2 PhD candidates in Sociology
 
The institute of sociology at the University of Tübingen (chair of macrosociology) invites applications for two PhD candidates on the project “Social identity and social cohesion: how disrespect threatens social cohesion”. These positions are funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
 
The project investigates how threatened social identities affect populist attitudes and other indicators of social cohesion. The central hypothesis is that societal changes (e.g., globalisation processes) bring about a re-evaluation of social categories which leads to identity insecurity and perceived disrespect for members of certain social groups. Insecurity and disrespect in turn foster populist attitudes as well as feelings of “nostalgia” and the wish to restore “traditional” identities. The work program of the project includes the secondary analysis of survey data (focusing on cross-country comparisons) as well as the implementation and analysis of own online surveys and survey experiments which trace the effects of identity insecurity and perceived devaluation of social categories on various indicators of social cohesion.
 
During the three-year PhD project, the selected candidates will be able to develop her/his research agenda on the abovementioned theme, in collaboration with other members of the chair of macrosociology. The project supervisors are Prof. Dr. Martin Groß and Dr. Volker Lang. The chair of macrosociology as well as the institute of sociology at the University of Tübingen offer a collaborative and international oriented research environment. The city of Tübingen is a dynamic and academic shaped middle town in southern Germany.
 
Your tasks:
 
- Conception and implementation of online surveys and online experiments
- Analyses of the own data collected and existing surveys using statistical methods
- Publication of the results
 
Your profile:
 
- A Master’s degree in sociology or any other relevant social science discipline, preferably a degree
  from a research master program
- An excellent command of quantitative research designs and statistical methods
- A strong interest in the themes of the project
 
The intended starting date of the PhD positions is the 1st of February 2021, or soon thereafter. The positions concern a temporary appointment of 26.5 hours per week for a maximum term of 3 years. The starting salary will be around €2600 gross per month.
 
Applications should be sent via email in one single pdf-file to Svitlana Benz at svitlana.benzspam prevention@uni-tuebingen.de. The deadline is the 11th of December 2020.  

The University of Tübingen aims to increase the proportion of women in research and teaching and therefore asks appropriately qualified female scientists to apply.
 
People with disabilities will be given preference if equally qualified.