PhD Position in Political Violence and Democratization

This PhD position is part of the **DIViNE Doctoral Network**, an MSCA-funded initiative investigating political violence in democracies. Based at the University of Amsterdam’s Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (AISSR), the candidate will develop a theoretical framework explaining why violence persists despite formal democratic reforms. The project combines cross-national statistical analysis, subnational mixed-methods research, and fieldwork in Global South regions, with a three-month secondment at Uppsala University. The successful applicant will contribute to a collaborative network of 10 PhD researchers across five European universities, supervised by leading experts in political science and conflict studies.

• Conduct original PhD research on how democratization processes inadvertently generate incentives for political violence in Global South contexts.
• Develop and apply a unified theoretical framework explaining the persistence of violence despite formal democratic reforms.
• Perform cross-national statistical analysis using large datasets, panel regression, and causal inference techniques.
• Design and execute subnational mixed-methods studies, including survey experiments and fieldwork interviews.
• Collaborate with other PhD candidates in the DIViNE network, co-author publications, and participate in training workshops.
• Present research findings at network colloquia, research workshops, and international conferences.
• Teach Bachelor-level courses (up to 10% of workload) as part of the PhD trajectory.
• Assist with administrative tasks related to project events, including organizing workshops and conferences.
• Complete a three-month secondment at Uppsala University for applied policy exposure and comparative analysis training.
• Defend a doctoral thesis at the University of Amsterdam’s Faculty of Social Sciences.