Postdoctoral Researcher Position in the Politics of Climate Change

This full-time research position (100%; 39,5 h/week) is funded for three years by the DFG Emmy Noether project “The New Climate Divide” (Principal Investigator: Jun.-Prof. Dr. Endre Bobáth). An extension for an additional three years is possible, contingent upon the successful evaluation of the overall project.

The preferred starting date is 1 May 2025.

Project Description:
The research project, funded by the Emmy Noether Programme of the German Research Foundation (DFG), aims to investigate the dynamics of emerging polarization on climate change in the electoral and civil society arenas. ClimateDivide maps the repertoire of contention of the main mobilizing actors, identifies their effect on individual-level participation, and examines the dynamics of group formation
under the pressure of the geopolitically charged, polycrisis context. In doing so, it proposes to study both the emergence of a right-wing front and the mainstreaming and fragmentation of the ‘green field.’

Empirically, ClimateDivide combines computational social science methods, survey experiments, and qualitative analysis of in- and out-group identity formation using focus groups. The project covers seven
European countries, selected from Northwestern Europe: France, Germany, Sweden; Southern Europe: Italy, Spain; and Central and Eastern Europe: Hungary, Romania. The observation period starts in the aftermath of the Copenhagen COP in 2010 and extends until the Swedish elections in 2030.

Your Tasks:

• Prepare, organize, and oversee the collection and coding of media data on climate-change-related debates and position-taking, including supervising the partially manual coding process;
• Conduct quantitative content analyses of text-based data on the coverage of political conflict;
• Prepare, organize, and supervise the fielding of mass population surveys on attitudes and behaviors related to climate change;
• Perform empirical analyses of surveys and survey experiments;
• Academic presentations and publications in peer-reviewed journals.

Your Profile:

• PhD in the social sciences, particularly in political science or sociology, with an above-average grade or evaluation. Expertise in comparative politics or political sociology, especially in the politics of climate change, is an advantage;
• Strong familiarity with quantitative methods in empirical social science analysis. Experience with computational social science methods (e.g., AI for processing and coding quantitative texts) or with designing and analyzing survey experiments is desired. Proficiency in R and Python is a plus; 
• Willingness and ability to organize and supervise original data collection;
• Excellent English proficiency (written and oral). Fluency in additional languages (e. g., German, French, Swedish, Spanish, Italian, Hungarian, or Romanian) is an advantage;
• Availability to work on-site, as required by the project, is preferred.

Application Procedure
Please send your application, consisting of a motivation letter, CV, a writing sample, relevant degree certificates with transcripts, and the contact information for two potential referees (recommendation letters are not required), by March 2, 2025. Applications should preferably be submitted as a single PDF via email to endre.borbath@ipw.uni-heidelberg.de.

Please note that application documents will not be returned. If you have questions about the position, feel free to contact Jun.-Prof. Dr. Endre Borbáth.

Heidelberg University stands for equal opportunities and diversity. Qualified female candidates are especially invited to apply. Persons with severe disabilities will be given preference if they are equally
qualified. Information on job advertisements and the collection of personal data is available at www.uni- heidelberg.de/en/job-market.