PhD position in Political Science in the research group led by Prof. Dr. Hannah Smidt (m/f/d)

What we offer

• Fixed term employment at the School of Economic and Political Science at University of St. Gallen for four years and a competitive salary according to Swiss National Science Foundation Guidelines (ca. CHF 49'272.00 per annum before taxes incl. social security contributions).
• Becoming a part of a dynamic and motivated research team and working in an international and vibrant research community at the University of St. Gallen with connections to multi-disciplinary groups of world-class researchers.
• Enjoying the possibility to work very flexibly, including in terms of work hours and place of work (outside term times).
• Benefiting from a generous travel budget for conference and short research stays in Switzerland and abroad to expand your academic network and acquire soft skills (e.g., in presenting and critiquing research)
• Deepening analytical and methodological skills and getting the opportunity to become an expert in a specific research area.

Further instructions and timeline

All application material should be submitted as one single file (please upload under "Dateien / Lebenslauf")). Please do not hesitate to contact Prof. Dr. Hannah Smidt (E-Mail schreiben) for details about the position.

Hiring decisions will be made on a rolling basis. If there is no suitable candidate in the first round, there will be a second round of applications. Interviews are either in-person at University of St. Gallen or online via MS Teams / Zoom.

•To be considered in the first round, please submit your application materials by 4 June 2024 (midnight). The interviews for the first round will take place from 12 to 14 June 2024. Invitations to interview in the first round will be sent out by 6 June.
•To be considered for the second round, please submit your application materials by 30 July 2024 (midnight). The interviews for the second round will take place from 7 to 9 August 2024. Invitations to interview in the first round will be sent out by 1 August.


The earliest start date of the PhD position is 1 September 2024. Later start dates are equally possible.


Application Material

• A short cover letter explaining your motivation and fit with the requirements (max. 1 page)
• A writing sample (e.g., your MA / MSc thesis or a paper form your MA / MSc studies)
• A CV
• BA/BSc and MA/MSc degrees and transcripts
• If you receive an interview invitation, you will be asked to critically comment on the research proposal of the above mentioned SNF funded project “UN-Popular” and develop an outline of a research article manuscript based on this project (max. 3 pages).

The University of St. Gallen is an international research university in Switzerland. Students and faculty at the School of Economics and Political Science produce internationally excellent and practice-relevant research, which also thrives on interdisciplinary cooperation. As one of Europe's leading places of education in economics and business administration, the University of St. Gallen is home to over 9500 students from 95 countries. St. Gallen is a medium-sized town with the a vibrant and diverse cultural scene. It is located about one hour from Zurich and about half an hour from Lake Constance by public transportation.

PhD position in Political Science in the research group led by Prof. Dr. Hannah Smidt (m/f/d)

• Organizing, developing, and executing a four-year doctoral research project and delivering a cumulative (paper-based) or monograph-based PhD thesis related to the topic of popular perceptions of international peace operations and peacebuilding interventions.
• Delivering high-quality non-PhD research outputs in the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF) funded project “UN-Popular: The Causes And Consequences Of Citizens' Opposition To UN Peace Missions.”
• Reading and summarizing the relevant research literature in political science, sociology, media and communication studies, and psychology, among others.
• Collecting and analyzing qualitative and quantitative data related to popular opposition to UN peace missions globally.
• Contributing to theory-building on the causes and consequences of popular opposition to UN peace missions globally.
• Learning to publish academic work as a co-author within the SNF project and taking responsibility for various research outputs.
• Working independently as well as jointly in a multinational, dynamic, and motivated research team.
• Participating in the “Doctorate of International Affairs” (DIA)-program, including course work (in total 36 ECTS credits) and presentation of your research proposal in front of a dissertation committee
• Deepening knowledge on a range of analytical and methods skills including in large-scale data management, text-as-data methods, and sophisticated quantitative data analysis.
• Traveling to conferences and workshop to present the doctoral research project and work on the SNF project in and outside Switzerland (from year 2 onward).

• A very good Master degree in a social sciences discipline incl., for example, political science, peace and conflict studies, economics, econometrics, research methods, sociology or psychology.
• Profound interest in the origins and consequences of popular opposition to international political authority including international peace operations.
• Enthusiasm for reading a large amount of research literature in the sub-fields of political science, communication science, psychology, and sociology.
• Proven skills in academic writing.
• Excellent knowledge of quantitative methods and methodologies and enthusiasm for deepening and expanding this knowledge.
• Very good to excellent command of at least one of the following statistical software programs- (R, Stata and Python) -and a willingness to learn R.
• Excellent command of English. Good working knowledge of French, Albanian and/or Serbian is an asset.

"A place where knowledge is created" - As one of Europe's leading universities of economics and business administration, the University of St.Gallen (HSG), Switzerland, is committed to the education of over 9800 students. The HSG is one of the largest employers in the region and provides an attractive and innovative environment for more than 3300 researchers, educators and professional staff.