Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Quantitative Political Science (Voter ID Project)

Department of Politics and International Relations, Manor Road Building, Oxford, OX1 3UQ

The Department of Politics and International Relations (DPIR) is one of Oxford’s largest and most internationally recognised departments, home to around 90 academic staff and a thriving community of researchers and visitors. Ranked the Number One University in the UK for Politics by The Guardian in 2024, the department delivers world‑class teaching and research supported by experienced Professional Services teams working across Courses, Research, Finance, HR and Communications. We are strongly committed to equality, diversity and inclusion, including work towards an Athena Swan Bronze Award, and are based in the Social Sciences Building on Manor Road alongside Economics, Criminology, Socio‑Legal Studies and the Social Science Library.

About the Role

The Postdoctoral Research Fellow will work with Prof Petra Schleiter (Principal Investigator) to conduct research for an ESRC funded research project on the effects of voter ID in the UK. The appointee will be part of a research team including co-Is Prof Margit Tavits and Prof Jonathan Homola.

The project examines the effects on voters’ behaviour and attitudes of the introduction of mandatory photo ID in the UK, where citizens have no national ID cards. It combines (i) original surveys with embedded experiments with the analysis of historical data on the introduction of voter ID in (ii) Northern Ireland in the early 2000s, and (iii) in the English voter ID trials of 2018 and 2019. The Postdoctoral researcher will work closely with other members of the team, including the PI and Co-Is.

About You

You will contribute to designing a survey experiment, code and test survey instruments, monitor data collection with the survey firm, and carry out data‑quality checks. Additionally, you will adapt existing and develop new research methods suited to the data, while managing your own research activities and workload with appropriate initiative and judgement. Furthermore, you must hold or be close to completion of a doctorate in political science or a related field and have experience of survey experiments, survey design and survey data analysis as well expertise in advanced quantitative methods, research design, and experience of working in R.

This position is full-time and fixed-term for 12 months and available from 1 September 2026.

Application Process

Applications for this vacancy are to be made online via the University’s job pages. You will be required to upload a recent CV and supporting statement as part of your online application. Only applications received before 12 noon (UK time) on Friday 26 June 2026 can be considered. Please quote reference 186584 in all correspondence. Interviews will take place as soon as possible there after.