Postdoctoral positions in Political Science at Aarhus University – Advertising Democracy

The Department of Political Science at Aarhus University invites applications for two 2-year full-time postdoctoral researchers to join a research team studying whether and how we can design democratic advertisements that increase citizens’ democratic commitment. The project is headed by Associate Professor Suthan Krishnarajan. Start date is April 1, 2025, but it can be flexible throughout 2025, subject to mutual agreement.

The research project
An acute challenge in today’s Western democracies is how to design strategies to improve citizens’ democratic commitments. Yet, most previous efforts to bolster citizens’ democratic values by providing them with elaborate facts, figures, and arguments have generally failed. The Advertising Democracy project (AdDem) argues that a successful intervention strategy should account for the fact that we live in an age when people face intensifying demands on their time and attention. Most do not want to spend precious time reading long, complex, democratic information from researchers and experts.

AdDem fills this gap and pioneers a new research agenda that redefines how we think about pro-democratic interventions in the 21st-century information environment. It examines whether democratic advertisements – ads that communicate the importance of democratic principles in an easily accessible manner – can improve citizens’ democratic commitment. The project will explore whether such democratic advertisements can strengthen citizens’ democratic values and, if so, determine the most effective design for these advertisements.

The idea is to (1) systematically create still and video democratic advertisements using photo editing, video tools, and artificial intelligence, (2) test the ads’ effectiveness in online survey experiments across multiple countries, (3) redesign the ads based on the knowledge acquired from these controlled settings, and (4) examine the effectiveness of the revised ads in field experiments on various social media platforms across multiple countries.

AdDem will run from September 2024 through 2028 and will consist of Associate Professor Suthan Krishnarajan and a research team with two postdocs. The project collaborates with Professor Anja Neundorf, University of Glasgow, Professor André Bächtiger, University of Stuttgart, and Professor Alexander Wuttke at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Münich. The project is funded by a Sapere Aude grant, the Independent Research Fund Denmark’s flagship grant to talented younger researchers to lead multiple participants in a research project at a high international level. Read more about the grant and project here.

Job description
AdDem invites applications for two positions. The postdoctoral researchers will join a research team and are expected to engage in collaborative research with Associate Professor Suthan Krishnarajan and the other members of the research team. They will be expected to take a leading role in developing, designing, coordinating, and publishing research in high-impact journals. Moreover, as part of the research team, they are expected to support project-related organizational and administrative tasks.

The postdoctoral researchers will be part of a cutting-edge research project and a vibrant and supportive research team. There will be excellent opportunities for intellectual growth and mentoring, as well as for developing an independent research agenda with single-authored work within the context of the project. The project offers funding for data collection, workshops, conferences, additional training, and opportunities for developing a strong academic network.

In addition to the outlined research tasks, the position entails teaching the equivalent of one course per year.

Your qualifications
Applicants are expected to hold (or be close to completing) a PhD in political science or another field relevant to the project. Applicants from various disciplines, e.g., Political Science, Psychology, Communications, Media Studies, Data Science, and Economics, are encouraged to apply. The project aims to create a research team with the following qualifications:

Research experience in citizens’ democratic values in Western democracies

• How citizens understand, define, and think about democracy
• Citizens’ willingness to vote for undemocratic leaders
• Political polarization, partisan identity, and electoral behavior

Research experience in political advertising, communication, and persuasion

• Media campaigns and advertising in print, television, and social media
• Citizens’ cognitive processes, perceptions, and responses to media communication
• Intervention strategies to induce behavioral change

Quantitative methodological skills

• Photo and video editing
• Design, conduct, and analyze survey experiments
• Undertake field experiments on social media platforms and analyze users’ behavior

Note that applicants are not expected to hold expertise in all areas! The goal is to create a research team that collectively commands all the qualifications required for the project’s success. Please specify your qualifications in the application.

Who we are
The Department of Political Science is one of the six departments at Aarhus BSS, which is one of five faculties at Aarhus University. The department is among Europe’s largest and most prominent political science departments, with particular strengths in political behavior and political psychology. In 2024, the Department of Political Science at Aarhus University was ranked the top political science department in continental Europe, according to Shanghai Ranking’s Global Ranking.

At the Department of Political Science, we emphasize a dynamic and flexible research and teaching profile characterized by pluralism and openness. With more than 100 academic staff members and 50 PhD students, we offer a lively, ambitious, and highly collegial research and teaching environment with many international visitors and workshops and a clear international orientation. For more information about the Department of Political Science, please see here.

Suthan Krishnarajan is Associate Professor at the Department of Political Science at Aarhus University. His current research agenda aims to understand why ordinary citizens accept undemocratic behavior from politicians, how they think about such behaviors, and how we can strengthen democratic commitments in Western democracies. His PhD dissertation received the Aarhus University Research Foundation PhD Award, and he has published articles in leading academic journals such as the American Political Science Review, the Journal of Politics, and the British Journal of Political Science. His recent study, “Rationalizing Democracy,” won the 2024 Heinz I. Eulau Award for best article in the American Political Science Review.

Further information
If you have questions regarding the position or want to learn more about the project and specific tasks, please do not hesitate to contact Associate Professor Suthan Krishnarajan at [email protected].

If you need help uploading your application or have questions about the recruitment process, please contact HR supporter Line Møller Kristiansen by telephone: +4593522904 or e-mail: [email protected].

Place of work
Department of Political Science, Bartholins Allé 7, DK-8000 Aarhus C

International applicant?
Aarhus University offers a broad variety of services for international researchers and accompanying families, including relocation service and career counselling to expat partners. Please find more information here:
https://internationalstaff.au.dk/relocationservice/

Please find more information about research opportunities at Aarhus University here: http://international.au.dk/research/

Aarhus University also offers a Junior Researcher Development Programme targeted at career development for postdocs at AU. You can read more about it here:
http://talent.au.dk/junior-researcher-development-programme/

Terms of employment
The appointment is made in accordance with the Memorandum on Job Structure for Academic Staff at Danish Universities as well as the circular on the Collective Agreement for Academics Employed by the State (in Danish).
The job content and qualification requirements are described in further detail in the Ministerial Order on the Appointment of Academic Staff at Universities.

Application procedure
When you apply for this position it is mandatory to attach the following:

• Cover letter (1 page) motivating why you are interested in joining AdDem
• A short research proposal (2-3 pages) that outlines your idea for a specific study within the scope of the AdDem project. The proposal should briefly outline (1) the gap and contribution, (2) the argument, and (3) research design and data collection.
• Curriculum Vitae. You are encouraged to declare any periods of leave without research activity, including, for example, maternity leave, since your research activities are assessed in relation to your actual research time
• Education (diploma for master's, PhD and possibly higher doctoral degree)
• List of publications (the enclosed publications must be clearly marked on the list of publications)
• Publications. Up to three publications can be included in the application. In the event of several authors the publications must be accompanied by a co-author statement concerning the applicant's share of the collaborative work with the consent of the co-authors. This template may be used for the purpose
• Teaching portfolio. The specific requirements regarding the documentation can be found here

Materials which cannot be uploaded together with the application may be submitted in three copies to Aarhus BSS HR & PhD, Aarhus University, Tåsingegade 1, 2nd floor, DK-8000 Aarhus C.

Read more about how to apply for an academic post at Aarhus BSS here

The evaluation process
After the application deadline, an assessment committee is appointed. Please note that the assessment of applicants is based solely on the material received prior to the application deadline. For further information, see Guidelines for Assessment Committee, Aarhus BSS.
Aarhus University’s ambition is to be an attractive and inspiring workplace for all and to foster a culture in which each individual has opportunities to thrive, achieve and develop. We view equality and diversity as assets, and we welcome all applicants.

The application must be submitted via Aarhus University’s recruitment system, which can be accessed under the job advertisement on Aarhus University's website.

Aarhus University
Aarhus University is an academically diverse and research-intensive university with a strong commitment to high-quality research and education and the development of society nationally and globally. The university offers an inspiring research and teaching environment to its 38,000 students (FTEs) and 8,300 employees, and has an annual revenues of EUR 935 million. Learn more at www.international.au.dk/

Department: Statskundskab, Inst. f./Department of Political Science

Deadline: 31 January 2025

Location: Aarhus C Bartholins Allé 7