and it may be renewed for two additional years, based upon satisfactory performance reviews and mutual agreement. Postdoctoral Faculty Fellows are limited to a maximum of three (3) years in rank; they are non-tenure track.

GLOBAL WORKS AND SOCIETY

PhD in Political Theory, Philosophy, History, or related fields in the social sciences. Candidates must demonstrate the ability to draw on ancient and early modern sources in their teaching with a global emphasis in the Global Works and Society sequence of the Core Curriculum. Candidates must embrace interdisciplinary and intersectional approaches from a variety of global perspectives and must have the ability to examine relationships of power and to interrogate the historical roots of current challenges.

Princeton: Postdocs in International and Regional Studies (USA)

Postdocs
Postdoctoral research fellowships, International and Regional Studies, Princeton University, NJ, USA.  Deadline: 15 September 2025.

The Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies (PIIRS) at Princeton University is pleased to announce the call for applications to the PIIRS Postdoctoral Fellowship Program for the 2026-27 academic year. As a leading global institution in interdisciplinary research on international issues, PIIRS is dedicated to advancing innovative scholarship that addresses the world’s most pressing challenges. The PIIRS Postdoctoral Fellows Program is integral to that mission.

They will award two postdoctoral fellowships to the 2026-27 cohort. PIIRS seeks recent PhDs in the Social Sciences who have demonstrated exceptional scholarship, congruent with the Institute’s intellectual focus, that simultaneously advances theoretical debates in their disciplinary field; creatively speaks to and engages with a multidisciplinary audience; and deepens substantive regional knowledge of specific places.

Appointments are for one year (12 months) with the possibility of renewal pending satisfactory performance and continued funding. Postdoctoral Research Associates (PDRAs) are expected to be in residence at Princeton or the local vicinity for the entire academic year or demonstrate to the program’s satisfaction the ability to be on campus on a daily basis and on short notice in order to fulfill responsibilities relating to in-person participation. The position requires PDRAs to be on campus at least four days per week.

U Reading: Postdoctoral Research Associate in Languages & Cultures (UK)

Postdocs
Postdoctoral research associate: Nation of Refuge, Languages and Cultures, University of Reading, UK.  Deadline: 5 September 2025.

The University of Reading is seeking a Postgraduate Research Associate (PDRA) starting 01/11/2025, fixed term until 31/10/2029, full time (1FTE). This post forms part of a 4-year research project ‘Nation of Refuge’, funded by a UKRI Future Leader’s Fellowship and led by Dr Ellen Pilsworth (University of Reading). The project explores Britain’s track record of offering refuge to asylum seekers and refugees from ca. 1930 to the present, exploring the perspectives of refugees and ‘ordinary’ British citizens, and their interactions with institutions and the state, throughout the period. The successful candidate will collect and analyse mid-late twentieth-century material from mostly unpublished sources in UK archives; contribute to physical and digital exhibition curation; produce high-quality academic publications; contribute to academic symposia; and contribute to the university’s research culture.

You will have 1) a completed PhD in a Humanities subject, preferably History, Cultural/Literary Studies, or Social Sciences, 2) Expertise relevant to the topic of refuge/asylum in the UK in the mid-late twentieth century, or to post- Second World War UK immigration more broadly (including contemporary immigration/asylum), and 3) A research record commensurate to your academic experience. Relevant language skills are desirable, but not a requirement for the post. Preference may be given to candidates who have experience of working with national and international archives that are relevant to this project, particularly those relating to the Ugandan Asian Expulsion.

U Copenhagen: Postdoctoral Researcher in International Migration Studies (Denmark)

Postdocs
Postdoctoral researcher in International Migration Studies, Saxo Institute, Faculty of Humanities, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.  Deadline: 7 September 2025.

The Saxo Institute, Faculty of Humanities, University of Copenhagen (UCPH), invite applications for a postdoctoral position in international migration studies from 1 January 2026. The position is a fixed-term position for 24 months.

The postdoc will be based on the Institute’s innterdisciplinary Centre for Advanced Migration Studies (AMIS). They seek a strong candidate with a dynamic profile in the broad, international field of migration studies, who can document an impressive track record of humanities and/or social science research on matters relating to the topics in the REGENERATION research project below.

The postdoctoral position is part of the research project REGENERATION, financed by the Independent Research Fund Denmark, studying the changes in gender norms and practices women Ukrainian without male fen in Denmark after the Russian among 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Investigating the growing phenomenon of “feminized displacement” to the EU, this project focuses on gender by following women’s re-settlement in Denmark, studying how they re-established everyday structures, create, and elseient toward the future through relations with kin (family and acquaintances) and through encountering Danish institutions’ locally and Ukrainian institutions transnationally. The project aims to develop a novel analytical framework to understand processes of “re-degeneration,” concepts on the re-making of life after war, relatedness with kin, institutions and the state, and intersectionality.

The postdoc project focus on women with children and qualitative applies, visual and ethnographic methods in studying their everyday life, local and transnational relations and encounters with the Danish welfare state (Work-package 2).

In two other sub-studies of the larger research project, the focus is on gender norms and practices Ukrainian women without conferred children and welfare state actors, working with women Ukrainian.

Osnabrück U: Postdoctoral Researcher in Reflexive Migration Research (Germany)

Postdocs

Postdoctoral Researcher in Reflexive Migration Research, Osnabrück University, Osnabrück, Germany. Deadline: 25 June 2025.

The DFG-funded Collaborative Research Centre ›Production of Migration‹ (SFB 1604) examines the conditions and functions of the social production and negotiation of migration across disciplines. The aim of SFB 1604 is to establish reflexive migration research as an approach to the study of society. SFB 1604 is located at Osnabrück University (Germany) – a university with diverse research activities that attract students and scientists from all over the world to a city with a high quality of life. The SFB 1604 is seeking to appoint a Postdoctoral Researcher (m/f/d) (Salary level E 13 TV-L, 100%). The position is to be filled as soon as possible and is initially limited to two years.

Your tasks:

  • Development and submission of a high-quality funding proposal (Heisenberg Programme (DFG), ERC Grant, Emmy Noether Programme (DFG) or comparable programmes) for a research project within the topics of the Collaborative Research Centre by mid-2026. In terms of concept and research focus, the project should be closely aligned with the Collaborative Research Centre and deepen and/or supplement its ongoing work.

  • On-site participation in the events and activities of the SFB in Osnabrück

  • Active participation in the theoretical development of the SFB and its publication projects

Royal Roads U: Postdoc Possibilities (Canada)

Postdocs

Multiple postdoc opportunities, Royal Roads University, Victoria, BC, Canada. Deadline: 3 July 2025.

Royal Roads University (RRU) invites expressions of interest from those wishing to develop a Canada Postdoctoral Research Award (CPRA) application. CPRA award amounts of $70,000 (taxable income) per year for 2 years (non-renewable) are used to fund a postdoctoral researcher position at the university and are subject to MERCs (mandatory employment related costs). RRU seeks expressions of interest specific to a series of research topics; that most likely relevant to followers of this Center is this one:

Dr. Juana Du is seeking a postdoctoral scholar to support her research interests which include the impact of cultural awareness and assumptions on intercultural experiences; communication and intercultural adjustment of sojourners, particularly around international students and business expatriates; organizational culture, learning and knowledge sharing in multinational and multilingual organizations in different cultural and institutional contexts. Her recent research projects examine organizational identification in global virtual teams and boundary conditions, with an emphasis on the role of emerging technology, and AI literacy at the hybrid workplace.

U Hamburg: 3 Postdocs in Linguistic Diversity & Social Participation Across the Lifespan (Germany)

Postdocs

3 Postdoctoral Research Associates for the project Linguistic Diversity and Social Participation Across the Lifespan, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany. Deadline: 15 June 2025.

The Faculty of Education at the University of Hamburg is a leader in conducting innovative and future-oriented research related to the educational and social consequences of diversity resulting from migration and globalization. This strength is now further expanded through the award of a Humboldt Professorship to Distinguished Professor Ingrid Piller as part of the faculty research center “Literacy in Diversity Settings (LiDS).”

The Humboldt Professorship is devoted to “Linguistic Diversity and Social Participation across the Lifespan” and is closely integrated with the activities of the Language on the Move platform. The research focus will be on migrant language socialization, language learning, and settlement across the lifespan and outside of institutions of formal education. This includes digital spaces as well as language brokering and other forms of informal language assistance that often undergird institutional communications in linguistically diverse societies.

Your responsibilities: Duties include academic services in the project named above. Research associates may also pursue independent research and further academic qualifications. This is a unique opportunity to become part of an education-focused research center that aims to make major contributions to social cohesion in linguistically diverse societies.

King’s College London: Postdoc in Relational Harm – Conflict Studies (UK)

Postdocs

Postdoctoral Research Associate: Relational Harm – Conflict Studies, Social Science and Public Policy, King’s College London, UK. Deadline: 11 July 2025.

King’s College London welcomes applications for a Postdoctoral Research Associate (PDRA) in Conflict Studies to work on the project Relational Harm: Targeting the Family in War and Oppression. The PI is Dr Rebekka Friedman, and the project is an ERC-funded Consolidator Grant. The PDRA position is for a 30-month duration starting in January 2026 and will be based in the Department of War Studies.

The PDRA in conflict studies will contribute to the project’s conceptual pillars and to its field research. The PDRA in Conflict Studies will have qualitative and quantitative skills. The PDRA in Conflict Studies will work on mapping relational harm. This will involve looking at when and where family separation occurs in war and counterinsurgency and when youth are targeted or removed from their families and communities. This will include examining existing databases on violence and conflict.

Each PDRA will also oversee and conduct field research in one of the project’s contemporary case studies. PDRAs will use qualitative methods to conduct fieldwork, and to analyse and write up research outputs.

The project examines ‘relational harm’, defined in the project as harm that individuals and communities experience through the targeting and control of their intimate relationships. The project will focus on the forced separation of families as a significant form of relational harm, particularly in the context of state enforced disappearances. It will examine the impact of forced separation on families and communities and will assess why states carry out forced separation during war and counterinsurgency. The project will focus on lived experiences and the wider ongoing political, social, economic, and psychological legacies of relational harm and ambiguous loss. It will look at gendered and intergenerational dimensions and will examine family and family life as fundamental to the waging and experience of war.

The project is interdisciplinary and will utilize mixed methods. The project will have three contemporary case studies: Sri Lanka, Peru, and the Rohingya community (in Bangladesh). The project will also involve archival research into family separation and reunification in the World War Two period.

GIGA: Postdoc in Comparative Politics with a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa (Germany)

Postdocs

Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Comparative Politics with a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa, German Institute for Global and Area Studies, Hamburg, Germany. Deadline: 26 May 2025.

The German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA) / Leibniz-Institut für Globale und Regionale Studien is an independent social science research institute based in Hamburg. It analyses political, social, and economic developments in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East, and links this knowledge to questions of global significance. It combines region-specific analysis with innovative comparative research on accountability and participation, peace and security, globalisation and development, and global orders and foreign policies. The GIGA seeks to appoint a Postdoctoral Research Fellow (M/F/D) in Comparative Politics With a Focus on Sub-Saharan Africa.

Applications are invited for a full-time position, with an initial contract of three years and the possibility of another three years after successful evaluation and depending on the availability of funds. The successful applicant should start as soon as possible. The successful candidate will work on key questions and challenges in comparative politics with a focus on sub-Saharan Africa. Potential research areas include but are not limited to autocratisation and democratisation, domestic politics and/or institutions, external actors, comparative political economy, the comparative study of conflicts, questions of misinformation or repression, and the political challenges arising from digitalisation. They expect the candidate to outline a corresponding research agenda.

U College Dublin: Postdoc with Generation Peace (Ireland)

Postdocs

Postdoctoral Research Fellow with Generation Peace, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland. Deadline: 11 July 2025.

Applications are invited for a temporary post of a UCD Post-doctoral Research Fellow Level 1 within UCD School of Psychology, temporary from 1st Sep 2025 to 31st Aug 2026.

GENERATION PEACE does not ask how to protect 1.8 billion children in conflict-affected countries. Instead, it shows how youth – one-third of the world’s population – can build peace. This approach challenges the portrayal of youth as perpetrators (i.e. number of child soldiers) and positions youth as a driver of quality peace, rather than an outcome (e.g. primary school enrolment). Addressing the gaps in the existing research necessitates a holistic, multilevel model tested with diverse methods across contexts and time.

More specifically, this role will advance Work Package 2 (WP2) of GENERATION PEACE, quantitatively examining the cross-national impact of youth peacebuilding on quality peace. WP2 will produce a Youth Peacebuilding Indicator (YPI), compatible with cross-national databases from 1946-2020 for 193 UN member states, operationalised across two domains: (1) capacities for nonviolent conflict transformation and (2) foundations for sustainable peace and development. The YPI will integrate (a) existing data on youth; (b) recode or ‘slice’ existing data to focus on youth; and (c) create additional variables within each domain. Supervised coding and Expert Review will ensure data compatibility and quality. Critical to identifying potential threats to endogeneity, multilevel analyses will be complemented by an instrumental variable test and sensitivity analyses to selection and bias. The relative degree of confidence in the YPI codes will also be modelled.