At the Faculty of Social Sciences (Department of Political Science) of the University of Vienna 2 PhD Positions/Prae-Docs within the ERC Project MARIPOLDATA are vacant.
Overview:
The successful candidates will work in an interdisciplinary research team within the ERC project “The Politics of Marine Biodiversity Data: Global and National Policies and Practices of Monitoring the Oceans (MARIPOLDATA)” led by Dr Alice Vadrot, the Principal Investigator (PI) of the project. The research group is hosted by the Department of Political Science of the University of Vienna and is composed of the PI, a research administrator, 2 PhD students, 2 Post-Doctoral researchers and 2 master students.
The central objective of MARIPOLDATA is to develop and apply a new methodology for grounding the analysis of science-policy interrelations in empirical research. The interdisciplinary and multiscale approach of the project tackles barriers between political science research and the social studies of science, with the objective to understand how we will govern Oceans in the future and how inequalities related to science and data infrastructures can be addressed, studied and reduced. The larger aim of the project is to develop a distinct line of social science research for understanding the interrelation between science and politics more deeply and with regard to its material, social and epistemic effects.
The successful candidates will have a background in Political Science, the Social Study of Science, Sociology or a related field with a focus on: international negotiations, multilateral environmental agreements, ocean governance, science diplomacy or science-policy interrelations. The successful candidates will mainly be involved in studying the role of science and data in international negotiations related to the protection and use of marine biodiversity. PhD students will be expected to do participant observation at international negotiations related to: 1) the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and its Subsidiary Body of Scientific and Technical Advice (SBSTTA) and 2) the United Nation Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the new legally binding treaty on Marine Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ).
The PhD students will have experience in and/or the willingness to learn new methods of participant observation and collaborative event ethnography. They will contribute to the further development of concepts and methods to study the role of science and data in global environmental politics and closely work with the PI and other team members. This is an exciting opportunity for graduate students to develop research experience, working with senior colleagues on a new ERC funded project and work on a PhD thesis in the rapidly emerging and increasingly relevant area of marine policy and politics.
Duration of Employment: 3 years 30.00 hours/week
Salary (gross): Job grading in accordance with collective bargaining agreement §48 VwGr. B1 Grundstufe (praedoc)
Expecting Starting date: 1st March 2019
Application:
Applications should be sent electronically to maripoldata.erc@univie.ac.at by 3rd of February 2019.
Please find further information about the application requirements in the following pdf file.
Selection & Next Steps:
Following the closing date, we will contact you by email to let you know whether or not you have been shortlisted to participate in the next stage of the selection process. Interviews will be held between 11th and 13th of February 2019.
For inquiries about the application process, please contact: maripoldata.erc@univie.ac.at
For informal enquiries about the job, please contact Dr Alice Vadrot: alice.vadrot@univie.ac.at.
The University of Vienna intends to increase the number of women on its faculty, particularly in high-level positions, and therefore specifically invites applications by women. Among equally qualified applicants women will receive preferential consideration.
About the Project:
In order to protect marine biodiversity and ensure that benefits are equally shared, the UN GeneralAssembly has decided to develop a new legally binding treaty under the United Nations Convention onthe Law of the Sea. Marine biodiversity data will play a central role: Firstly, in supporting intergovernmental efforts to identify, protect and monitor marine biodiversity. Secondly, in informinggovernments interested in particular aspects of marine biodiversity, including its economic use and its contribution to biosecurity. In examining how this data are represented and used, this project will create a novel understanding of the materiality of science - policy interrelations in global environmental politics as well as develop the methodologies to do so. This is crucial, because the capacities to develop and use data infrastructures are unequally distributed among countries and global initiatives for data sharing are significantly challenged by conflicting perceptions of who benefits from marine biodiversity research. The central objective of MARIPOLDATA is to develop and apply a new multiscale methodology for grounding the analysis of science - policy interrelations in empirical research. An interdisciplinary team, led by the PI, will collect and analyse data across different policy -levels and spatial scales by combining 1) ethnographic studies at intergovernmental negotiation sites with 2) a comparative analysis of national marine biodiversity monitoring policies and practices and 3) bibliometric and network analyses and oral history interviews for mapping the field of marine biodiversity science.
