ViDSS Spring 2022 Call for Applications
Deadline and application
The ViDSS Spring Call opens on 23 May 2022, the application deadline is 19 June 2022.
Get ready to apply:
1. Please register yourself at the University’s digital portal u:space by opening a u:account here.
2. With your u:account User ID you can apply via our recruiting platform Apply@ViDSS. All applications have to be submitted via the recruiting platform.
Why apply to the ViDSS?
- We offer doctoral training across all research fields of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Vienna,
- close supervision by top researchers in the social sciences and
- a structured doctoral programme and support through cohort integration, career development and different funding programmes.
Duration of employment: 3 or 4 years (see project descriptions)
Extent of employment: 30 hours/week
Job grading in accordance with collective bargaining agreement §48 VwGr. B1 Grundstufe (praedoc) with relevant work experience determining the assignment to a particular salary grade.
We expect from all applicants to have:
- Above-average MA or equivalent in a field of study relevant for the open position
- Deep interest in and enthusiasm for scientific work
- High level of motivation and commitment to successfully complete his/her doctoral studies within the anticipated time frame
- Collaborative, team-minded and pro-active attitude
- High level of written and oral communication skills
- Excellent English language skills (written and oral)
We expect the successful candidates to sign a doctoral thesis agreement within 9–18 months. The candidates who are selected for these positions join the ViDSS as student members.
The ViDSS offers 5 exciting doctoral positions
- Supervisor: Petra Dannecker
Research field: Development Sociology, Department of Development Studies - Supervisor: Kristina Dietz
Research field: Development Studies from a Political Science Perspective, Department of Development Studies - sowi:docs Fellowship Programme (2 positions)
Doctoral research projects in the fields of communication, demography, development studies, nursing studies, political science, science and technology studies, social and cultural anthropology, and sociology - Supervisor: Thomas Meyer
Research project The Politics of Portfolio Design in European Democracies, Department of Government
#1: Supervisor: Petra Dannecker, Development Sociology
At the Department of Development Studies, a subunit of the Faculty of Social Sciences, we focus on the transdisciplinary analysis of global inequalities as well as on questions of methodology and methods referring to the subject of ‘development’.
To support our team, we invite applications for a doctoral position. As University Assistant (prae doc) at the Department of Development Studies, you will primarily teach and research in the area of development sociology with a focus on migration and intersectionality / gender and on the Global South. The position calls for the collaboration in the department’s transdisciplinary teaching and research programme.
Your tasks include:
- Independent research in the above-mentioned context for a PhD dissertation project
- Collaboration in research projects and research proposals
- Cooperation in publications, academic articles, and presentations
- Participation in the organisation of meetings, conferences and symposia
- Independent teaching due to extent regulations of collective bargaining agreement as well as student supervision, examination activities, and the participation in evaluation activities as well as in quality assurance
- Participation in the department’s administration
Required in addition to the general expectations:
- Knowledge in the field of migration and gender research and / or sociology of knowledge
- Experience with qualitative approaches and methods
- Interest in transdisciplinary teaching and research
- Good German and English language skills in reading, writing, and speaking
Desired:
- Interest in challenging existing concepts and in developing new (transdiciplinary) approaches, and possibly experience in transdisciplinary teaching and research contexts
- Practical project experience (proposal, implementation, dissemination)
- Practical independent research experience
- Willingness to travel and to do fieldwork
- IT literacy for qualitative research applications (f. ex. Altlas.ti, F4/F5, MAXQDA, SPSS)
Employment duration: The announcement is made for 4 years. The employment contract is initially limited to 1.5 years and is automatically extended to a total of 4 years, unless the employer submits a declaration of non-renewal after a maximum of 12 months.
Starting date: 1 October 2022 at the earliest
Contact: Andrea Kremser, Petra Dannecker
Application documents:
- Letter of motivation
- Academic CV (incl. list of publications and a short description of your teaching and research focus / foci)
- Degree certificate/s (no study reports) of previously completed university degree programmes
- Record of teaching experience (if applicable)
- Doctoral project proposal (5 pages max.)
- Text sample in English (if available)
All documents have to be submitted in one single PDF file. Applications can be submitted in English or German.
Apply@ViDSS —> choose #1: Petra Dannecker, Development Sociology
#2: Supervisor: Kristina Dietz, Development Studies from a Political Science Perspective
At the Department of Development Studies, a subunit of the Faculty of Social Sciences, we focus on the transdisciplinary analysis of global inequalities as well as on questions of methodology and methods referring to the subject of ‘development’.
To support our team, we invite applications for a doctoral position in Development Studies from a political science perspective. As University Assistant (prae doc) at the Department of Development Studies, you will primarily teach and research in the area of development studies from a political science perspective, and participate in the department’s transdisciplinary teaching and research programme.
Your tasks include:
- Independent research within the scope of a PhD dissertation project
- Collaboration in research projects and research proposals
- Collaboration in joint publications
- Collaboration in the organisation of events and presentations
- Independent teaching due to extent regulations of wage agreement as well as student supervision, examination activities, and the participation in evaluation activities as well as in quality assurance
- Participation in the department’s administration
Required in addition to the general expectations:
- Knowledge of theories and empirical research in development studies from a political science perspective
- Good knowledge of qualitative research methods and concepts
- Good German and English language skills in reading, writing, and speaking
Desired:
- Willingness to conduct independent empirical research for a PhD dissertation, preferably in Latin America, Africa and / or from a transregional / global perspective
- Experience with independent empirical research
- Good knowledge of another foreign language (Spanish, Portuguese or French)
- Good knowledge in the department’s research area of development research from a political science perspective (socio-ecological transformation, land/resources conflicts, labour conflicts, political ecology, political economy, participation and democracy, social movements, transformation of rural areas, international environment, resource and climate policy)
- Good knowledge of feminist theories and the willingness to integrate them in the dissertation
- Communication skills and ability to work in teams
- Cross-cultural competence
Employment duration: The announcement is made for 4 years. The employment contract is initially limited to 1.5 years and is automatically extended to a total of 4 years, unless the employer submits a declaration of non-renewal after a maximum of 12 months.
Starting date: as soon as possible
Contact: Andrea Kremser, Kristina Dietz
Application documents:
- Letter of motivation
- Academic CV (incl. list of publications, if applicable, and short description of previous teaching and research focus)
- Degree certificate/s (no study reports) of previously completed university degree programmes
- Record of teaching experience (if applicable)
- Doctoral project proposal (2 pages max.)
All documents have to be submitted in one single PDF file. Applications can be submitted in English or German.
Apply@ViDSS —> choose #2: Kristina Dietz, Development Studies from a Political Science Perspective
#3: sowi:docs Fellowship Programme (2 positions)
With the sowi:docs fellowship programme the ViDSS offers up to two positions for doctoral candidates in the social sciences. sowi:docs fellowships are individual scholarships which give outstanding doctoral candidates the opportunity to devote full-time effort to their research and to writing their doctoral thesis. We welcome applications in the fields of communication, demography, development studies, nursing studies, political science, science and technology studies, social and cultural anthropology, and sociology.
Your tasks: Writing a doctoral thesis and participation in research, administration and teaching according to the collective bargaining agreement.
Requirements: Applicants need to secure the support of at least one supervisor who is a member of the ViDSS. If the applicant is already a doctoral candidate at the University of Vienna, they must have been admitted no earlier than in the summer semester of 2021. For more information please visit the website of the sowi:docs Fellowship Programme.
Employment duration: The announcement is made for 3 years, whereby the employment contract is initially limited to 1.5 years and is automatically extended to a total of 3 years, unless the employer submits a declaration of non-renewal after a maximum of 12 months.
Starting date: The earliest date to start the programme is 1 January 2023, the latest date is 1 May 2023.
Website of the sowi:docs Fellowship Programme
Contact: Eva Kössner
Application documents:
- Letter of motivation: Describe your previous academic achievements, your mid-term career goals and your motivation for the subject area you chose.
- CV in tabular form (no more than 3 pages including a list of publications, if available)
- Degree certificates (incl. transcripts) of previously completed university degree programmes
- Abstract of the research proposal (no more than 250 words)
- Research proposal (no more than 10 pages including a list of references, font size of 11pt, 1.5 line spacing): A research proposal for the sowi:docs Fellowship Programme must include: Current state of research and positioning of the research project; academic goals and methodological approach; ethical considerations; work schedule and required financial and material expenses; preliminary bibliography.
- To facilitate double-blind review, please remove any identifying information, such as your name, from your research proposal before submission.
All documents have to be submitted in one single PDF file. Applications have to be submitted in English.
Following the submission of your application, your supervisor/s at the ViDSS will be asked to complete and submit a form containing a set of questions about you and your doctoral thesis project. The deadline for the submission of this statement is 24 July 2022. Please note that your application is not complete and will not be considered without a statement from one of your supervisors at the ViDSS.
Apply@ViDSS —> choose #3: sowi:docs Fellowship Programme
#4: Supervisor: Thomas Meyer, The Politics of Portfolio Design in European Democracies
In collaboration with Ulrich Sieberer (University of Bamberg) and an international team of scholars, this project analyses the causes and consequences of changes in the jurisdictions of government departments. For this purpose, the project team will collect data on the portfolio design of governments in ten Western European democracies for the period 1970 to 2020, and link these data with other data sources (e.g. the Comparative Agendas Project). The doctoral researcher will be mainly responsible for the data management.
We offer a vibrant research environment with an international project team and secure funding for additional methods training and international workshops/conferences. The successful candidate will have no teaching obligation but the opportunity to get teaching experience if desired.
Your tasks include:
- Pursue a doctoral thesis, preferably related to the project’s topic (e.g. government formation, coalition governance, public policy)
- Co-author scientific publication with the project team
- Data management: design and set up comparative datasets on portfolio design based on incoming data from the country teams, combine these data with external data sources, collect additional data on legislative activity, provide extensive data documentation, maintain the original data sources (laws, decrees, organisational charts, etc.), and organise the dissemination of the project data
- Organisation: Support the team organising a project workshop; assist the principal investigators to prepare a book manuscript
Required in addition to the general expectations:
- Master’s degree in Political Science (or equivalent) with excellent final marks
- Interest in the analysis of political institutions, (coalition) governments, legislative studies, and/or public policy
- Skills in advanced statistics and data management (R and/or Stata)
- Willingness for additional methods training during the PhD
Employment duration: 3 years
Starting date: flexible, preferably 1 October 2022 or 1 January 2023
Contact: Thomas Meyer
Application documents:
- Letter of motivation
- Academic CV in tabular form (incl. two references / names & contact information)
- Degree certificates (incl. transcripts) of previously completed university degree programmes
- Writing sample (e. g., MA thesis or a seminar paper)
All documents have to be submitted in one single PDF file. Applications have to be submitted in English.
Apply@ViDSS —> choose #4: Thomas Meyer, The Politics of Portfolio Design in European Democracies
For further information on the ViDSS Spring 2022 Call for Applications please contact the ViDSS administration team (email to vds-sosci@univie.ac.at).
The University pursues a non-discriminatory employment policy and values equal opportunities, as well as diversity. The University lays special emphasis on increasing the number of women in senior and in academic positions. Given equal qualifications, preference will be given to female applicants.