Post-doctoral Research Fellow Level 2 - Temporary Fixed Term up to March 2030 (Part-Time 0.6FTE)

Applications are invited for a temporary part-time (0.6FTE) post of a UCD Post-doctoral Research Fellow Level 2 within UCD School of Politics and International Relations.

The School of Politics and International Relations at University College Dublin invites applications for a Senior Postdoctoral Research Fellow Level 2 position on the Horizon Europe-funded project QUEST: The European Union's Quest for a Relational Open Strategic Autonomy. The successful candidate will contribute primarily to Work Package 10 (Defence Policy and Procurement) and associated cross-project activities examining the European Union's pursuit of Open Strategic Autonomy (OSA) in the fields of defence industrial policy, defence procurement and security governance.

The postholder will undertake original research on EU defence policy instruments, defence-industrial cooperation, procurement frameworks, and the evolving relationship between strategic autonomy, economic security and European defence integration. Working under the supervision of the Principal Investigator, the researcher will contribute to comparative case studies, stakeholder engagement, academic publications, policy outputs and consortium-wide analytical activities.

Closing date: 12:00 noon (local Irish time) on 18^th August 2026.

Applications must be submitted by the closing date and time specified. Any applications which are still in progress at the closing time of 12:00 noon (Local Irish Time) on the specified closing date will be cancelled automatically by the system. UCD are unable to accept late applications.

UCD do not require assistance from Recruitment Agencies. Any CVs submitted by Recruitment Agencies will be returned.

The PD2 post is intended for researchers who have completed PD1. As with the PD1, if you have already completed your PD2 stage in UCD or will soon complete a PD2, or your total Postdoctoral experience, inclusive of the duration of the advertised post, would exceed 6 years, you should not apply and should refer to Research Fellow posts instead.

Prior to application, further information (including application procedure) should be obtained from the Work at UCD website: www.ucd.ie/workatucd/jobs

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