CPIS-INV-INDF-2026-07: Postdoctoral Research Position in Gender+ Rights and Autocratization at Universitat Pompeu Fabra

Organisation/Company Universitat Pompeu Fabra Department Political and Social Sciences Research Field Political sciences » Policy studies Researcher Profile Recognised Researcher (R2) Positions Postdoc Positions Application Deadline 9 Nov 2026
- 23:59 (Europe/Madrid) Country Spain Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Full-time Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Other EU programme Reference Number PID2025-172837OB-I00. September 2026 – August 2030 Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No Offer Description The successful candidate will join the GUARDA Project, “Global Autocratization Processes and Gender Rights: Indicators, Impacts, and Governance Monitoring”, as a postdoctoral researcher. GUARDA is led by Dr. Maria Rodó-Zárate and Dr. Abel Escribà-Folch and based at Universitat Pompeu Fabra (Barcelona). GUARDA examines the relationship between processes of autocratization and changes in gender+ rights at the global level. The project combines feminist and gender studies with comparative politics and research on democratic backsliding and authoritarian politics. Its main objectives are to develop a theoretical framework linking autocratization and gender+ rights, construct a global comparative dataset from 1991 onwards, and develop indicators to systematically track state-led changes in women’s, sexual, reproductive, and LGBT rights and policies. The postdoctoral researcher will play a central role in the project’s conceptual and empirical development and in the construction of its global comparative dataset. A key responsibility will be to oversee and substantively supervise the project’s AI-assisted data collection and coding strategy, ensuring that the identification and classification of relevant policy changes are conceptually sound, substantively accurate, and consistent across countries and over time. Working closely with the Principal Investigators and with specialized technical support, the researcher will contribute to the development and refinement of coding protocols, validate and interpret the resulting data, and help translate the project’s conceptual framework into systematic and replicable indicators. The researcher will contribute to the development of a harmonized country-year dataset covering three main domains: reproductive and bodily autonomy; gender equality and women’s rights; and LGBT rights. The position will also involve contributing to the conceptual development of indicators, data validation procedures, comparative analysis, academic publications, and other project outputs. Research Field Political sciences » Science and society Education Level PhD or equivalent Skills/Qualifications
* PhD degree in Political Science, Sociology, Gender Studies, Human Rights, International Relations, Public Policy, or another relevant discipline within the Social Sciences.
* Strong substantive expertise in at least one of the core areas of the GUARDA project, including gender and sexuality, women’s and LGBT rights, reproductive rights, anti-gender politics, or autocratization.
* Experience in comparative social research and demonstrated ability to critically interpret legislative, policy, institutional, judicial, or other documentary evidence across different contexts.
* Strong methodological skills relevant to comparative empirical research and experience working with cross-national and/or longitudinal data. Experience constructing or working with datasets based on policy, legislative, governmental, judicial, or other documentary sources is desirable.
* Familiarity with feminist, gender, and intersectionality debates and an ability to incorporate these perspectives into comparative empirical research is desirable.
* Ability to engage critically with AI-assisted or computational research workflows and to communicate and collaborate effectively with specialized technical researchers. Previous experience with AI-assisted research, text analysis, NLP, automated data extraction, or related methods will be considered an asset.
* Demonstrated capacity to conduct independent academic research, contribute to collaborative and interdisciplinary research, and produce high-quality academic outputs. Excellent written and spoken English is required; knowledge of Catalan and/or Spanish is desirable but not required. Specific Requirements
* Academic profile and substantive relevance to the GUARDA project: 1–5 points. Quality and relevance of the candidate’s research trajectory and substantive expertise in relation to the project’s objectives and core research areas.
* Comparative research and methodological

experience:
1–5 points. Experience in comparative empirical research, working with complex documentary and/or cross-national data, and applying appropriate methods for their systematic analysis and validation.
* Research capacity and ability to contribute to the project: 1–5 points. Demonstrated capacity to conduct high-quality independent and collab