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The position is offered in the project Intangible and Invisible Interests, Concealed Constituents and Excluded Electorates: Understanding the Politics of Absence (INCONEX) funded by a European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant (March 2025 – February 2030), led by Dr. Lucy Kinski. INCONEX aims to understand who is made absent by whom, how, when, and why in the process of political representation. It combines quantitative text analyses of parliamentary speech with online interviews of representatives and online focus groups with citizens. More information on
the project is .

The Postdoc will develop, validate, and apply state-of-the-art computational text analysis tools/natural language processing models to identify who is present and who is absent in parliamentary speech in several languages. They are expected to actively contribute to the project and author methodological and substantive publications relevant to the project, both individually and in collaboration with the other project members (the Principal Investigator and two PhD students). With the project team, they share the responsibility for data collection, its documentation and management, and for the ethical implementation of the research project. They co-supervise student research assistants.

Applicants hold a very good Doctorate/PhD in political science, computational social science, data science or a related field. The successful candidate will have advanced quantitative text analysis skills, an excellent command of English (knowledge of German and/or Spanish is an asset), and advanced programming skills in R. They will possess a solid publication record or demonstrated potential for future publications. The candidate should have excellent communication skills, be able to work well in a team, and demonstrate responsibility and a high level of commitment. An emerging research agenda broadly related to the project, particularly in political representation, is an asset.

The position is initially for three years, with the possibility of extension for an additional two years (3+2). The intended start date is 1 March 2025. The working time commitment is 40 hours per week (100%). The salary, which includes social insurance (e.g., healthcare, pension), is in accordance with the Austrian Collective Bargaining Agreement for university employees (Employment Group B1: EUR 4.752,30 gross; monthly salary, paid 14 times a year). Funds for conferences, and career support are available.

The project is hosted at the Department of Political Science and the Salzburg Centre of European Union Studies (SCEUS) at the University of Salzburg, Austria, which offers a dynamic international, and interdisciplinary research community. Important research themes include political representation, European Union politics, trade policy, and populism. How to apply: Your application should consist of a cover letter, including a discussion of how your methodological skills and research interests relate to the project, an academic Curriculum Vitae, including a list of publications where applicable, transcripts of record and university diplomas, contact details of two potential referees.

Please compile these documents in a single PDF file and send it to lucy.kinski@plus.ac.at no later than 8 January 2025, end of day. Please use the email subject “Application INCONEX Postdoc”. The Paris Lodron University of Salzburg is committed to equity, diversity, and inclusion. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, or age.

Individuals with disabilities or chronic illnesses who meet the required qualification criteria are explicitly encouraged to apply. The Paris Lodron University Salzburg aims to increase the proportion of women in its staff and therefore, in case of equal qualifications, women will be given priority.