University of Pennsylvania, Perry World House
Perry World House Postdoctoral Fellowship Program
Institution Type: | College / University |
Location: | Pennsylvania, United States |
Position: | Post-Doctoral Fellow |
The Global Innovation Program at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perry World House invites applications for its postdoctoral fellowship program during the 2017-2018 academic year. The Global Innovation Program is the research arm of Perry World House, the University of Pennsylvania’s new university-wide hub for global engagement and interdisciplinary international policy research. Perry World House connects Penn to the international policy world through research, student engagement, and public programming, bringing the university’s intellectual resources to bear on the urgent global challenges of the 21st century.
We hope to bring 8 postdoctoral fellows to campus for the 2017-2018 academic year. We are seeking excellent scholars who study global affairs and have interest in interdisciplinary outreach and policy relevance. We are particularly interested in applicants in the following areas:
- The Future of the Global Order: Power, Technology, and Governance
- Global Shifts: Urbanization, Migration, and Demography
- Borders and Boundaries in World Politics
- Identity and Conflict
Qualifications:
- Applications are welcome from scholars who have received their Ph.D. or equivalent degrees in the last two years, or who expect to complete their degree by June 2017.
General Program
Perry World House seeks 4 postdocs related to its two general research themes
- The Future of the Global Order: Power, Technology, and Governance, and
- Global Shifts: Urbanization, Migration, and Demography
Global Order
From Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and China’s construction of artificial islands in the South China Seas to the global economic and political effects of new technologies and questions of how international institutions will handle diverse questions such as ISIS-driven mass killings, the post-Cold War global order may be at a tipping point. In addition, systemic trends such as globalization and climate change mean that the challenges of today and tomorrow will be global – and require global responses. The role of automated trading algorithms in the 2010 “Flash Crash” in the United States, combined with the specter of drone warfare around the world due and the proliferation of military robotics, highlight how the intersection of technologies such as cyber and robotics presents enormous challenges for global business and diplomatic norms. In a time of change, academic research has the potential to shed significant light on these issues, and highlight new and important approaches for the global policy community.
In this theme area, Perry World House will focus primarily, but not exclusively, on three areas: the implications of emerging technologies for global politics, shifting global power balances and how they influence both state and non-state actors, and the ability of the international community to sustain effective governing institutions in times of change.
Global Shifts
Urbanization, migration, and demographic changes are transforming the human environment, creating both new challenges and opportunities. The UN High Commission for Refugees said in 2015 that the world faces the highest level of human displacement since its founding in 1950. New and changing migration patterns, whether driven by civil wars, instability due to environmental change, economic hardships, or potential opportunities elsewhere, have depth and nuance that have proven hard to predict – or track. At the same time, over 66% of the world’s population will live in urban spaces by 2050, raising critical questions about urban vitality and sustainability.
Yet, the diverse causes and consequences of urbanization, migration, and demographic change have not been fully understood and are too often examined in isolation. The University of Pennsylvania is poised to contribute to pressing policy debates and to help develop new approaches to these global shifts given the University’s numerous strengths in urban studies, sociology, demography, law, and politics. The Global Innovation Program at Perry World House will bring together Penn’s strengths in these areas through an interconnected examination of urbanization, migration, and demography.
Requirements and Application Information
Postdoctoral fellows in Global Order and Global Shifts will pursue their own research as well as participate in the intellectual life of the Global Innovation Program and Perry World House. Postdoctoral fellows will be expected to give a presentation during the academic year in the Perry World House Seminar Series, publish policy relevant scholarship related to Perry World House themes, engage with Perry World House’s Undergraduate Student Fellows, and attend regularly scheduled seminars. They will also assist with designing and planning engagement in relevant theme areas. Perry World House will also introduce each postdoctoral fellow to related faculty and leaders of centers and institutes at the University of Pennsylvania.
Applications are welcome from scholars who have received their Ph.D. or equivalent degrees in the last two years (not earlier than 2014), or who expect to complete their degree by June 2017. Applications will be reviewed starting January 10, 2017. To receive full consideration, applications and letters of recommendation should be received by that date.
To apply, please go to: https://apply.interfolio.com/39455. Applicants will be asked to complete a short form as well as upload a cover letter, CV/resume, one page research statement, writing sample, and unofficial PhD transcript (only required for current graduate students). We will also ask for the name and email address of a letter writer who can submit a letter of recommendation.
Borders and Boundaries in World Politics
The Project on Borders and Boundaries in World Politics has two openings for post-doctoral research fellows for one year, renewable, full-time appointments. Fellows will split their time between their own research and work with a team led by Professor Beth Simmons, Andrea Mitchell University Professor in Law, Political Science, and Business Ethics. The Project is concerned with boundaries between organized human communities, broadly understood. International borders, border regions and border crossings have multiple significance as designations of state authority, security buffers, expressions of social meaning and opportunities for economic integration. Border regions and activities speak to national and local encounters with neighbors and the rest of the world. This project is concerned with how humans demarcate the space between “us” and “them.” It contextualizes border architecture, infrastructure and institutions as expressions of various social, political and economic anxieties associated with globalization. This research team will concern itself with a broad range of questions relating to “bordering” in world politics. Applicants with an interest in territorial politics; migration and movement across borders; development in and across border regions; border crossing regimes, architectures and institutions; transnational migration; transnational crime, human trafficking and law enforcement across borders; and related issues are welcome to apply. Skills in empirical spatial analysis, GIS technologies, mapping technologies, experimental analyses, computerized textual and imaging analyses, and similar technologies are highly desirable, as are computer programming skills and experience using large computer databases and statistical software.
Requirements and Application Information
There are no mandatory reaching responsibilities. Postdoctoral fellows will be expected to give a presentation during the academic year in the Perry World House Seminar Series, engage with Perry World House’s Undergraduate Student Fellows, and attend regularly scheduled seminars. Perry World House will also introduce each postdoctoral fellow to related faculty and leaders of centers and institutes at the University of Pennsylvania.
Postdocs will be housed with the Global Innovation Program in Perry World House.
Applications are welcome from scholars who have received their Ph.D. or equivalent degrees in the last two years (not earlier than 2014), or who expect to complete their degree by June 2017. Applications will be reviewed starting January 10, 2017. To receive full consideration, applications and letters of recommendation should be received by that date.
To apply, please go to https://apply.interfolio.com/39456. Applicants will be asked to complete a short form as well as upload a cover letter, CV/resume, one page research statement, writing sample, and unofficial PhD transcript (only required for current graduate students). We will also ask for the name and email address of a letter writer who can submit a letter of recommendation.
Identity and Conflict
The Program on Identity and Conflict, which is joint with the School of Arts & Sciences, has two openings for postdoctoral research fellows for one-year, renewable, full-time, appointments. Fellows will split their time between their own research and work for a team led by Professor Nicholas Sambanis at Penn’s Department of Political Science. Projects will include, but are not limited to, research on intervention and peacebuilding; the determinants of political radicalization; the effects of violence exposure on social preferences; the causes of conflict escalation in self-determination movements; and the formation and change of social identities. A variety of methods will be used, including large-N statistical analysis, game-theoretic modeling, field and survey experiments and historical case-studies. Job responsibilities will vary depending on the strengths and interests of the successful applicants, but they will include some combination of assisting with projects undertaken by a research team involving faculty at Penn and other institutions; data collection and management; preliminary data analysis; archival research; and possibly also field work. Successful applicants will have significant training in methods (statistical analysis, survey research, or qualitative methods) and/or modeling. Computer programming skills are highly desirable as is experience using large computer databases and statistical software. All applicants should have excellent organizational skills. Pre-doctoral candidates may also apply, though preference will be given to applicants who will have received their doctorate by the start of the appointment. There is no teaching requirement. Fellows will be expected to give a presentation during the academic year in the Perry World House Seminar Series.
Requirements and Application Information
Applications will be reviewed starting January 10, 2017. To receive full consideration, applications and letters of recommendation should be received by that date.
To apply, please go to: https://apply.interfolio.com/39457. Applicants will be asked to complete a short form as well as upload a cover letter, CV/resume, one page research statement, writing sample, and unofficial PhD transcript (only required for current graduate students). We will also ask for the name and email address of a letter writer who can submit a letter of recommendation.
General Information
All postdoctoral fellow positions pay a stipend of $50,000 plus relevant fees and health insurance. The position also provides $1,000 in research support.
The University of Pennsylvania is strongly committed to Penn’s Action Plan for Faculty Diversity and Excellence and to establishing a more diverse community at Penn (for more information see: http://www.upenn.edu/almanac/volumes/v58/n02/diversityplan.html).
The University of Pennsylvania values diversity and seeks talented students, faculty and staff from diverse backgrounds. The University of Pennsylvania does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, creed, national or ethnic origin, citizenship status, age, disability, veteran status or any other legally protected class status in the administration of its admissions, financial aid, educational or athletic programs, or other University-administered programs or in its employment practices. Questions or complaints regarding this policy should be directed to the Executive Director of the Office of Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity Programs, Sansom Place East, 3600 Chestnut Street, Suite 228, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6106; or (215) 898-6993 (Voice) or (215) 898-7803 (TDD).
Applications will be reviewed starting January 10, 2017. To receive full consideration, applications and letters of recommendation should be received by that date. Applications received after January 10, 2017 may not receive consideration.
Contact: |
If you have questions, please email postdoc@pwh.upenn.edu. |
Website: | https://apply.interfolio.com/39455 |
Primary Category: | None |
Secondary Categories: | None |
Posting Date: | 11/28/2016 |
Closing Date | 01/10/2017 |