Doctoral Positions in Political Science: Baltic Peripeties

The International Research Training Group “Baltic Peripeties: Narratives of Reformations, Revolutions and Catastrophes” is inviting applications for ten doctoral research positions at the University of Greifswald. The positions are open to applicants from several disciplines, including political science.

The political-science team is particularly interested in applications from candidates whose projects connect political-science questions with the IRTG’s interdisciplinary research programme.

Political Science and Baltic Peripeties

The IRTG brings together researchers from the Universities of Greifswald and Tartu and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim. Its research examines political, social and cultural turning points in the Baltic Sea region, with particular attention to the narratives through which change is anticipated, interpreted and contested.

For political scientists, this framework opens up questions such as:

• How do political actors frame crises and processes of change?
• How do competing narratives affect political conflict and its escalation?
• How do political expectations shift, and how do these shifts influence political behaviour?
• How do narratives about representation, gender, parties and institutions travel across countries?
• How do politicians and political organisations construct competing accounts of the same events?

Political-science projects can draw on a wide range of theoretical and methodological approaches. At the Institute of Political Science and Communication Studies, potential projects can be supervised by Jochen Müller (Political Sociology and Research Methods) or Corinna Kröber (Comparative Politics). Relevant areas of expertise include gender and political representation, parliaments and governments, parties and elections, legislative behaviour and political competition.

Possible Doctoral Projects

The following non-binding sample topics illustrate political-science projects that could fit the IRTG:

Gender, representation and political careers

• Changing Gender Norms in the Baltics: When Politicians Break Norms
• Understanding Gender Backlash in Highly Gender-Egalitarian Countries
• Conflicting Versions of the Gendered Division of Labour
• Biographical Peripeties in Politics: How Politicians Frame Experiences of Harassment
• How Expectations of Youth Representation Spill Over Across Countries in the Baltic Sea Region

Parties, political conflict and public narratives

• Intra-party Conflict Narratives: Understanding Factionalism in Baltic Political Parties
• Like Buttons and Hate Groups: Structural Determinants of (De-)Escalation in Digitised Narratives
• Shifting Expectations of Care in Narratives about the Welfare State

These topics are intended as illustrations only. Applicants are explicitly encouraged to develop their own research questions and areas of focus, provided that their proposed project connects with the IRTG’s overarching research framework.

View the complete list of sample topics

The Positions

The ten positions are expected to begin on 1 April 2027 and run until 31 March 2030. They are part-time positions at 65% of full-time hours, with remuneration according to pay group TV-L E13 Wissenschaft.

Doctoral researchers participate in the IRTG’s structured qualification programme and international workshops. The programme also includes cooperation with academic partners and co-supervisors in Tartu and Trondheim, as well as a planned six-month research stay at one of the partner universities.

The application deadline is 20 November 2026.

Applicants should consult the official job advertisement for the complete eligibility criteria, required application documents and submission instructions:

Read the full job advertisement and application requirements

Questions and Initial Project Ideas

Prospective applicants with political-science project ideas are welcome to contact Jochen Müller (Jochen.Muelleruni-greifswaldde) or Corinna Kröber (Corinna.Kroeberuni-greifswaldde) before applying. We would be happy to provide further information about the political-science research environment, the IRTG’s interdisciplinary structure and the possible fit of a proposed doctoral project.