HSS - School of Law and Government header
School of Law and Government
RETOOL

Closing Friday 12 January: Postdoctoral Researcher in Environmental Politics

Applications are invited from suitably qualified candidates for the position of Postdoctoral Researcher – Environmental Politics in the School of Law and Government. This is a Fixed Term Contract up to 3 years. The closing date is Friday 12 January 2024. 

Background & Role

The postdoctoral researcher will work across two externally funded research projects (50% of time devoted to each project): 

Horizon Europe project RETOOL: Strengthening democratic governance for climate transitions. The goal of the project is to advance our understanding of how to address the twin challenges of responding to the climate imperative while strengthening and reinvigorating democratic governance. The project aims to understand how a variety of democratic institutions across Europe are responding to the climate challenge, including learning lessons from history and studying new and innovative democratic practices. The postdoctoral researcher will contribute to research on the climate challenge and its contestation in democracies, and conceptualizing types of democracy and democratic institutions in a multilevel context. They will also undertake empirical research on the evolving roles of democratic institutions in climate governance, including representative institutions, expert advisory bodies, and institutions for deliberative participation.

Climate + Biodiversity and Water Co-Centre, a major new tri-jurisdictional (Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Great Britain) research centre focused on the interlinked challenges of climate change, biodiversity, and water quality. The postdoctoral researcher will contribute to a project led by DCU entitled “Strengthening policy and governance frameworks for climate, biodiversity and water quality”. The postdoctoral researcher will contribute to analysing trends in land-use regulatory and governance arrangements on the island of Ireland, developing scenario-based analysis of risks associated with policy and governance divergence, and identifying potential approaches to mitigate such risks.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities

The successful candidate will undertake a range of research and associated tasks across the RETOOL and Climate+ projects. The main duties and responsibilities include:

  • Undertaking comprehensive literature reviews and synthesising existing research across multiple fields of relevance to the projects;
  • Undertaking primary data collection and analysis, including but not limited to document analysis, interviews, and scenario development and analysis;
  • Participating in project meetings and working with partners across the project consortia;
  • Presenting research findings at relevant national and international conferences;
  • Engaging with relevant stakeholders and overseeing outreach to different audiences;
  • Overseeing the timely completion of project deliverables;
  • Contributing to the efficient management of the two projects, including through relevant administrative tasks.

Minimum Criteria

 Applicants should have a PhD in environmental politics or a cognate discipline.  In addition, it is desirable that the candidate has the following: 

  • Strong research profile on the politics of climate change, biodiversity, and/or water;
  • Emerging track record of peer reviewed academic publications;
  • Excellent empirical research, analytical, and writing skills;
  • Proven ability to work in an interdisciplinary setting;
  • Strong interpersonal and organisational skills;
  • Ability to communicate effectively to both academic and practitioner audiences;
  • Knowledge of the EU and Irish environmental policy landscapes.

More information and instructions on how to apply can be found here: https://universityvacancies.com/dublin-city-university/postdoctoral-researcher-environmental-politics