Call – Research Assis & PhDs in Pathways Project (Univ. Leicester & Manchester)

Consider submitting your methodologically interesting articles to the BMS
Deadline: 30 March 2014
This is a call for applications for up to 3 posts of Research Assistant and 2 PhD studentships at the Universities of Leicester and Manchester,
respectively, to join the Open Research Area project Pathways on the political representation of citizens of immigrant origin in seven
European democracies (France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United Kingdom).
We are advertising up to 3 Research Assistant posts and 2 PhD studentships at the Universities of Leicester and Manchester, respectively, to join the project Pathways.

The Research Project and the Research Team
PATHWAYS is a comparative research project on the political representation of citizens of immigrant origin in seven European democracies (France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United Kingdom). It is funded by the British ESRC, the Dutch NWO, the French ANR and the German DFG under the Open Research Area (ORA) scheme. The principal investigators are Dr. Manlio Cinalli (Sciences Po Paris), Dr. Laura Morales (University of Leicester), Professor Thomas Saalfeld (University of Bamberg) and Professor Jean Tillie (University of Amsterdam). The project will start in May 2014 and the overall international collaboration will be coordinated from the University of Bamberg. The University of Leicester is the lead partner for the British team, which also includes researchers at the University of Manchester. The team based at the University of Leicester is formed by Dr Laura Morales (PI), Dr Simona Guerra, Dr Gabriella Lazaridis, Dr Luis Ramiro and Prof Carlo Ruzza, and will take care of the south European case studies. The team based at the University of Manchester is formed by Dr Maria Sobolewska and Prof Edward Fieldhouse, and will take care of the British case study. The research assistants and the PhD students will be fully integrated in the international research team and will benefit from their participation in an international project.

Up to 3 Research Assistant jobs at the University of Leicester
Salary Grade 6 – £25,759 to £29,837 per annum, **pro rata**
Open Ended Contract, subject to Fixed Term Funding. Funding is available for 36 months from 1st May 2014*
We are seeking to appoint 2 (1 at 50% FTE and 1 at 100% FTE) or 3 (all at 50% FTE) Research Assistants to support the University of Leicester research team of the Open Research Area project PATHWAYS (Grant ES/L016664/1, funded by the ESRC) in the collection, processing and analysis of the data relating to the three South European case studies (Greece, Italy and Spain). Each RA will take care of 1 (or 2 if appointed at 100%) country studies. Assistance with data collection will involve spending varying periods of time in the respective case study countries for fieldwork.The appointed RAs are expected to move to Leicester (or the East Midlands area) and join the project on 1^st May 2014 or shortly thereafter.

Essential qualifications, knowledge and experience include a postgraduate degree in the social sciences, prior research experience, training in both quantitative and qualitative methods at postgraduate level, an expertise in immigration research and the politics of at least one of the countries of study (Greece, Italy and Spain), proficiency in English and native or near-native proficiency in at least one of the case study languages (Greek, Italian or Spanish). The full list of essential and desirable requirements are included in the Further Particulars to the posts.
The closing date for these posts is midnight on 30th March.
We anticipate that interviews will take place between 7th and 11th April and prospective applicants should be available on those dates.*

Application instructions and Further Particularsare available here:
> https://ig5.i-grasp.com/fe/tpl_UniversityOfLeicester02.asp?s=4A515F4E5A565B1A&jobid=85834,9357472323&key=85992541&c=346513217623&pagestamp=sekhrvcjpwvmcfwpia
Applications should include:
– A cover letter specifying how you meet the requirements of the post, which post you are interested in (i.e. for which country case study/studies) and whether you are interested in a part-time appointment only, a full-time appointment only or want to be considered for both options.
– An updated CV.
– A single-authored writing sample that demonstrates your research skills (e.g. an MSc dissertation, a PhD dissertation chapter, an
article, a conference paper, etc.).
Informal enquiries about these posts are welcome and should be made to Dr Laura Morales on laura.morales@leicester.ac.uk.

2 Ph**D studentships at the University of Manchester*
Applications are invited for two 3-year Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funded PhD Studentships based in the Discipline Area of  Politics under the supervision of Dr Maria Sobolewska. The studentship comprises an annual stipend of £13,863 (for UK students only) and payment of fees up to the level charged for UK/EU students (approximately £3900) and is available starting in October 2014.

The two PhDs based in Manchester are to focus primarily on the British  case study. The students will have autonomy to craft their own project, as long as they use the data generated by the project and focus on the project research questions (details in the further particulars). Candidates for thesestudentshipsshould have a strong background in empirical methods and should be open to both quantitative and qualitative analysis (training will be provided), but could be drawn from a range of disciplines, including political science, sociology, geography, social statistics, and economics.
*How to apply*
Applicants are required to provide: (i) an initial research proposal of no more than 1,000 words (not including references) setting out the research they would like to develop within the PATHWAYS project;(ii) a300 word statement explaining how their proposed research relates to the PATHWAYS project; and (iii) a full CV.If the applicant is shortlisted for an interview a sample of academic writing, in English, will also be required.
Applications (research proposal, statement and CV) should be emailed to: maria.sobolewska@manchester.ac.uk. The successful candidate will be  required to submit a full University of Manchester on-line application, plus supporting documents (two academic references and degree transcripts) to fulfill the normal admissions process.
*Deadline*
The deadline for applications is*30 April 2014*. Candidates may be called for interview in mid-May 2014*.*

Further information on the studentships is available here:
> http://www.socialsciences.manchester.ac.uk/postgraduate/funding/documents/CoDE-Politics%20Studentship%20(Maria%20Sobolewska).doc
> Further particulars are available here:
> http://www.socialsciences.manchester.ac.uk/postgraduate/funding/documents/FURTHER%20PARTICULARS.docx
>