PRIO invites applications for a full-time, two-year, Postdoc position within the project Migration Rhythms in Trajectories of Upward Social Mobility in Asia (MigrationRhythms).
The position provides an opportunity to work in a leading international research institute, located in Norway’s capital city, as part of a project affiliated with PRIO’s Migration Centre.
The hired research fellow will be responsible for carrying out qualitative data collection in Hanoi and Manila, including family history interviews and observation, and must have solid qualitative research experience and relevant regional expertise, in addition to excellent analytical and writing skills.
MigrationRhythms focuses on three research objectives:
I: To evaluate the different effects of migration across different geographic distances—internal and international—in trajectories of upward social mobility
Achieving this objective requires a holistic approach to geographical mobility as well as a theoretical commitment to understanding mobility across different spatial frames in an integrated manner, both of which are novel. Rather than focus narrowly on the migrant only, MigrationRhythms will look at the family members who have stayed, as well as those who have migrated, at different points in time. This will make it possible to discern the ways in which migration—internally and internationally—affects a family’s trajectory of upward social mobility. Focusing on migration rhythms (created by the variation in distances of migration among individuals in a family over time) allows for inclusion of multiple instances of migration (as well as staying) within the same analysis. This in turn makes it possible to assess the significance of the distance of migration in families’ understandings of their trajectories of upward social mobility over time.
II: To evaluate the different effects of short-term and long-term migration for trajectories of upward social mobility
MigrationRhythms adoption of a temporal perspective is innovative. It permits scrutiny of how migration across generations, or earlier or later in the life-course, as well as separately for women and men, produces more or less predictable differences in families’ trajectories of upward social mobility over time. It focuses on families’ trajectories of upward social mobility across two to three generations, among family members who are staying and leaving at given points in time. In doing so, it will be possible to discern the ways that the rhythms of short-term migration, long-term migration, and staying do or do not systematically produce different outcomes in families’ trajectories of upward social mobility over time.
III: To appraise the different mechanisms connecting spatial and social mobility, including remittances
The MigrationRhythms project will assess the relative importance of different mechanisms connecting spatial and social mobility, where remittances can reasonably be expected to dominate. This assessment will be achieved by discriminating between different mechanisms that link spatial and social mobility and evaluating their differing roles in families’ trajectories of upward social mobility. The extent to which the varied rhythms of migration and of remittance-sending and remittance-receiving do or do not produce predictably different trajectories of upward social mobility over the course of two to three generations will be appraised. In doing so, MigrationRhythms will be able to demonstrate and evaluate the different roles migration plays in driving upward social mobility over the long term. As such, it will make a truly novel contribution to the study of the relationship between spatial and social mobility.
The Postdoc’s role in the team
- Contributing to methodological development, especially data collection tools for the family history interviews, and overall fieldwork preparation.
- Responsibility for collecting family history interviews in Hanoi and Manila (spring/summer 2023).
- Contributing to the analysis of family history interview data, as well as to analysis across the family history and survey data sets within the project.
- Writing journal articles in collaboration with the project leader and the other Postdoc, including opportunities for single-authored publications.
- Contributing to research communication beyond scientific communities to relevant stakeholder groups in Asia, as well as in Europe.
The project and the institute are committed to supporting the Postdoc’s career development, with opportunities for mentoring, and the project includes funding e.g., for conference travel.
Fieldwork and trave for data collection is planned to happen during the period January-August 2023, with details to be decided by the project team collaboratively, and with due consideration to team members family and care responsibilities.
The position is for two years (24 months). This is a full-time research position with no teaching.
Work environment and conditions
PRIO has an international research staff of approximately 85 members in full and part-time positions, and in addition 15 in administrative and support functions. The working language at the institute is English. PRIO is an equal opportunity employer and values staff diversity.
The institute is located in spacious and attractive premises in central Oslo, Europe’s fastest-growing capital city. Employee benefits include access to the PRIO cabin in the mountains, a subsidized canteen, weekly physiotherapy exercise, weekly running group, discounted gym membership and various social events.
Postdoctoral scholars at PRIO formally hold the position of a Senior Researcher. The starting salary for a Senior Researcher at PRIO is NOK 689,600 (equivalent to 73 in the Norwegian State salary system). Employees are offered membership in the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund.
The candidate should have an interest in PRIO’s broader mission of conducting high-quality academic research on questions relevant to the promotion of a more peaceful world. For more information about PRIO’s research, seehttps://www.prio.org/
Qualifications
The following are required qualifications:
A PhD in a relevant field in social sciences or humanities (such as geography, sociology, political science, anthropology).
Qualifications for conducting fieldwork in Hanoi and Manila.
Past experience with both semi-structured interviews and fieldwork-based research.
Excellent analytical and writing skills, including past experience with publishing in peer-reviewed journals, in English.
In addition, the following qualifications are desirable:
Experience, networks and/or language skills that can facilitate the project’s data collection in Hanoi and Manila (and if applicable also in Karachi or Mumbai). Being able to speak Vietnamese or Filipino language is desirable.
Familiarity with and/or interest in the middle classes in Asia, in urban studies, in rhythmanalysis.
Familiarity with migration studies, or other thematic research areas of relevance to the project.
An interest in, and experience with, research communication beyond academic audiences.
Proven ability to work both independently (e.g. during fieldwork) and in a team (e.g. through joint analysis and writing).
Familiarity with and competence in using software such as e.g. NVivo, ATLAS.ti, Scrivener, EndNote, as well as intermediate MS Word, Excel and PowerPoint skills.
The PhD dissertation must have been submitted before the application deadline (20 April 2022) and the degree must have been awarded before the position is taken up (1 September 2022). The candidate will be expected to live in Oslo and be present at PRIO except during fieldwork.
Application procedure:
Interested candidates are invited to request the complete project description for a full background to preparing their application and research statement (contact details below).
Applications must be submitted by way of an online form (link below) and include the following attachments as PDF files:
- An application letter in English that addresses each of the 10 required and desired qualifications for the position as described above.
- A curriculum vitae in English, including a list of publications.
- A research statement of up to three pages that outlines (a) which aspects of the project particularly appeal to you, (b) how you will contribute to making the project achieve its objectives, and (c) what you foresee as the greatest challenges.
- Up to three academic writing samples.
- Scanned copies of original transcripts/certificates from higher education, in one PDF file.
In addition, name and contact details of two or more references must be provided in the online form.
Submission of applications: Online application form.
The form must be completed and submitted in a single session. Please review the form and prepare all attachments as specified before starting to complete it.
The starting date for the position is 1 September 2022 (or as early as possible thereafter). The tentative recruitment schedule is as follows: notification of shortlisted applicants by early May; interviews May; offer of employment by mid-June.
Requests for the complete project description, as well as any questions, can be addressed to Research Professor Marta Bivand Erdal (e-mail marta@prio.org).
