Application deadline: 10 April 2018
Start date: 10 September 2018
The European Research Council (ERC) project Labour Politics & the EU’s New Economic Governance Regime at the Geary Institute for Public Policy, University College Dublin, invites applications for up to three doctoral fellowships. The PhD fellows will be supervised by Roland Erne (principle investigator and professor of European integration & employment relations) and Sabina Stan (senior social scientist and lecturer in sociology & anthropology). Successful candidates will be part of an interdisciplinary, multinational team and must enrol in the joint doctoral programme of the Graduate Schools of Business, Social Sciences and Law.
We welcome original and independent PhD project proposals. However, proposals should fit within the scope of the ERC project Labour Politics and the EU’s New Economic Governance Regime (www.erc-europeanunions.eu/about-the-project/). The proposal can be situated in labour studies, sociology, social anthropology, political economy, or comparative politics and may include:
- Contentious politics; social movements; trade unionism; transnational collective action; interest group politics; EU politics; political and social consequences of economic crisis; social justice; Euroscepticism, class politics, technocracy and democracy;
- Interactions between national and EU public policy (e.g. Germany, Italy, Romania and/or Ireland); access to public services (e.g. right to water, healthcare or transport); labour relations, labour law and social policy (e.g. wages, pensions, labour regulations).
Eligibility: Candidates must hold a master’s degree (or equivalent) in the social sciences and have received training in sociology, political sciences, social anthropology, industrial relations, or related disciplines. They should have experience with qualitative research and a good general knowledge of labour politics. A firm command of English is required. Working knowledge of one or two additional European languages is a strong advantage.
Fellowship conditions: Tax-free scholarship (€18,000 p.a. plus €6,170 p.a. fee remission grant); 4-year contract; access to structured PhD programme including language modules; laptop; conference and fieldwork expenses. Start date: 10/09/2018.
Application procedure
Required documents: a CV; a transcript of records from each university attended; a cover letter briefly describing your intellectual trajectory so far and discussing the topics that interest you (2 pages maximum); a PhD thesis project proposal (2,000 words maximum including abstract); and a writing sample such as an article, master thesis chapter, or term paper.
Please send the application compiled into a single PDF file to Bianca.Foehrer@ucd.ie by 10 April 2018 (with “PhD” in the subject line). Shortlisted candidates will be asked to nominate two academic referees and invited to an online interview. Final decisions will be made by the end of April 2018.
Informal inquiries can be sent to Roland.Erne@ucd.ie.