The position will be available from October 1, 2026, for a period of three years.
It is intended to serve the purpose of scientific qualification. The doctoral
researcher will conduct research within the framework of the DFG-funded
project "Shifting Narratives: Misperceptions and Factual Information on
Immigration", at the Mannheim Centre for European Social Research (MZES).
The project investigates how factual information on immigration-related
The University of Mannheim is one of the
leading universities in Germany with
approximately 12,000 students in five schools.
Particularly in business and economics as well as
in the social sciences the university ranks among
the top institutions both at national and
international level. More than 2,600 employees
profit from an exciting work environment with
numerous benefits.
misperceptions can affect political attitudes, preferences and behaviour of the
broader public. The goal of this project is to move beyond innumeracies on e.g.
the immigration population and crime statistics and to focus on two dimensions
linked to perceptions of belonging: 1) Misperceptions of immigration policies and
2) democracy-related attitudes immigrants from non-democratic regimes hold.
The research objectives are to document existing misperceptions and assess how
providing information on these two dimensions affects political attitudes and
behaviour using surveys and experimental designs. The project is led by Dr.
Korinna O. Lindemann, the doctoral researcher's dissertation will be supervised
by her and Prof. Marc Helbling.
Your tasks include:
The tasks of the doctoral researcher include the design, implementation and
analysis of survey questions (both open- and closed-ended) and survey
experiments in Switzerland and Germany, as well as the development and
implementation of own research ideas within the framework of the project.
Research results should be presented in (international) academic conferences
and published in international peer-reviewed journals.
Your profile:
Excellent master's degree in political science, sociology, or a related
discipline
(Ideally) a strong interest in migration, political behaviour and experiments
01.10.2026 or soon thereafter
