2013 PhD Position in Political Communication at University of Amsterdam in Netherlands

[Scholarship-Positions]

Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Amsterdam School of Communication Research at  University of Amsterdam announces PhD Position. The position is offered in the field of Political Communication. Applicants applying for the position will receive a salary of €2.062 to €2.638 gross per month, based on 38 hours per week.  Interested candidates must hold a research master's degree in communication science or equivalent qualifications. Research masters from related fields such as Political Science and Sociology are also very welcome to apply.

Study Subject(s): Position is offered in Political Communication. This project tests the impact of media and communication on electoral volatility in different elections using a unique combination of panel surveys, media content analyses, and an experiment.

Course Level: This position is available for pursuing PhD programme at University of Amsterdam in Netherlands.

Scholarship Provider:  University of Amsterdam, Netherlands

Scholarship can be taken at: Netherlands

Eligibility: The PhD candidate should:

-hold a Research Master's degree in communication science or equivalent qualifications. Research Masters from related fields such as Political Science and Sociology are also very welcome to apply, but may be asked to do some extra coursework to get acquainted with the field of communication science. Candidates who do not hold a Research Master degree or equivalent will be required to complete a transfer program prior to the project start date. A Research Master is a 2-year Master program with 30 EC of methodological coursework. Candidates who are due to graduate before September 2013 are also welcome to apply;

-excel academically, as shown in the grade transcripts and curriculum vitae;

-have a firm basis in quantitative  research, preferably in survey research, content analysis, panel data analysis and experimental designs;

-have an excellent written and spoken command of English;

-have excellent organizational skills;

-have the ability and interest to work in a team;

-wish to pursue an academic career.

Scholarship Open for International Students: The applicants from Netherlands can apply for the position.

Scholarship Description: In the last decades electoral volatility is on the rise in many democracies and particularly in the Netherlands. Various scholars have shed their light on explaining this phenomenon, mainly focusing on socio-structural and party system explanations. Only very few of them have considered explanations based on political communication theory. It is thus largely unknown what the role of media and communication is vis-à-vis electoral volatility.This project therefore tests the impact of media and communication on electoral volatility in different elections using a unique combination of panel surveys, media content analyses, and an experiment. The novelty lies not only in the fact that this project goes beyond current explanations of electoral volatility, incorporating the media in an extensive way. The main contribution is that this project studies the effect of media content within different contexts (information-rich versus information-poor) and zooms in on the underlying process causing these effects.The candidate is expected to do research and publish on the basis of the research, culminating in a PhD dissertation.

Number of Awards: Not Known

Duration of Awards: The position starts per 1 September 2013 or as soon as possible, and is initially for 1 year. Extension of the contract after the first year to a total of three years is subject to satisfactory performance. Scope of work is for 38 hours per week

What does it cover? The gross monthly salary will be in accordance with the salary scales for PhD candidates at Dutch universities, i.e., ranging from €2.062 in the first year to €2.638 in the final year.

How to Apply:  To apply for this position, please send all your documents in a single PDF file by e-mail to [email protected]

N.B. A complete application contains at least the following documents in English:

href="http://ascor.uva.nl/phd-program/admission-and-application/application-procedure/application-procedure.html" target="_blank">ASCoR PhD application form

-Motivation letter

-Curriculum vitae

-Proof of your Master's degree, including grade transcripts. If you have not completed your degree at the time of application, please provide a statement from your supervisor confirming the expected date of completion of your degree

-An academic writing sample in English (e.g., journal article, Master's thesis).

Scholarship Application Deadline: The last date to submit the form is 15 April 2013.

Further Official Scholarship Information and Application

Via: Scholarship-Positions