Name of the unit: University of Warsaw, Faculty of Sociology - Warsaw
Job title: PhD scholarship
We are expanding our Engagement from afar. A multi-sited ethnography of the Ukrainian diaspora's responses to war (ENGAGE) research team. We are looking for a person who will join us as a researcher and will develop their own doctoral dissertation based on the data gathered as part of the project. We are inviting candidates with already established professional careers who would like to return to academia to pursue a PhD, as well as ambitious recent graduates, who meet the following requirements to apply:
Requirements:
• Master's degree in social sciences (obtained on 20 September 2023, at the latest)
• Readiness to study at the Doctoral School of Social Sciences at the University of Warsaw (SDNS)
• Knowledge of the English language at the C1 level
• Knowledge of Ukrainian and/or Russian language or readiness to learn to a level that will enable reading transcripts and online materials in Ukrainian/Russian
• For recent graduates: proven knowledge of qualitative methods in social research (eg. conducted own research in the course of studies, worked on academic or commercial research projects) and interest in the subject of transnational migrations/diasporas or;
• For professionals "returning" to the university: documented professional experience, (i.e. in public institutions, think tanks, government or local government agencies) in at least one of the following areas: migration and refugees, transnational political and civic activism, Ukrainian society and diaspora
• For everyone applying: Proven research interest in digital sociology (i.e. social media analysis, digital ethnography) or visual methods (i.e. experience with photography, film, editing, media work, curatorial experience).
• Ability to work independently and in the team
• Organizational skills, especially when it comes to coordinating work in an online environment
• Knowledge of the MS Office work package and other tools facilitating teamwork in an online environment (e.g. Miro, Trello, or other), knowledge of Maxqda or equivalent coding software will be an advantage
• Sharing the core values of our team: friendliness, commitment, respect for others, sense of humour
• Permission to process personal data for the needs of the competition
We offer:
• Becoming part of a committed international research team who values partnership, and professionalism and strives for work-life balance
• Supervision of a doctoral project and ongoing mentorship of one of the team members
• Ability to get experience in employing innovative research techniques such as ethnographic film or multisensory observation
• Opportunity to take part in the dissemination effort in and beyond academia
• Opportunity to participate in international academic conferences and seminars
• Further training opportunities (e.g. in the interpretation of qualitative data)
• Participation in the academic life of the community of the Faculty of Sociology of the University of Warsaw
Description of the tasks:
• The PhD student will be a member of the research team and collaborate with the rest of the team on the implementation of the 3-year ENGAGE project. The material collected as part of the project (ideally from the WP4 work package, but other options are possible) is to be used by the candidate to write their own doctoral dissertation.
• implementation of the WP4 work package related to the conduct of digital ethnography on the Internet activity of the Ukrainian diasporas in the context of war events in Ukraine (the PhD student will be free to propose or adapt the research tool) in cooperation with other team members and under the guidance of the supervisor
• conducting qualitative research with other team members in other work packages in Poland (biographical interviews, participatory observations, visual ethnography)
• supporting the PI in day-to-day coordination of the project (e.g. in contacts with stakeholders, recruitment, preparation of reports for the National Science Center and others, database maintenance)
• along with other team members, code and analyze transcripts of interviews, notes, and visual material from all locations
• development of at least 1 scientific publication published in a peer-reviewed academic journal
• cooperation with the university data steward, and after the completion of empirical work, preparation of data set from the project to be placed in the qualitative data archive
• promoting and informing about the project's activities on social media
• willingness to work on-site at the Sociology Faculty (hybrid formats of working possible).
Required documents:
• CV including professional experience, information on participation in research projects, scholarships, awards, scientific workshops and trainings, publications with a personal data release permission I consent to the processing of my personal data for the purposes of recruitment for (name of the competition/grant) by the University of Warsaw, Krakowskie Przedmieście 26/28, 00-927 Warsaw, in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation)
• A cover letter in which the candidate precisely explains how they meet each of the criteria presented in the "requirements" section - max 2 pages.
• Preliminary description of a PhD project that could be developed within the ENGAGE project. When preparing the description, please read the information about the project, in particular, work package 4 (WP4) - max 5 pages (plus a reference list)
• One scientific or journalistic publication or report/or, in the absence of such publication, a short description of your achievements in the professional field
• A copy of a Master's degree in social sciences in Polish, English, or a certified translation, or a declaration that the Master’s degree will be obtained by 20.09.2023
• For current doctoral students: a certificate of the status of a doctoral student for current doctoral students obtained from the relevant Faculty
Type of the NCN call: OPUS – HS
Deadline for submitting offers: 11 June 2023, 23.59
Form of submitting offers: email:
Employment conditions - two options:
1. Parallel to the application for the ENGAGE project post, the selected candidate will be encouraged to part in the regular recruitment to the Doctoral School for Social Sciences (SDNS) at the University of Warsaw (deadline until June 19, 2023). In case of a successful outcome of the SDNS application, the doctoral student will receive two scholarships: a scholarship provided by the Doctoral School (PLN 2,667 PLN before the mid-term evaluation and PLN 4,109 PLN after such assessment) and the ENGAGE grant scholarship of PLN 4,000 netto for 36 months (deduction of the insurance is not required in this case so netto equals gross)
2. The Principal Investigator will apply to the director of the Doctoral School for Social Sciences at the University of Warsaw for recognition of the recruitment process and the candidate will become part of the Doctoral School (SDNS) as part of the “additional” pool. In that case, the doctoral student will receive one scholarship from the project in the amount of PLN 5,000 gross. After the end of the project, in the fourth year of doctoral studies, the doctoral student will receive a doctoral school scholarship (in the amount and on the terms indicated on the SDNS UW website).
Start of the project: 1 October 2023.
Duration of the project: 36 months.
How to apply?
• Please send your applications to the address
• Candidates who meet the criteria listed in the “Requirements” section will be invited to an interview, which will take place on 13 June 2023 (to be confirmed in the invitation) at the Faculty of Sociology of the University of Warsaw. Candidates and candidates, please reserve time for an interview. It is possible to talk online after prior notification of such a need.
• The evaluation of candidates' applications will be carried out by the Recruitment Comitee in accordance with the Regulations on granting scholarships in research projects financed by the National Science Centre. The decision will be reached by 15 June 2023 and the final ranking of the candidates will be sent by email.
• If you have any questions, please contact