Penn Identity & Conflict Lab Postdoctoral Fellowship

The Lab is dedicated to addressing a broad range of critical questions focused on inter-group conflict. The Lab prioritizes research in three key areas: how social identities shape individual behavior, how conflict affects identities, and what interventions are effective in reducing inter-group conflict of different forms.  Both violent and non-violent forms of conflict are considered, and the Lab integrates knowledge across the social and behavioral sciences to better understand bias, discrimination, and violence.

Fellows will split their time between their own research and work with Professor Nicholas Sambanis on different projects generated from the PIC Lab.  Ongoing projects address foreign intervention and peacebuilding after ethno-sectarian war; the legacies of wartime violence exposure; the causes of violent escalation of separatist conflicts; and causes and mitigation of non-violent inter-group conflict, including conflict between native and immigrant populations. 

Requirements and Application Information

Job responsibilities will vary depending on the strengths and interests of the successful applicant but will include some combination of conducting research and co-authoring papers and reports with the PIC Lab Director and affiliated faculty; assisting with grant proposals; and providing support with data collection, management, and analysis for ongoing projects at the Lab.

Successful applicants will have excellent training in quantitative methods (statistical analysis, survey, and experimental methods).  Programming skills are highly desirable.  Applicants should have outstanding organizational and communications skills and prior experience using large computer databases and different statistical software (including Stata, R, and Qualtrics).  Applicants should be intellectually curious, ambitious, energetic, highly self-disciplined, and self-motivated; they should be able to work individually and as part of a team; and be open to conducting fieldwork outside the U.S.  Inter-disciplinary training in experimental economics and/or social psychology and adjacent fields is a plus.

There is no formal teaching requirement.  Fellows will be expected to help organize the PIC Lab workshop; will give one presentation during the academic year at the workshop and potentially in the Perry World House Seminar Series; and will potentially help organize a conference/policy workshop.

Compensation and General Information

All postdoctoral fellow positions pay a stipend of $53,000 plus relevant fees and health insurance. The position also provides $2,000 in research support.

Applications are welcome from scholars who have received their Ph.D. or equivalent degrees in the last two years (not earlier than 2017), or who expect to complete their degree by June 2020. To receive full consideration, applications and letters of recommendation should be received by January 24, 2020.

To apply, please go to: http://apply.interfolio.com/71104 . Applicants will be asked to upload a cover letter, CV/resume, one page research statement, writing sample, and unofficial Ph.D. transcript (only required for current graduate students). We will also ask for the name and email address of a letter writer who can submit a letter of recommendation.

The University of Pennsylvania is strongly committed to Penn’s Action Plan for Faculty Diversity and Excellence and to establishing a more diverse community at Penn (for more information see: http://www.upenn.edu/almanac/volumes/v58/n02/diversityplan.html). 

The University of Pennsylvania values diversity and seeks talented students, faculty and staff from diverse backgrounds. The University of Pennsylvania does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, creed, national or ethnic origin, citizenship status, age, disability, veteran status or any other legally protected class status in the administration of its admissions, financial aid, educational or athletic programs, or other University-administered programs or in its employment practices. Questions or complaints regarding this policy should be directed to the Executive Director of the Office of Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity Programs, Sansom Place East, 3600 Chestnut Street, Suite 228, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6106; or (215) 898-6993 (Voice) or (215) 898-7803 (TDD).

If you have questions, please email pic-lab@sas.upenn.edu.