The Centre for Global Politics, Economy and Society in the Department of Social Sciences at Oxford Brookes University is looking to appoint a Marie Sklodowska Curie PhD Fellow (Junior Research Fellow).
The successful candidate will work on a doctoral research project in the framework of the project ‘Around the Caspian: a doctoral training for future experts in development and cooperation with focus on the Caspian region' (CASPIAN 2015-19). This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 642709 with the goal of training the next generation of experts on the Caspian region. The full partners of this project are Oxford Brookes University, Dublin City University, Ghent University (Universiteit Gent), Tallinn University of Technology (Tallinna Tehnikaülikool), University of Saint Andrews, the Centre for Social Studies of the University of Coimbra (Universidade de Coimbra) and the Forschungsstelle Osteuropa Bremen. The project at Oxford Brookes is being led by Dr. Rico Isaacs.
The salary for this position is in accordance with Marie Curie payment scales and a sufficient research and travel budget will also be provided. The start of the assignment should not be later than 1 September 2015. The selected candidate will be registered on a PhD programme and receive funding for three years. It will be the responsibility of the selected candidate to cover any continuation fees if the PhD is not completed within 3 years.
The selected candidate will respectively work on the above research project and complete a Ph.D. thesis on: Trajectories of State and Regime Development in Central Asia at the Caucasus: informal and formal political institutions.
This research project intends to explore formal and informal institutional development in Central Asia and the Caucasus and how it relates to broader state and regime development in the region. The research could be based on either a single or multiple case studies (from across the region e.g. Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Armenia etc.). The range of aspects the project could examine, but is not limited to, are the role and development of political parties, legislatures, elections and constitutional politics and their interaction with informal political behaviour and relations (patronage, clientelism, factional politics, etc.). The topic is not entirely prescriptive and the relationship between formal and informal politics can be interpreted broadly.
You will be:
designing and executing a doctoral research project on the research topic of ‘Trajectories of State and Regime Development in Central Asia at the Caucasus: informal and formal political institutions’ undergoing extensive academic training and attendance at regular network events, including a network of universities where complementary training is available spending a period of time in one of the project’s non-academic partners to get work experience and learn how to use academic skills for non-academic sectors spending a research period in one of our non-EU university partners to gain an alternative view on the Caspian region.
You should have:
- completed a Masters Degree in Politics, Area Studies or a closely-related discipline·
- knowledge of qualitative and quantitative research methods in the social sciences
- a capacity for designing and executing a piece of original research
- organisational skills, be field-oriented, and be able to work and manage a research project independently
- have excellent writing skills in English and good or at least workable knowledge of Russian and/or relevant regional language (e.g. Kazakh, Azerbaijani etc).
Additional Information:
The application must be in English and the application package should contain the following items:
1. a completed application form which includes a statement outlining the candidates’ interest in and, if applicable, experience in, the Caspian region and how they meet the person specification
2. a detailed CV including, if applicable, a list of relevant publications;
3. a 1500 word project proposal on the research topic identified above outlining the rationale for the research, aims of the research, a literature review, research question, methodology and main contribution to the field.
4. two academic references.
Shortlisted applicants will be invited to an interview. Given the expected high number of applications, we regret to be unable to provide individual feedback to non-selected candidates.
Eligibility and technical information :
Candidates of any nationality and residence are eligible to apply as long as they meet the following criteria:
• Maximum seniority allowed: candidates must have less than 4 years (full-time equivalent) of post-graduate research experience
• Mobility clause: candidates must not have been resident or carried out activities in the UK for more than 12 months in the past three years
For more information on the Department of Social Sciences visit: http://www.social-sciences.brookes.ac.uk/
For more information on the Marie Sklodowska Curie Innovate Training Networks Programme,
please refer to: http://ec.europa.eu/research/mariecurieactions/about-msca/actions/itn/index_en.htm
Annual salary: £32,523
Closing date: 12 March 2015
Interview date: 9 April 2015
