Investigador posdoctoral

Department: Social Science

Salary: € 47.610 per year in 14 payments. Location: Madrid

Duration: 3 (+1) years / Hours: 37.5 hours per week.

Reports to: Dr Juan A. Mayoral, Distinguished Researcher

Post: The UC3M’s CURIAFIDES project is seeking applications for one full-time postdoc. This position is available from mid-February 2025 (start day negotiable) for a duration of 36 months , renewable to one more if the project requires it. The position is part of the CURIAFIDES Project, funded by the European Research Council and led by Juan A. Mayoral. The Postdoctoral Fellow will be responsible for developing experimental and survey research with judges . The project offers financial support for research and conferences.

The postdoc will be part of the CURIAFIDES team and integrated into the broader research context of the social science department and its research institutes and centres: the IC3JM and MACIES located in Madrid, one of Europe’s most exciting cities with an outstanding research environment.

Project: The functioning of the European Union (EU) legal system is ensured through an intricate interdependent judicial system, where judges at the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) and national courts must rely on the willing cooperation with each other to enforce decisions on EU law matters. The CURIAFIDES project is an interdisciplinary research project, aiming at articulating a novel theory of judicial trust within the EU, based on strong empirical evidence collected from experiments, surveys, and interviews with CJEU and national judges.

Research environment and institution: The University Carlos III of Madrid was created in 1989 and is ranked by QS as one of the top 50 universities created in the last 50 years, and among the top three universities in Spain in the field of social sciences. The UC3M is committed to excellence, innovation and the promotion of global understanding in research, teaching, enterprise and community engagement.

Duties and responsibilities: The postdoc will be part of the CURIAFIDES Team. The successful candidate is expected to:

1. Design, implement and analyse the results of experiments and surveys in collaboration with the team in various EU countries such as Spain, Ireland, Romania, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany & Denmark.
2. Generate and pursue independent and original research ideas within the context of the CURIAFIDES project and broadly on topics in judicial politics, international relations, legal sociology, empirical legal studies, comparative politics and/or EU studies.
3. Participate in publications in leading international journals in Social Sciences and Law, and disseminate research results to different audiences.
4. Conduct other research techniques (e.g. interviews, focus groups, text mining and analysis, natural language processing, network analysis, among others) and integrate them.
5. The postdoc will work closely with other members of the team and will meet regularly.
6. Teaching is NOT a requirement; however, opportunities can be arranged if the candidate believes it would contribute to their professional development.

Ideal Candidate: The post requires a PhD’s degree in different subjects, including Political Science, Sociology, Law, Public Administration, Economics, and other social science disciplines, with a significant component of mixing quantitative and qualitative methods. Expertise in statistical methods, experiments and/or surveys is mandatory , while experience in interviews and mixed methods is desirable. Very good English in speech and writing is a requirement. Moreover, speaking the language of the country’s case studies will be considered a merit.

Application: The application must include the following enclosures:

• Application letter/cover letter (max. 3 pages): The letter should explain (a) the applicant’s current research interests, (b) the research they hope to carry as part of their postdoc, (c) their capacity to work in an interdisciplinary team, their network, and experience, and (d) what role they believe they could play as part of the CURIAFIDES project.
• Curriculum vitae (max. 2 pages).
• Up to 2 publication or manuscript samples.
• 2 letters of reference.

Candidates must have obtained a Ph.D. by the time the application deadline is closed (31st January 2025). Before submission, potential candidates are encouraged to express their interest by contacting the Principal Investigator at:

The application deadline is 31 st January, 2025, 23:59 GMT.

Applications received after the deadline has expired will not be accepted.