Organisation/Company Universidad Carlos III de Madrid Department Department of Social Sciences Research Field Political sciences Researcher Profile First Stage Researcher (R1) Positions PhD Positions Application Deadline 11 Nov 2026 - 23:59 (Europe/Madrid) Country Spain Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Full-time Hours Per Week 35 Offer Starting Date 1 Feb 2027 Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Horizon Europe - MSCA Reference Number 101312379 Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Offer Description

The Department of Social Sciences at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) is looking for a PhD candidate to join the Doctoral Network "Democratic Institutions and Violence Network in Europe" (DIViNE), funded by the EU Horizon Europe Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) programme. Dr. Ignacio Sánchez-Cuenca (UC3M) and Dr. Giulia Bistagnino (University of Milan) will supervise the candidate, who will join a network of 10 PhD candidates across five European universities.

DIViNE brings together leading European research environments: UvA (Amsterdam), UESSEX (Essex), UMIL (Milan), UC3M (Carlos III de Madrid) and UU (Uppsala). It also involves partner organisations, including the Max Planck Institute for Political and Social Science, CIDOB, Fondazione Giangiacomo Feltrinelli, ICIP, International IDEA, Clingendael and Action on Armed Violence (AOAV). Together they combine complementary strengths in quantitative conflict research, behavioural and experimental methods, historical and archival inquiry, institutional and normative theory, and applied policy engagement.

The DIViNE network

Democracies are commonly seen as able to channel contestation through institutionalised processes and nonviolent action.



Yet democratic polities frequently experience a broad range of political violence, from riots and organised electoral intimidation to extremist mobilisation and criminal violence. This violence can test, and at times erode, democratic norms and institutions. Democracies may also respond to perceived threats with measures that threaten core features of liberal democracy, such as the rule of law, civil liberties and institutional impartiality. Examples include militarised policing, emergency legislation and selective repression. DIViNE consolidates comparative, historical, theoretical and methodological strands to build a coherent new research programme on political violence in democracies.

The PhD project

The PhD project, "Exogenous Shocks, Violent Legacies, and Democratic Resilience", explores how exogenous shocks retrigger or reinforce authoritarian practices, exclusionary narratives or political violence. It also asks under which conditions democracies transform violent legacies into resilience and inclusive governance. The project will develop a conceptual framework that links threat perception, historical memory and institutional responsiveness to explain differentiated democratic trajectories. Empirically, it will use cross-national statistical data and qualitative case studies of how citizens and elites react to acute crises.



The research will generate policy-relevant insights into managing shocks, preventing democratic backsliding and strengthening institutional robustness in contexts marked by violent pasts. The candidate will be free to develop their own project within these parameters.

The candidate will train across Madrid and Milan, combining theoretical instruction with advanced methodological courses in causal identification, mixed-method designs and democratic theory. The doctoral trajectory includes a research stay at the University of Milan. It also includes a non-academic secondment at the Fondazione Giangiacomo Feltrinelli (Milan), which will provide experience in policy communication, archival and public-facing research, and engagement with civil society and democratic-governance practitioners.

The candidate will:

- Be enrolled in the UC3M PhD Programme in Social Sciences and take part in its training activities. Your academic work is to result in a doctoral thesis defended at UC3M.
- Take an active part in DIViNE network activities, including training modules, PhD colloquia, research workshops, secondments and summer schools.
- Carry out an academic research stay at the University of Milan and a non-academic secondment at the Fondazione Giangiacomo Feltrinelli (Milan).
- Take an active part in the research environment of the Department of Social Sciences, including its seminar series, the annual PhD workshop and the activities of the Juan Linz Institute.
- Co-author publications with other project members and contribute to dissemination and outreach.
Assist with project-related activities, such as organising workshops or other network events.

What we offer

- A full-time employ

📌 PhD Position in Political Science (España)
🏢 Universidad Carlos III de Madrid
📍 España