Researcher-expert : Postdoctoral researcher Political behaviour (100%)

Researcher-expert : Postdoctoral researcher Political behaviour (100%)

The postdoctoral fellow will work within the framework of the ERC funded research project “Protest, Public Opinion and Electoral Preferences: how protest propels political change (PROPEL)” led by Ruud Wouters. PROPEL asks: What is it in public opinion that gets affected by protest? And, when and how does this impact materialize? To address these questions, the PROPEL team seeks to develop and test a political communication theory of protest-public opinion (PPO) impact. We scrutinize how the features of protest (size, disruption, organizer, claim), the mechanisms of mediatization (mass and social media) and politicization (reactions of political actors in the public sphere), and the features of citizen receivers (predispositions) drive four types of public opinion effects (issue-specific, system-generic, group-identity and party preference). To that end, we will link extant protest and survey data, field panel surveys surrounding upcoming protests, execute vignette experiments, and engage in quantitative content analyses of mass and social media. Doing so, we investigate the implications of protest in an era of shifting cleavage politics. A summary of the research project can be found here .

Bullet point summary of the postdoctoral function:

• You will develop an ambitious and innovative research agenda within the framework of PROPEL
• You will strongly contribute to the integration of protest event and survey data, as well as to the design, implementation and analysis of panel survey data.
• You will co-author academic and non-academic outputs from the project.
• You will collaborate with other project members (PhDs, principal investigators and co-investigators) and contribute to project management.
• You will present findings at national and international conferences, help organize workshops, and support team meetings and events.

Your team

The PROPEL team consists of a Principal Investigator, a post-doc and three phd-students. The team is embedded within research group R4D (Research for Digitalization, Diversity and Democracy) at the School of Social Sciences of Hasselt University. R4D is a young and dynamic interdisciplinary research centre focusing on three societal grand challenges and their interaction: digitalization, diversity and democracy.

• You hold a PhD in the social sciences (political science, communication, sociology) or you will have obtained it by the time you start working.

You possess robust empirical research knowledge and are proficient in conducting quantitative analyses.

You have a strong background in survey analysis. An excellent understanding of causal inference techniques using panel survey data and linkage designs is a plus. Experience with computational text analysis or vignette experiments is an advantage but not a requirement.

You have a strong proficiency in R and/or Stata and/or Python.

You have strong writing abilities.

You act with attention to quality, integrity, creativity and cooperation. You are a team player.

You have the capacity to work independently and pro-actively; you work thoroughly and deliver tasks timely. You can manage multiple tasks effectively and know how to prioritize.

You have an excellent command of English, both orally and in writing. Dutch language proficiency is considered a plus.

You have strong communication skills and you thrive on working in a team-based environment.

Our offer for you

You will be appointed and paid as Researcher-expert .

We offer:

• A full-time postdoc position for 3 years.
• Support in further development of academic (research and/or teaching) skills and job market competetiveness.
• Integration in the international and collaborative research community surrounding the project and in research unit R4D (Research for Digitalization, Diversity and Democracy).
• Support for participation in national and international conferences, workshops, summer and/or winter schools.
• You will do most of your work at the Hasselt Campus in a dynamic and stimulating working environment.

The envisioned starting date is January 1 st , 2027 (starting date can be negotiated).

Hasselt University works to ensure that everyone is welcome, feels at home, and can do their best at our university. The diverse talents of our students and staff are a precious resource for our community and the engine of our future prosperity. Diversity of experiences and perspectives enriches our education, strengthens our research and increases our social impact. As a civic university, Hasselt University seeks to set a good example in the region in terms of diversity and inclusion. With our focus on justice and nondiscrimination, we are working together for a diverse and inclusive Hasselt University.