Post-Doctoral Researcher in Quantitative Social Research

The Department of Sociology at Trinity College Dublin is seeking to appoint a post-doctoral researcher in quantitative social research for 29 months. The successful candidate will work on an upcoming, prestigious Horizon 2020 research project which is funded by the European Commission. The project ISOTIS – Inclusive Education and Social Support to Tackle Inequalities in Society – is a research consortium of 17 partner institutions across Europe collaboratively studying educational inequality between social and ethnic groups within European countries. ISOTIS will inform best practice in strategies for inclusive education.

Embedded in a multi-disciplinary research network comprising sociologists, economists, and educational researchers, the successful candidate will mainly study social and ethnic inequalities in education from preschool age up to adulthood. Major research activities will involve (1) a comparative assessment of social and ethnic inequality in educational opportunity across European countries, (2) a longitudinal assessment of the roots and development of skill gaps among children in selected European countries, and (3) the effectiveness of institutional reforms aiming to reduce achievement gaps among children.

We are looking for an enthusiastic researcher who is willing to work actively within an internationally collaborative network of researchers conducting cutting-edge research. Informal enquiries are welcome and can be made to Dr Jan Skopek, Assistant Professor at the Department of Sociology (skopekj@tcd.ie), Trinity College Dublin.

Standard duties of the post

• compiling longitudinal datasets from various early childhood/assessment studies in Europe;
• planning and conducting quantitative analysis of panel and quasi-panel data using advanced methods of data analysis;
• actively writing research papers and contributing to joint publications of the project team;
• organising and attending meetings, workshops and conferences;
• preparing grant applications for subsequent research

Person Specification

 Qualifications

• PhD in Sociology, Economics, Educational research or cognate fields (thesis should be either defended or submitted)

Research skills

• excellent academic track record in quantitative research;
• excellent skills in the management and analysis of quantitative data (including longitudinal analysis);
• advanced technical skills in Stata or comparable statistical packages;
• ideally experience with cross-national assessment datasets (e.g. PISA) and national panel data on competence development (e.g., the Millennium Cohort Study, the German National Educational Panel Study, Growing up in Ireland Study);
• excellent knowledge of the academic literature on social stratification and educational

Other essential skills

• excellent written and verbal communication skills in English;
• willingness to contribute proactively to the conduct of the project;
• strong motivation to publish in academic journals;
• good organisational skills;
• ability to work effectively in a team

Application Procedure

Candidates should submit a

• cover letter together with a full curriculum vitae including names and contact details of 3 referees (with email addresses),
• a list of publications divided into books, edited volumes, peer-review articles, book chapters,
• and a sample of written research (chapter of PhD, book chapter, article ),
• via email to Dr Jan Skopek (skopekj@tcd.ie),
• by latest on the 19th of January 2017 indicating the position they are applying for in the subject line.