PhD and Postdoctoral Positions in Migration Studies, Ethics of Migrant Solidarity, and Comparative Migration Governance University for Continuing Education Krems in Austria

The Department for Migration and Globalisation at the University for Continuing Education Krems is recruiting for an ERC-funded project, Ethics in Action: Navigating Ethical Dilemmas of Migrant Solidarity, led by Professor Julia Mourão Permoser.

The project examines the ethics of migration policy, migrant solidarity, forced displacement, and decision-making under value conflict through comparative qualitative research. It combines political theory with empirical fieldwork across multiple regions and actors, including national policymakers, local policymakers, labour unions, faith-based organizations, and facilitators of movement.

Open positions

1) Early-Stage Researcher / PhD Student
Focus: Brazil and Spain; Work Package 2 on ethical dilemmas faced by national policymakers implementing solidarity-oriented migration policies. The PhD is article-based and includes training in migration studies, comparative qualitative methods, and theory-driven research. Requirements include a completed master’s degree in a relevant field, strong academic performance, qualitative methods training, excellent English, and Spanish and/or Portuguese at C1 level. The position is fully funded, 30 hours/week, for 3 years.

2) Postdoctoral Researcher
Focus: sanctuary/solidarity cities in the United States and Latin America; Work Package 3 on ethical dilemmas faced by local policymakers. The role requires a completed PhD, strong publication record, expertise in urban governance and migration governance, comparative research design, qualitative methods, and excellent English plus Spanish and/or Portuguese at C1 level. The position is part-time for 3 years and includes support for fieldwork, publications, and international networking.

3) Coordinating Postdoctoral Researcher
Focus: project coordination and theory development. This full-time role involves co-leading overall comparison, visual methods and artistic dissemination, and stakeholder/society dialogue, while supporting the PI and co-supervising early career researchers. The role requires a completed PhD, strong international publication record, project experience, qualitative methods, comparative research, and theory development skills.

All positions are based at the University for Continuing Education Krems, with a willingness to relocate to Krems, Vienna, or nearby areas. Applications are submitted online through the relevant advertisement portals and require a cover letter, CV, degrees/transcripts, writing samples, a research outline, and references. Deadlines are 29 June 2026 for the PhD, 24 August 2026 for the postdoc, and 27 August 2026 for the coordinating postdoc.