Institute of European Studies of the Faculty of International and Political Studies at the JU invites applications for a student assistant. The successful candidates will contribute to the research project SHAPEDEM-EU.

Applications must be submitted by 30 November 2023.

Institute of European Studies of the Faculty of International and Political Studies at the Jagiellonian University invites applications for a student assistant to begin in December 2023. The assistance tasks require approximately 2 full months of work each organised in a part-time manner between December 2023 and March 2024.

The successful candidates will contribute to the research project SHAPEDEM-EU (Rethinking and Reshaping the EU’s democracy support in its Eastern and Southern Neighbourhood) funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe programme.

SHAPEDEM-EU sets out to rethink, reshape, and review the EU’s democracy support policies in its Eastern & Southern Neighbourhoods. Amidst the increasing contestation of the EU and the weakening impact of its policies in the Neighbourhoods, SHAPEDEM-EU applies an entirely novel approach to democracy support. The approach conceives of democracy support as a social practice requiring the collective democratic learning of all stakeholders involved. The consortium will pilot test a Democracy Learning Loop to create new channels and tools for interaction between the EU and its neighbours and transfer these findings into policy recommendations for an improved EU policy toolkit.  SHAPEDEM-EU represents a multi-national and multifaceted research consortium of academic, think tank, and civil society institutions based in the EU and the Southern and Eastern Neighbourhoods. The consortium will apply mixed-methods to collect, assess, and generate policies related to democracy support in the six case countries of Lebanon, Palestine, Tunisia, Ukraine, Georgia, and Armenia. We will investigate the role of EU member states, key EU institutions, third country actors, and international organisations. The project results will lead to improved EU practices in the region. In all project phases, the impact of gender equality & digital transformations in democracy support will be examined.

More information can be found at https://shapedem-eu.eu/

JUK leads a work package on mapping democracy support in EU member states. The student assistant will contribute to a comparative study which investigates democracy support practices and contestation in selected EU member states in Sweden. S/he will help with the collection of documents and analysis of discursive patterns in empirical material with the use of qualitative data analysis software (MAXQDA).

Applicants should hold a minimum of a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science, International Relations, European Studies or other related areas and have an interest in EU foreign policy, European Neighbourhood Policy and ideally having some experience in research assistance in discursive analysis. Given that the research focuses on specific member states (Sweden) we are looking for candidates who have good command of Swedish. In addition, very good level of English is essential, both orally and written. Excellent analytical skills and an ability to contribute to collaborative research projects are also required for this position. Salary is commensurate with JUK’s regulations. The intended start date is December 2023 or the soonest afterward.

Applications must be submitted by 30 November 2023.

Required application documents:

• 1-page motivation letter;
• resume;
• copies of certificates of level of knowledge of English (excluding persons for whom English is their mother tongue or if the language of instruction during their academic education was English - please send a copy of your diploma indicating the language of instruction). Please attach the results of other relevant documents confirming other languages proficiency to your application;
• letter of recommendation from person familiar with the candidate's academic achievements.