GESIS – Leibniz-Institute for the Social Sciences is an internationally active research institute, funded by federal and state governments and member of the Leibniz Association. Starting on October 1 ^st , 2025 our Department Survey Data Curation , Team International Studies , located in Cologne , is looking for a
Senior Researcher International Electoral Research (PostDoc) (Salary group 13 TV-L, working time 100 %, for 4 years with tenure option)

The department " Survey Data Curation " processes and prepares social science research data across a diverse range of data types to support sociological and political science research, especially in comparative perspectives across space and time. In the team "International Studies”, that are various international survey programs (CSES, Eurobarometer, EVS, ISSP). To obtain data products of the best possible quality, we closely collaborate with the national primary providers, but also strive to maintain a deep understanding of the needs of the comparative research community.

In the "Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES)” ( https://cses.org/ ), one of the globally leading endeavors in electoral research, GESIS’ core role is to contribute to the ‘Secretariat’ as the central organizational unit of CSES. The work focus is on creating the integrated, analysis-ready international data set from multiple nationally contributed election surveys, and from various macro data sources.

Your tasks will be:

• Shaping and driving international processes: Co-manage the CSES Secretariat and support the development of new thematic survey modules in collaboration with the international "Planning Committee”
• Curating international survey data: quality control, cleaning and integration of survey samples contributed by a global network of national teams, creating comparative trend files, data bridging to relevant contextual data at country and district level, accounting for the specifics of national electoral systems
• Staff responsibility: Instructing at least one member of staff on site, coordination contributions by external collaborators
• Own research: Conduct and publish research on substantive or methodological questions with relation to CSES data
• Project acquisition: Contribute to grant proposals that foster the strategic development of CSES and of related research projects

Your profile:

• Master´s degree and above average Ph.D. in political science or a related field
• Excellent knowledge of quantitative social research methods, especially with international comparative survey data; preferably some experience in survey data integration
• A research profile in comparative electoral research, demonstrated by relevant publications
• Very good knowledge of the statistical software Stata or similar systems, basic familiarity with R is desirable
• Full fluency in English is required; German language skills are not expected at first but will be required by the start of the tenure process

Our Benefits:

• An international and interdisciplinary working environment that also supports you in developing your research profile
• A working environment in a friendly and collegial atmosphere as well as cooperation in a motivated team
• Flexible working hours and the possibility of up to 60% mobile working within Germany
• Very good conditions for reconciling work and family life, e.g. subsidies for childcare for children who have not yet attained the age of compulsory schooling
• Holistic company health management and discounted participation in the university's sports program
• Generous support for your pension provision as a direct insurance policy
• Promotion of your skills through further training measures and, if required, support in acquiring German language skills

Contact

For further information concerning the tasks please contact Dr. Markus Quandt via phone +49 / 221 / 47694-400 or via E-Mail (Markus.Quandt@gesis.org). If you have questions about the application process, please contact Franca Tosetti via E-Mail (Franca.Tosetti@gesis.org).

Interested?

Please apply via our Online-application portal until August 15 ^th , 2025 . Our reference number is: SDC-27