Doctoral Researcher

About this position

The newly founded

Max Planck Institute for Political and Social Science

studies contemporary challenges to political, social, and economic life. The institute places special emphasis on the political dimension, thereby spanning the spectrum from political sociology through conflict and peace research to political economy. Rigor and imagination guide the institute’s analytical and empirical approach, which draws inspiration from cross-disciplinary developments.

The institute aims to produce new, evidence-based insights for pressing challenges to policy and contemporary society.

At the Institute, the Department of Political Institutions and Conflict is inviting applications for the position of

Doctoral Researcher (M/F/D)

(full-time for three years with a starting date of January 1, 2027).

The newly established department “Political Institutions and Conflict” (led by Ursula Daxecker) studies the relationship between political institutions and conflict, broadly construed. Conflict is inherent in politics but can be managed peacefully or break out in the open and turn violent. Research in the department explores whether and how political, economic, and social institutions create or reduce the potential for conflict, how structural changes have changed institutions’ ability to manage conflict, and how these shifts affect political outcomes downstream.

Through this research, the department aims to produce novel insights for important challenges in contemporary society, including the rise of extreme strategies and violence, threats to electoral integrity, and democratic erosion.

The PhD candidate will be affiliated with the “

Doctoral Network

Democratic Institutions and Violence Network in Europe (

DIViNE

)” project, funded by the HORIZON MSCA action. The candidate will be supervised by Dr. Ursula Daxecker. DIViNE brings together

leading European research environments

• UvA (Amsterdam), UESSEX (Essex), UMIL (Milan), UC3M (Carlos III de Madrid) and UU (Uppsala) — and partner organizations – including the new Max Planck Institute for Political and Social Science — to combine complementary strengths in

quantitative conflict research, behavioral and experimental methods, historical and archival inquiry, institutional and normative theory, and applied policy engagement.

Responsibilities (what you will do):

Democracies are commonly seen as able to channel contestation through institutionalized processes and nonviolent action. Yet, democratic politics frequently experience a broad range of political violence — from riots and organized electoral intimidation to extremist mobilization and criminal violence — and violence can test and, at times, erode democratic norms and institutions. Moreover, democracies themselves may respond to perceived threats with measures (e.g., militarized policing, emergency legislation, selective repression) that threaten to undermine core features of liberal democracy such as the rule of law, civil liberties and institutional impartiality.

The

DIViNE

Doctoral Network (

Democratic Institutions and Violence Network in Europe

) consolidates comparative, historical, theoretical and methodological strands to build a coherent new research program on political violence in democracies.

The position is part of WP3 on Dynamics of Support for Violent Movements and Responses, which focuses on the micro-foundations of public support for, and tolerance of, political violence, including how violent organizations cultivate legitimacy. The PhD project aims to explain variation in violent strategies across time and space, distinguishing between violent rhetorical and behavioral strategies. The project is also interested in understanding the relationship between rhetoric and behavior, and how both strategies shape outcomes downstream.

Empirically, the project examines political violence in the Global North, aiming to conduct subnational, constituency-level analyses of violent strategies in Global North cases. The methodological approach makes uses of innovations to study sensitive topics and difficult-to-reach populations, such as shadowing, fieldwork, special survey techniques, and use of multimodal data. The project will generate policy-relevant knowledge on patterns of radicalization, public tolerance for violence, and the vulnerabilities of established democracies.

The doctoral trajectory includes a secondment at the University of Amsterdam and Clingendael in the Netherlands, which will provide the PhD candidate with additional training and exposure to policy engagement and strategic communication on extremist threats.

Specifically, you will:

Produce a doctoral thesis that will be defended at the University of Amsterdam’s Faculty of Social Sciences, with the goal of obtaining the degree of PhD.

Conduct PhD research on the dynamics of support for violent movements and responses, including quantitative analysis of data, surveys and survey experiments, and fieldwork interviews.

Co-author publications with other project members;

Carry out fieldwork and interviews in research locations;

Assist with administrative responsibilities related to the project, such as the organization of workshops, conferences, or other project events.

Take active part in DIViNE training network activities including network training modules, PhD colloquia, research workshops, secondments, and training workshops;

Be affiliated with and take active part in the research environment at the department and institute. Regular physical presence at the Institute is therefore required and researchers need to reside within commuting distance of Göttingen. We will assist with finding adequate housing and with applying for visas and residence permits.

Requirements:

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 scienc