The postdoctoral fellow will work within the framework of the ERC funded research project “Protest, Public Opinion and Electoral Preferences: how protest propels political change (PROPEL)” led by Ruud Wouters. PROPEL asks: What is it in public opinion that gets affected by protest? And, when and how does this impact materialize? To address these questions, the PROPEL team seeks to develop and test a political communication theory of protest-public opinion (PPO) impact. We scrutinize how the features of protest (size, disruption, organizer, claim), the mechanisms of mediatization (mass and social media) and politicization (reactions of political actors in the public sphere), and the features of citizen receivers (predispositions) drive four types of public opinion effects (issue-specific, system-generic, group-identity and party preference). To that end, we will link extant protest and survey data, field panel surveys surrounding upcoming protests, execute vignette experiments, and engage in quantitative content analyses of mass and social media. Doing so, we investigate the implications of protest in an era of shifting cleavage politics. A summary of the research project can be found here.
Bullet point summary of the postdoctoral function:

• You will develop an ambitious and innovative research agenda within the framework of PROPEL
• You will strongly contribute to the integration of protest event and survey data, as well as to the design, implementation and analysis of panel survey data.
• You will co-author academic and non-academic outputs from the project.
• You will collaborate with other project members (PhDs, principal investigators and co-investigators) and contribute to project management.
• You will present findings at national and international conferences, help organize workshops, and support team meetings and events.

The PROPEL team consists of a Principal Investigator, a post-doc and three phd-students. The team is embedded within research group R4D (Research for Digitalization, Diversity and Democracy) at the School of Social Sciences of Hasselt University. R4D is a young and dynamic interdisciplinary research centre focusing on three societal grand challenges and their interaction: digitalization, diversity and democracy.

• You hold a PhD in the social sciences (political science, communication, sociology) or you will have obtained it by the time you start working.

• You possess robust empirical research knowledge and are proficient in conducting quantitative analyses.

• You have a strong background in survey analysis. An excellent understanding of causal inference techniques using panel survey data and linkage designs is a plus. Experience with computational text analysis or vignette experiments is an advantage but not a requirement.

• You have a strong proficiency in R and/or Stata and/or Python.

• You have strong writing abilities.

• You act with attention to quality, integrity, creativity and cooperation. You are a team player.

• You have the capacity to work independently and pro-actively; you work thoroughly and deliver tasks timely. You can manage multiple tasks effectively and know how to prioritize.

• You have an excellent command of English, both orally and in writing. Dutch language proficiency is considered a plus.  

• You have strong communication skills and you thrive on working in a team-based environment.

You will be appointed and paid as Researcher-expert.
We offer: 
- A full-time postdoc position for 3 years.
- Support in further development of academic (research and/or teaching) skills and job market competetiveness.
- Integration in the international and collaborative research community surrounding the project and in research unit R4D (Research for Digitalization, Diversity and Democracy).
- Support for participation in national and international conferences, workshops, summer and/or winter schools. 
- You will do most of your work at the Hasselt Campus in a dynamic and stimulating working environment.

The envisioned starting date is January 1^st, 2027 (starting date can be negotiated).

The selection procedure consists of a preselection based on application file and an interview.
You can apply for this vacancy only through the online job application platform up to and including November 9th, 2026 (by midnight Brussels time, CET). Click on the 'Apply' button and complete the online application form. Be sure to include the following: - a motivation letter, detailing your experience/skills, and how they match the project and position - your CV - contact information of at least one reference person whom we could reach out to. The selection committee reviews all applications as soon as possible after the application deadline. We will focus on (i) fit with the project, (ii) relevant experience and methodological skills, (iii) academic qualifications. When the screening decisions are made, we will notify you. Shortlisted candidates will be informed about the next step(s) in the selection procedure (e.g. preparing a max two page research paper idea; preparing a presentation pitching this research idea). Selection interviews are scheduled to take place early December 2026.

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Apply up to 09.11.2026