Two year full time post-doc position in ‘Process tracing methods in policy evaluation’

 

The two year post-doc position will take part in the development and testing of new process tracing methodological tools for evaluating policies within the Mechanisms and Mechanistic Evidence in the Social Science (MMESS) project, funded by the Danish Independent Research Council. The post-doc will be working directly with the principal investigator, Derek Beach.

The starting date is January 1, 2022, or subject to mutual agreement.

The research project and job description

The post-doc will play a central role in the testing and refinement of methods phase in relation to new applications of process tracing methods in the field of policy evaluation. The testing and refinement of mechanism-focused policy evaluation methods will take place in cooperation with the German Institute for Development Evaluation (DEval). The post-doc will be embedded in one of DEval’s evaluation projects from the institute’s current thematic focus areas of development instruments and structures; fragile states, peacebuilding and conflict prevention; or private sector engagement in development cooperation.

The embedding of the post-doc in a DEval project will require significant presence at the headquarters of DEval in Bonn from the 6th to 18th months of the position. The rest of the post-doc period will be hosted by the Department of Political Science, Aarhus University, Denmark. The post-doc must have a willingness to travel in the context of case studies to developing countries / emerging economies.

Your qualifications

Applicants are expected to hold (or be close to completing) a PhD in political science, sociology or another field relevant to the project. Other key qualifications include:

• Strong methodological background, in particular proficiency in process tracing case study methods both in theory and practice;
• Some familiarity with case study methods within the field of policy evaluation;
• Ideally some experience with practical policy evaluations in the field;
• Some familiarity with mixed and multi method research;
• Experience in scientific cooperation and networking;
• Ideally some knowledge of international development cooperation.

More about the MMESS project

The MMESS project will develop a new set of methodological tools and guidelines that will enable social scientists to more systematically engage in mechanism-focused research of the 'black-box' in-between causes and outcomes as they play out in real-world cases, opening for new avenues of research that are currently difficult with existing methods. The resulting guidelines will be of high interest to academic scholars in the social sciences, but also to applied research such as the evaluation of policy interventions and how they work in the real-world.

Who we are

The Department of Political Science is one of the six departments at Aarhus BSS, one of the five faculties at Aarhus University. The department is among the largest and strongest political science departments in Europe, with particular strengths in the areas of political behavior, political psychology and political philosophy. In 2020, the Department of Political Science at Aarhus University was ranked as the top department in political science in continental Europe, according to ShanghaiRanking's Global Ranking (http://www.shanghairanking.com/Shanghairanking-Subject-Rankings/political-sciences.html).

At the Department of Political Science, we emphasize a dynamic and flexible research and teaching profile characterized by pluralism and openness. With more than 100 academic staff members and 50 PhD students, we offer a lively, ambitious and highly collegial research and teaching environment with many international visitors and workshops and a clear international orientation.

For more information about the Department of Political Science, please see: https://ps.au.dk/en.

Further information

Applicants are encouraged to contact Professor Derek Beach prior to submitting their application to learn more about the project and specific tasks, E-mail: derek@ps.au.dk.

If you need help uploading your application or have any questions about the recruitment process, please contact HR supporter Anna Bruun Pedersen, E-mail: anpe@au.dk.

Place of work

Department of Political Science, Bartholins Allé 7, DK - 8000 Aarhus C

International applicant?

Aarhus University offers a broad variety of services for international researchers and accompanying families, including relocation service and career counselling to expat partners: http://ias.au.dk/au-relocation-service/. Please find more information about entering and working in Denmark here: http://international.au.dk/research/

Aarhus University also offers a Junior Researcher Development Programme targeted at career development for postdocs at AU. You can read more about it here:
http://talent.au.dk/junior-researcher-development-programme/

Terms of employment

The appointment is made in accordance with the Memorandum on Job Structure for Academic Staff at Danish Universities as well as the circular on the Collective Agreement for Academics Employed by the State (in Danish).

The job content and qualification requirements are described in further detail in the Ministerial Order on the Appointment of Academic Staff at Universities.

Application procedure

When you apply for this position it is mandatory to attach the following:

• Application
• Curriculum Vitae. You are encouraged to declare any periods of leave without research activity, including, for example, maternity leave, since your research activities are assessed in relation to your actual research time
• Education (diploma for master's, PhD and possibly higher doctoral degree)
• List of publications (the enclosed publications must be clearly marked on the list of publications)
• Publications. Up to three publications can be included in the application. In the event of several authors the publications must be accompanied by a co-author statement concerning the applicant's share of the collaborative work with the consent of the co-authors. Please use this template
• Teaching portfolio. The specific requirements regarding the documentation can be found here

Materials which cannot be uploaded together with the application may be submitted in three copies to Aarhus BSS HR & PhD, Aarhus University, Tåsingegade 1, 2nd floor, DK-8000 Aarhus C.

Read more about how to apply for an academic post at Aarhus BSS here

The evaluation process

After the application deadline, an assessment committee is appointed. Please note that the assessment of applicants is based solely on the material received prior to the application deadline. For further information, see Guidelines for Assessment Committee, Aarhus BSS.

All interested candidates are encouraged to apply regardless of personal background.

The application must be submitted via Aarhus University’s recruitment system, which can be accessed under the job advertisement on Aarhus University's website.

Deadline1 Sep

Expected start1 Jan

• Department of Political ScienceBartholins Allé 78000 Aarhus C

• Fixed term full-time position1 Jan 2022 - 31 Dec 2023ID: 6169

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