Doctoral Researcher (75%) GAPED
The position will be available from February 1, 2026, for a period of three years. It is intended to serve the purpose of scientific qualification.
Project:
The doctoral researcher will be conducting research within the framework of the DFG-funded project GAPED – Group Appeals in Parliamentary and Electoral Debates. This project explores why, when, and how political actors appeal to social groups, and how these appeals influence political competition, voter behavior, and representation in Western European democracies. The research objectives of this project are to (1) conceptualize the types and dimensions of group appeals and explain their prevalence and functions for party competition in the electoral and parliamentary context, (2) investigate party- and individual-level determinants of group-based rhetoric, and (3) examine the effect of group appeals on voters. The tasks of the doctoral researcher include the design, implementation and analysis of closed- and open-ended survey questions and survey experiments, as well as the development and implementation of own research ideas within the project.
Location:
The MZES is an interdisciplinary research institute of the University of Mannheim that conducts research in the tradition of empirical-analytical social science in five main research areas. These are migration and integration, social inequality, citizens and democracy, communication and digitalization, and social data and methods. The MZES is the largest university-based research institute for the social sciences
in Germany.
Profile:
- Above-average master’s degree in political science
- (Ideally) strong interest in political communication, party competition, or representation
- Very good skills in quantitative methods of empirical social science (surveys & experiments)
- Programming skills in R
- Willingness to present research at (inter-)national conferences and to publish in international peer-reviewed journals
- Ability to work in a team
- Very good English language skills (German is a plus)
Offer:
- One 75% position (public sector pay scale E13) for three years
- Opportunities for additional training, education and career guidance
- Attractive working environment at the MZES at the University of Mannheim
- A collegial team, cooperation and exchange, as well as the freedom to develop your own ideas
If the personal requirements are met, the position will be filled in accordance with the German Act on Fixed-Term Employment Contracts in Academia (Wissenschaftszeitvertragsgesetz, WissZeitVG). The employment relationship is subject to the provisions of the collective agreement for public service employees of the German Länder (TV-L).
The MZES and the University of Mannheim aim to increase the number of women in academia and therefore explicitly encourage qualified women to apply. Applicants
with disabilities are treated with preference given comparable qualifications.
If you are interested in this position, please send your application (motivation letter, CV, transcript of records and diploma(s), and a writing sample of approximately 20
pages, such as a course paper or a central chapter of your MA thesis) to Dr. Lena Maria Huber as one PDF file by August 22, 2025. For further information, please contact Dr. Lena Maria Huber (lena.huber@uni-mannheim.de).
Data protection:
Please find detailed information on the collection of personal data from the data subject according to Article 13 GDPR on the university’s homepage: www.uni-mannheim.de/datenschutz-bei-bewerbungen
Submitted application documents will only be returned if you enclose a selfaddressed stamped envelope. Otherwise, they will be destroyed in accordance with current data protection law after the application procedure has ended. Electronic applications will be deleted accordingly. If you apply by email, please note that protection of confidential data cannot be guaranteed as unauthorized third parties might gain access to unencrypted emails during transmission.