Associate Professor in Politics and International Relations

Be part of a thriving research, education, and knowledge exchange culture

Applications are invited for multiple positions at the level of Lecturer, Associate Professor and Professor in Politics and International Relations as part of a major expansion supported by the University during 2023/24 and 2024/25 that will further strengthen the thriving research, education and knowledge exchange culture of the Department of Politics and International Relations (PAIR) at the University of Southampton. The department has a world-leading reputation for its research in democratic governance and global political society, across areas such as political trust, democratic innovations, comparative politics, political psychology, environmental justice, global health, migration, and development. It has a strong reputation in the application of cutting-edge research methods, ranging from political ethnography to experimental social science. 

PAIR is currently home to several major UKRI and ERC grants, and hosts holders of British Academy Postdoctoral and Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowships, and the Jean Monnet Chair in European Security Governance. The University of Southampton is in the top 1% of world Universities and one of the UK’s top 15 research–intensive universities. It hosts the ESRC National Centre for Research Methods and ESRC South Coast Doctoral Training Partnership.  

We are particularly interested in recruiting candidates who complement existing areas of research strength or who will contribute to the building of new clusters of excellence in areas of national and global importance. All applicants will have expertise in quantitative and/or qualitative research methods. 

You will share our ambition for producing world-leading and agenda-setting research and securing major grants and fellowships from national and international funders, playing an active part in our academic community. You will share our aspirations to foster and maintain a collegial, supportive, and inclusive culture of research and education. 

You will have a growing or established national and international reputation, publish in internationally leading academic journals and with major university presses, and engage in ‘knowledge exchange’ that translates your research into practice via policy, civil society, media, or other forms of external engagement.

You will demonstrate evidence of research grant writing and funding seeking strategies. Our major institutional investment is linked to the further development of growth in external grant income engagement, bids, and capture in PAIR, and as such the appointments will focus on accelerating these aspects. To support this investment, new colleagues will have a substantial focus on grant writing during the first 18-24 months of their appointment and benefit from newly dedicated research support, including an embedded research funding officer to aid development of research plans/events and grant applications. A number of postdoctoral research fellows will also be appointed as part of this expansion. You will also contribute to the educational activities of PAIR through delivering innovative, research-led instruction. 

It is expected that the start date of the appointment will be between 1st September 2024 and 1st February 2025, but this is open to negotiation upon offer.

For further information, you are welcome to contact the Head of Department of Politics & International Relations, Professor Pia Riggirozzi (p.riggirozzi@soton.ac.uk), or the Associate Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Professor Will Jennings (w.j.jennings@soton.ac.uk).

Please include your CV and Cover Letter with your application.

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