Early Career Researcher (PhD Funded)

University of Birmingham - Birmingham Law School

Contract Type: Fixed Term 1st September 2026 – 31st August 2029

The role will be salaried as an Early Career Researcher and will include a fully funded PhD studentship as part of the appointment.

This post forms part of an international multi-site programme with the title: Sociology of Authoritarian Law: Insights from Central Asia (SOCIAL), which is based at the University of Lund. It is funded under the auspices of the Horizon Europe Marie Skłodowska‑Curie Doctoral Networks. The Principal Investigator at Birmingham University is Prof Chris Thornhill (School of Law). This post is focused on analyzing discrepancies between public reform narratives and actual legal outcomes under authoritarian elites. The appointee will assess the contradictory nature of legal reforms in Central Asia and will examine how some reforms aim to entrench authoritarian rule through constitutional engineering, while others introduce mechanisms aligned with international standards—such as administrative courts and accountability structures.

The appointee will create and contribute to the creation of knowledge by undertaking a specified range of activities within an established research programme.

Fully Funded MSCA PhD Positions Essential Criteria for applicants:

• To be eligible, Doctoral Candidates must have obtained a degree which formally entitles them to start a doctorate, either in the country in which the degree was obtained or in the country in which the researcher is recruited
• In addition, Doctoral Candidates cannot have been awarded a doctoral degree and/or completed more than four years of full-time equivalent research experience
• Doctoral Candidates must not have resided or carried out their main activity (i.e. work, studies) in the hosting country for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately before the recruitment date
• The successful candidates will be required to work in a team, to travel to conferences and network training events, and to take part in an academic and non-academic secondment abroad
• All Doctoral Candidates are required to undertake two secondments abroad, one academic and one non-academic, of between two and six months duration

For further information on eligibility criteria and on Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Doctoral Networks in general, please refer to: Doctoral Networks - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions.

Informal enquiries can be made to Christopher Thornhill at c.j.thornhill@bham.ac.uk

To download the full job description and details of this position and submit an electronic application online please click on the 'Apply' button above.

Valuing excellence, sustaining investment We value diversity and inclusion at the University of Birmingham and welcome applications from all sections of the community and are open to discussions around all forms of flexible working.