Academic research assistant in Saarbrücken bei Universität des Saarlandes

Saarland University is a campus university that is internationally recognized for its strong research programmes.

Fostering young academic talent and creating ideal conditions for teaching and research are a core part of the

university’s mission. As part of the University of the Greater Region, Saarland University enables students and staff to

share and exchange knowledge and ideas between disciplines, between universities and across borders. With over

17,000 national and international students, studying more than a hundred different academic disciplines, Saarland

University is a diverse and dynamic learning environment. [Saarland University is officially recognized as one of

Germany’s family-friendly higher-education institutions and with a combined workforce of more than 4,000 it is one

of the largest employers in the region.]

The Department of European Social Research is inviting applications for the following position commencing at the

earliest opportunity.

Academic research assistant (m/f/x)
Reference number W2400, salary in accordance with the German TV-L salary scale1, pay grade: E13 TV- L, duration

of employment: 15.01.2024 – 14.01.2027, volume of employment: 65 % of standard working time.

Workplace/Department:

Department of European Social Research

Job requirements and responsibilities:

As part of the project “PROTEMO – Emotional dynamics of protective policies in an age of insecurity”, a HORIZON

EUROPE funded international research project coordinated by Saarland University, we invite applications for an open

Ph.D. position. The position will be part of the research group of Prof. Georg Wenzelburger (Comparative European

Politics), who is also acting as coordinator of the project together with a Post-Doc. PROTEMO aims to investigate the

emotional roots of protective policies and their emotional consequences for individuals, groups of citizens and non-

citizens as well as for democracy, political participation and mobilisation. The interdisciplinary research group consists

of social and political psychologists, political scientists and sociologists from Denmark, Israel, Poland, Portugal, the

UK and Germany and is led by the Saarland University. Within this broader context of this project and as part of the

Saarland University PROTEMO-team, the Ph.D.-researcher will

1 TV-L = collective agreement on remuneration of public sector employees in the German Länder
The pay grade assigned to an employee depends on their professional qualifications and the number of years of service. Each pay grade is
further subdivided into levels. Entry-level employees with no previous experience will initially be assigned a level 1 rating. After one year at
level 1 of the E10 pay grade, an employee will move up to level 2. After a further two years, the employee will move to level 3, etc.

• Perform a qualitative content analysis of political texts (e.g. speeches) about protective policies (e.g. law and

order) with a focus on how emotions are elicited in these texts;

• Prepare and conduct elite interviews with political actors from Germany to study how emotional needs of

citizens are perceived and translated in the policy process;

• Perform a process tracing analysis based on documentary research and elite interviews related to the

question of how emotions influence the making of protective policies;

• Support the Saarland University project team with regard to common tasks, such as literature reviews and

the preparation of consortium meetings;

• Support the Consortium with feedback on related workpackages.

As a Ph.D.-researcher at Saarland University you will be part of an highly motivated research group working in an

international environment. As part of the interdisciplinary group of the PROTEMO project, you will have the

opportunity to advance your own career in the international community working on a cutting-edge research question.

Your tasks within PROTEMO:

• Setting up a dataset consisting of public speeches and policy documents in relation to protective policies;

• Performing qualitative content analysis of the dataset with a focus on emotions;

• Collecting data on policy processes that led to political decisions about protective policies from documents and

via elite interviews with a focus on the role emotions played in the process;

• Prepare literature reviews on emotions and protective policies;

• Joint work with the other subprojects from the project on related