Postdoctoral Fellow in Political Science

Reference number PAR 2026/655 The University of Gothenburg tackles society’s challenges with diverse knowledge. 58 000 students and 6800 employees make the university a large and inspiring place to work and study. Strong research and attractive study programmes attract researchers and students from around the world. With new knowledge and new perspectives, the University contributes to a better future. The Department of Political Science is an international academic environment that welcomes students, researchers and staff from all over the world. Our research covers topics such as political institutions, elections, public opinion and democracy, international and European politics, environmental politics, corruption and political ideas. The Department of Political Science at the University of Gothenburg is ranked as the best in Sweden and one of the top 10-15 in Europe in its subject area, according to the global Shanghai ranking of academic subjects for 2024. We organize a large number of research seminars and workshops each year in the various research areas of the department. We offer education at all levels in both Swedish and English. In total, around 1,400 people study with us, and we have around 170 employees. For more information about the Department, visit our website [www.pol.gu.se](http://www.pol.gu.se/). **The research project** The postdoctoral fellow will join the research project “Consensus and Conflict in the Energy Transition”, bringing together researchers at the University of Gothenburg, Chalmers University of Technology, and RISE Research Institutes of Sweden. The project examines how consensus and conflict shape the pace, direction, and legitimacy of the energy transition. The postdoctoral fellow will focus particularly on public opinion and policy acceptance: How do citizens respond to contested climate and energy policies? How do perceptions of fairness shape public support? And how can policy design—including compensation and other strategies for managing conflict—strengthen the legitimacy and acceptance of ambitious climate and energy policies? A central part of the research will involve surveys and survey experiments, providing opportunities to develop and test new theoretical arguments about the drivers of climate and energy policy acceptance. The project also offers opportunities to combine experimental research with text analysis, interviews, and data on political and administrative actors. The position offers substantial scope for the postdoctoral fellow to develop an independent research agenda and initiate original studies within the broader themes of the project. Possible topics include policy acceptance, fairness and distributional conflict, political trust, compensation, public responses to different energy technologies, and the political conditions for maintaining support for ambitious climate policy. The postdoctoral fellow will become part of a collaborative research environment with strong expertise in political science, public opinion, and sustainability transitions. The project provides excellent opportunities for international publication, methodological development, collaboration across institutions and disciplines, and building an independent research profile in the rapidly growing field of climate and energy politics. A more detailed project description is available upon request. ## **Subject area** Political science ## **Subject area description** Political Science is the study of politics. ## **Duties** The employment as a postdoctoral fellow aims to provide an early opportunity to develop independence as a researcher after completing a doctoral degree and to create favourable conditions for further academic qualifications. The postdoctoral fellow is expected to focus primarily on research. Teaching may be included in the duties but may comprise no more than one-fifth of the working time. The postdoctoral fellow will be employed at the Department of Political Science, University of Gothenburg, and is expected to engage in close collaborative research with Niklas Harring and other members of the project team. The fellow will play an important role in developing and conducting the project’s research on public opinion and policy acceptance. We expect the successful candidate to design and implement original data collection, particularly surveys and survey experiments, and to analyse and (co-)author studies resulting from these efforts. The postdoctoral fellow is expected to take an independent role in developing high-quality studies within the broader framework of the project and to contribute to publications in leading international journals. There will be substantial opportunities to develop original research questions and expand the project in directions related to the postdoctoral fellow’s own interests and expertise, particularly within public opinion, climate and energy politics, policy acceptance, political trust, and experimental political science. The successful candidate will join a collaborative research team and be integrated into the research environment at the Department of Political Science, including the Centre for Environmental Political Studies (CEPS) and the Quality of Government (QoG) Institute. The position offers excellent opportunities for intellectual development, collaboration and mentoring, while providing substantial scope to build an independent research agenda and academic profile. The project also provides opportunities for international collaboration, conference participation, methodological development, and ambitious new data collection. ## **Eligibility** The eligibility criteria for employing teaching staff are set out in Chapter 4 of the Higher Education Ordinance and in the Appointment Procedure for Teaching Posts at the University of Gothenburg. To be eligible for appointment as a postdoc, the applicant is required to have a doctoral degree, a doctoral degree in art or a foreign degree that is deemed to be e