2 Reseearch Assistant Positions

Call for Applications – Job Offer (At the Department of Development Studies of the University of Vienna from 1 November 2025)

2 research assistant positions (M.A. level) as part of the Austrian Science Fund (FWF)-sponsored digital humanities project „North/South – A Conflict That Did Not Exist?“ lead by Eva-Maria Muschik (Professor for Development Studies from a Global History Perspective).

The Department of Development Studies, a sub-unit of the Faculty of Social Sciences, focuses on the transdisciplinary analysis and reflection of global inequalities in research and teaching.

The FWF project ‘North/South - A Conflict That Did Not Exist?’ is situated in the field of digital humanities, at the intersection of history, international relations, and development studies.

The project team will use quantitative methods to examine voting behavior and co-sponsorship of resolutions within the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in order to explore the contours of the history of the North-South conflict: In what time periods and in relation to what issues have countries of the “Global South” (the “Group of 77”) made common cause within the UN?

Employment period: 01.10.2025 - 31.08.2026 (The advertisement is for 11 months. The employment contract is initially fixed-term and is automatically extended for a total of 11 months unless the employer submits a declaration of non-extension.

Scope of employment: 20 hours/week (50% full-time equivalent). Classification according to the collective agreement of the universities (salary group C, student project staff without a master's or diploma degree) § 49 (5).

Your tasks:

As a research assistant you will support the implementation of Eva-Maria Muschik's project “North/South” at the Department of Development Studies and be primarily responsible for one of the two sub-projects: (1) focused on voting behavior and (2) focused on co-sponsorship of UN General Assembly resolutions. Your tasks will include:

• (Independent) planning and implementation of the respective sub-project

• Literature research on and familiarization with the history of the North-South conflict, and the UN + methodological approaches

• Data collection on voting behavior or co-sponsorship; analysis of data with q, stata, and/or python

• Co-organizing two project-workshops (one at the beginning and one at the end of the project)

• Collaboration on joint open-access online presentation of the project/results

• Collaboration on joint scientific publications

Required Profile:

• Enrollment in a University of Vienna MA program in Digital Humanities or social sciences during the project duration

• Enjoyment of independent scientific work

• Experience and familiarity with quantitative data science methods (e.g. network analysis, mapping) and programs (r, stata, python)

• Excellent English language skills

• Interest in the history of the North-South conflict and the United Nations

• Strong communication and teamwork skills

Desirable Profile (not required):

• Experience with historical research

• Familiarity with the history of the United Nations and the North-South conflict

• Previous experience with academic projects, workshop organization, or publications

Documents to be submitted (via email in one single pdf-file):

• Motivation letter: Please explain, in which context you have already applied quantitative methods and worked with the above mentioned programs (r, stata, python).

• Curriculum vitae in tabular form, including (if available) a list of previous research activities and publications

• Confirmation of current enrolment in a Master's program at the University of Vienna

• If available (not required), a short letter of recommendation from an academic colleague

Please send all documents (merged into a single pdf-file!) with the subject line “TIP_your last name” by July 31, 2025 to Franz Paul Kroiß: franz.paul.kroiss(at)univie.ac.at.

If you have any further questions about the project, please contact Eva-Maria Muschik at eva-maria.muschik(at)univie.ac.at.

Questions about the application process or contract or employment status can be directed to Michaela Hochmuth at michaela.hochmuth(at)univie.ac.at.

Selection timetable: We expect to invite shortlisted candidates for an interview on August 6 or 7, 2025. Please mark these dates in your calendars. Interviews will be held via Zoom. We plan to inform shortlisted candidates of possible interview slots by 1 August, 2025.

The University of Vienna has an anti-discriminatory employment policy and places value on equal opportunities and diversity (http://diversity.univie.ac.at/). In particular, the aim is to increase the proportion of women in management positions and among academic staff. Women are given priority when they have the same qualifications.

Important: If your application is successful and you accept a position at the University of Vienna, you will need to move to Vienna before you can start the employment. You will need to submit degree certificates and transcripts that have the required legalization. Degree certificates or transcripts that are not in German or English must be translated into one of these two languages. The translation must be done by a court sworn translator after the documents have been legalized.