Postdoctoral Research Associate - Relational Harm - Conflict Studies

About us

The School of Security Studies at King‘s College London is dedicated to the understanding of security issues in an increasingly complex and uncertain world. Harnessing the depth and breadth of expertise across the War Studies and Defence Studies Departments, and the King’s Institute for Applied Security Studies, we are one of the largest multi-disciplinary communities of scholars in the world engaged in the teaching and research of all aspects of conflict, war, security and defence.

About the role

We welcome applications for a Postdoctoral Research Associate (PDRA) in Conflict Studies to work on the project Relational Harm: Targeting the Family in War and Oppression. The PI is Dr Rebekka Friedman, and the project is an ERC-funded Consolidator Grant. The PDRA position is for a 30-months from January 2026 and will be based in the Department of War Studies at King’s College London.

The PDRA in conflict studies will contribute to the project’s conceptual pillars and to its field research. The PDRA in Conflict Studies will have qualitative and quantitative skills. The PDRA in Conflict Studies will work on mapping relational harm. This will involve looking at when and where family separation occurs in war and counterinsurgency and when youth are targeted or removed from their families and communities. This will include examining existing databases on violence and conflict.

This will be one of several PDRA positions advertised for the project. Applicants are welcome to apply to more than one position if they meet the application criteria. In this case, they should apply to the other advert separately and focus their applications on that post’s selection criteria.

The Faculty of Social Science and Public Policy and its constituent Schools and Departments together support a culture of diversity and inclusion for our staff and students.

Applications from overseas applicants are welcome – however, the successful candidate will be expected to reside in the UK and visa sponsorship is available.

This is a full-time post, and you will be offered a fixed term contract from January 2026 for 2.5 years.

About you

To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:

Essential criteria

• A PhD in the social sciences, with a specialization in conflict or peace studies.
• Skills and experience in qualitative and quantitative research methods.
• Research experience and knowledge in either South Asia or South America. An interest in historical, cultural and socio-political contexts.
• A proven capacity to write and present conference papers and publish peer reviewed articles.
• Field research experience.
• Knowledge of and familiarity with research ethics, particularly around trauma, and a commitment to socially impactful research.
• Attention to detail and good interpersonal and communication skills.
• Good and time management and organisational skills.

Desirable criteria

• Language skills in Tamil, Spanish or Rohingya.
• Archival research experience.
• Knowledge of any other research methods, e.g. documentary analysis; visual, participatory, and arts-based methods; ethnographic research; participant observation; and discourse and institutional analysis.
• Knowledge of data protection procedures.
• Knowledge of conflict databases (e.g. Correlates of War or ACLED Data).

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