"PhD Candidate on Political Economy/Political Behaviour"

Job Summary

This PhD position is part of the research project Narratives of Division: Inequality, Populism, and Disinformation, funded by the Dutch Sector Plan on Democracy and Disinformation. The project examines how growing income inequality influences political discourse, public opinion, and democratic attitudes by interacting with populism and disinformation. It integrates approaches from comparative political economy and political psychology to explain variations in political disengagement, support for extremist candidates, and democratic backsliding across national contexts.

Responsibilities

• Designing and conducting survey experiments.
• Analysing experimental, survey, and text data.
• Co-authoring academic publications with the supervisory team.
• Developing at least one original paper connected to the project’s themes.
• Presenting your work at international conferences and workshops.
• Collaborating closely with project members and the wider faculty community.
• Contributing to teaching activities such as tutoring or supervising BA theses (0.1 FTE).

Qualifications and Requirements

You hold or are close to obtaining a master’s degree in Political Science, Economics, Social Psychology, Communication Science, or a related field, with excellent grades. You have experience with quantitative methods and are eager to develop expertise in text-as-data analysis. You are familiar with Stata and/or R and motivated to explore topics in political economy, political psychology, and political behaviour. You must be collaborative, independent, an excellent communicator in English at C2 level, and willing to relocate to Maastricht or be present on campus at least three days per week.

What the Employer Offers

Employment at Maastricht University includes a contract for 12 months (1.0 FTE), extendable to 3 years upon positive evaluation. Salary ranges from €2897 to €3881 gross per month based on experience, with additional holiday allowance and year-end bonus. Benefits include flexible working hours, partial home working, 29 vacation days plus 4 public holidays, pension scheme, commuting and internet allowance, and opportunities for personal and professional development through training programs.