The MZES is offering a part-time position as:
Doctoral researcher (75%) (all genders)
The position will be available from October 1, 2026, for a period of three years. It is intended to serve the purpose of scientific qualification. The doctoral researcher will conduct research within the framework of the DFG funded project "Shifting Narratives: Misperceptions and Factual Information on Immigration", at the Mannheim Centre for European Social Research (MZES).
Key information
- Start: 01.10.2026 or soon thereafter
- Term: 3 years
- Remuneration bracket: E 13 TV-L BW
- Application deadline: 21 July 2026
The project investigates how factual information on immigration-related misperceptions can affect political attitudes, preferences and behaviour of the broader public. The goal of this project is to move beyond innumeracies on e.g. the immigration population and crime statistics and to focus on two dimensions linked to perceptions of belonging: 1) Misperceptions of immigration policies and 2) democracy-related attitudes immigrants from non democratic regimes hold. The research objectives are to document existing misperceptions and assess how providing information on these two dimensions affects political attitudes and behaviour using surveys and experimental designs. The project is led by Dr. Korinna O. Lindemann, the doctoral researcher's dissertation will be supervised by her and Prof. Marc Helbling.
Your tasks include:
The tasks of the doctoral researcher include the design, implementation and analysis of survey questions (both open- and closed-ended) and survey experiments in Switzerland and Germany, as well as the development and implementation of own research ideas within the framework of the project. Research results should be presented in (international) academic conferences and published in international peer-reviewed journals.
Your profile:
- Excellent master's degree in political science, sociology, or a related discipline
- (Ideally) a strong interest in migration, political behaviour and experiments
- Very good skills in quantitative methods of empirical social science (especially surveys and experiments)
- Strong programming skills in R or Stata
- Willingness to present research at (inter-)national conferences and to publish in international peer-reviewed journals
What we 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 project position where cooperation and exchange are much valued with freedom to develop your own ideas
Application documents include: 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). Interviews will take place in early August.
Applications from persons with a disability are given preferential consideration provided that they are appropriately qualified. The University of Mannheim is committed to increasing the quota of women in areas where they are under-represented and thus encourages women with appropriate qualifications to apply.
If you are interested in applying, please send your application documents as one PDF file via e-mail by 21 July 2026 at the latest to:
Dr. Korinna O. Lindemann
korinna.lindemann@uni-mannheim.de
If you have any questions about the position, please contact Dr. Korinna O. Lindemann at
korinna.lindemann@uni-mannheim.de
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
The University of Mannheim is one of the leading universities in Germany with approximately 12,000 students in five schools. Particularly in business and economics as well as in the social sciences the university ranks among the top institutions both at national and international level. More than 2,600 employees profit from an exciting work environment with numerous benefits.
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 self-addressed 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 e-mail, please note that protection of confidential data cannot be guaranteed as unauthorized third parties might gain access to unencrypted e-mails during transmission.