Job description
The Centre for International Conflict Analysis and Management (CICAM), part of the Department of Political Science at Radboud University, is looking for a postdoctoral researcher to work on the ’Women’s Groups and Post-Conflict Development’ project led by Dr Shelli Israelsen, the project's principal investigator (PI).
The project investigates how women's groups navigate the challenges of conflict/post-conflict environments to promote women's political and economic development. The project seeks to: (1) identify the conditions under which women's groups form in the post-conflict period; (2) determine the factors that make some women's groups more effective than others in advocating for women's issues; (3) analyse how women's groups' membership profiles (e.g. former female combatants vs. civilian women), organisational structure, and goals affect group efficacy and; (4) ascertain how differences in wartime vs. peacetime dynamics affect relations among different women's groups and hinder/promote their ability to represent women's interests.
You will conduct research on the impact of women’s groups in promoting women’s participation in post-conflict society using qualitative methods to analyse data you will help collect while doing field research in any of the conflict/post-conflict countries in Southeast Asia (Myanmar/Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, etc.) and/or Sri Lanka.
You will conduct this research both independently and in collaboration with the project team, which includes Dr Shelli Israelsen as project lead/principal investigator and a PhD candidate who will start in late 2025. You will write and co-author academic publications, help organise workshops and participate in academic conferences with other project team members.
You will help with knowledge sharing and outreach in the project and help train the PhD candidate in appropriate theory and methods. You will also help create and facilitate opportunities for Master's degree research (e.g. postgraduate theses) within the project, and contribute to departmental teaching/supervision within the range of your expertise.
Ultimately, the project aims to identify best practices for women’s groups in their goal to help create politically active and economically independent women in post-conflict societies.
This postdoctoral researcher position involves 20% teaching duties (including thesis supervision).
Department
The Nijmegen School of Management (NSM) enables students, institutions and companies, societal actors and governments to play their part in a transformation towards sustainable societies. In doing so, the faculty is committed to Radboud University's mission of contributing to a healthy, free world with equal opportunities for all.
In the context of our 'responsible governance for sustainable societies' mission, we address scientific and societal challenges. Our work focuses on the topics beyond economy, climate, inclusivity, safety, and democracy.
At the Nijmegen School of Management, academic research and teaching are carried out in challenging educational programmes. These programmes are offered in the areas of business administration, economics and business economics, geography, planning and environment, political science, and public administration. Academic research takes place within the Institute for Management Research (IMR). Research is carried out within the above-mentioned domains and in interdisciplinary research groups: the hotspots. NSM currently has 350 FTE staff and approximately 5,000 students.
The Political Science Chair group involves two Chairs: that of Empirical Political Science and that of International Relations, which includes Peace and Conflict Studies. The Chair group offers a Bachelor's degree programme in Political Science and six Master's degree tracks, each leading to a Master's degree in Political Science. The educational programme is characterised by small-scale teaching and provides a stimulating learning environment with an emphasis on the development of academic skills.
You will be based at the Centre for International Conflict Analysis and Management (CICAM), which is part of the Chair group of Peace and Conflict Studies at the Department of Political Science. CICAM is a multidisciplinary institute, conducting academic research and offering education in the field of conflict, peace and intervention in conflict-affected settings, aimed at students across Radboud University. CICAM actively engages in societal services regarding these themes (creating awareness, informing, advising).
The research activities of the Nijmegen School of Management fall under the responsibility of the interdisciplinary Institute for Management Research (IMR). Under the motto 'responsible governance for sustainable societies', IMR focuses on academic research into the development, design and effectiveness of the public and private structures that regulate, govern or manage human interactions.
The academic debate is organised in the IMR Academy; the PhD programme is organised in the IMR Doctoral School. In addition to the interdisciplinary research programme on responsible organisation, there are six multidisciplinary research groups at IMR, which are linked to strategic and scientifically and societally relevant issues. IMR also hosts the individual decision lab and the group decision lab, which are particularly suited for studying collaboration in complex contexts and collective decision-making.