Post-doctoral Researcher - 36 month, fixed-term, whole-time post

Location: Maynooth, Ireland & Poland We are seeking a post-doctoral researcher to work on the “LINLOSS” project funded through an ERC award to Professor Jane Gray. The post-doctoral researcher will be responsible for conducting all aspects of the fieldwork in Poland, in consultation with the project partner in University of Silesia-Katowice. They will work closely with all members of the project team in the comparative analysis of research findings from Poland and Ireland.  They will assist with the management of data from the project, including transcription and anonymisation as necessary, and with the preparation of data for ingestion to a trusted digital repository. They will also contribute to presentations at national and international conferences, and to scholarly publications arising from the project. Overview of the LINLOSS project LINLOSS aims to understand how losses, disposals and dead-ends shape the direction of social change at moments of rupture, and to develop a formal theory of social loss.  It will develop new explanations of how loss generates change at multiple, intersecting societal scales: in the transformation of cultural and institutional patterns across generations; within changing relationships across genealogies and social networks; and in the reconstruction of pasts and futures within biographies.  The research will be a comparative, cross-national community study conducted in Ireland and Poland.  The main form of data collection will be mixed biographical interviews, combining unstructured and formal elements, connected within genealogical support networks.  T The project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) Principal Duties Conducting all aspects of fieldwork in Poland under the supervision of the PI & Research Fellow Conducting data analysis in collaboration with all members of the LINLOSS team Managing data in collaboration with the PI and the Data Manager Assisting with data transcription and anonymization Contributing to the documentation and ingestion of the project into a trusted digital repository Jointly drafting articles and other outputs for scholarly publication Presenting at national and international conferences Be prepared to spend sufficient time in both Poland & Ireland to meet project requirements The ideal candidate will have: Essential A PhD in Sociology or a relevant cognate discipline Experience of conducting independent fieldwork Expertise in qualitative research methodology, including biographical and/or community methods Experienced users of software for qualitative data analysis (such as MaxQDA) Fluent in Polish and English Desirable Fluency in Silesian Familiarity with mixed-method research Publications in peer-reviewed scholarly outlets Application Procedure Applications must be submitted online via the Maynooth University vacancy portal www.maynoothuniversity.ie/human-resources/vacancies Key Dates Closing date: 23:30hrs (local Irish time) on 14th February 2024 Anticipated start date: March 2024 Further Information Informal enquiries may be directed to Prof. Jane Gray jane.gray@mu.ie Information about the Institute can be found at www.maynoothuniversity.ie/social-sciences-institute Find out what makes Maynooth University unique and the benefits we offer employees www.maynoothuniversity.ie/human-resources/come-work-with-us