University of Pennsylvania, Perry World House

Postdoctoral Fellowship

Applications are now open for three different postdoctoral fellowship programs sponsored by Perry World House for the 2021-2022 academic year, and one junior faculty sabbatical program.

Postdoctoral Fellowships

• Global Innovation Program
• Borders & Boundaries
• Identity & Conflict Lab

Lightning Scholar Junior Faculty Sabbatical Program

You can find specific details on the programs, qualifications required, and how to apply below.

Global Innovation Program

The Global Innovation Program at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perry World House invites applications for its postdoctoral fellowship program during the 2021-2022 academic year. The Global Innovation Program is the research arm of Perry World House, the University of Pennsylvania’s hub for global engagement and interdisciplinary international policy research. Perry World House connects Penn to the international policy world through research, student engagement, and public programming, bringing the university’s intellectual resources to bear on the urgent global challenges of the 21st century.

We hope to bring several postdoctoral fellows to campus for the 2021-2022 academic year. We are seeking excellent scholars who study global affairs and have interests in interdisciplinary outreach and policy relevance. We are particularly interested in applicants in the following areas:

• The Future of the Global Order: Power, Technology, and Governance
• Global Shifts: Urbanization, Migration, and Demography

The Future of the Global Order

Changes in global economic, military, and technological circumstances are evident in growing concerns around the world about the future of arms control, multilateral economic institutions, technological decoupling, the future of the Islamic State, and more. The post-Cold War global order may be at a tipping point. In addition, systemic trends, such as globalization and climate change, mean that the challenges of today and tomorrow will be global – and require global responses. The role of automated trading algorithms in the 2010 “Flash Crash” in the United States, combined with the specter of drone warfare around the world due and the proliferation of military robotics, highlight how the intersection of technologies, such as cyber and robotics, presents enormous challenges for global business and diplomatic norms. In a time of change, academic research has the potential to shed significant light on these issues and highlight new and important approaches for the global policy community.

In this theme area, Perry World House will focus in part, but not exclusively, on four areas: the impacts of emerging technologies for global politics, shifting global power balances and how they influence both state and non-state actors, the evolution of international legal regimes, and the ability of the international community to sustain effective governing institutions in times of change. We particularly hope to have a postdoctoral fellow as part of our new project on emerging technologies and global politics.

Global Shifts

Crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change-induced extreme weather events, as well as growing urbanization, migration, and demographic changes, are radically transforming the human environment and creating new risks to well-being. New and changing migration patterns, whether propelled by armed conflicts, instability due to environmental changes, or economic hardships have profound consequences for people on the move and for those left behind. Similarly, the true risks of climate change are a function not just of hazards such as rising sea levels, fires, and tropical cyclones, but the physical location of people and the level of community and government support in place. 

Explaining these complex societal changes, and the policy responses necessary to address them, requires a multi-disciplinary and interdisciplinary approach. Perry World House’s Global Shifts program aims to develop an analytical understanding of these problems and suggest new policy approaches to them. It draws on the University’s expertise in urban studies, sociology, demography, law, philosophy, health sciences, environmental sciences, and political science to do so. We invite postdoctoral fellows working within any of these sub-thematic areas, and especially encourage scholars working at the intersection or across multiple of them—such as climate change’s effects on migration patterns or the impact of city policymaking on migration and refugees.

Requirements and Application Information

There are no mandatory teaching responsibilities. Postdoctoral fellows in the Global Innovation Program will pursue their own research as well as participate in the intellectual life of Perry World House. Postdoctoral fellows will be expected to give a presentation during the academic year in the Perry World House Seminar Series, publish policy relevant scholarship related to Perry World House themes, and attend regularly scheduled seminars. They will also be expected to spend up to 10% of their time contributing to the intellectual environment at Perry World House, including working with Perry World House’s Undergraduate Student Fellows, as well as designing and planning engagements in relevant theme areas. Perry World House will provide mentorship, professional guidance, and introduce each postdoctoral fellow to related faculty and leaders of centers and institutes at the University of Pennsylvania.

Applications are welcome from scholars who have received their Ph.D. or equivalent degrees (including a J.D. in the case of applicants focused on international legal regimes) since June 2019, or who expect to complete their degree by June 2021. Applications will be reviewed starting Monday, January 4, 2021. To receive full consideration, applications and letters of recommendation should be received by that date.

Upon provision of and contingent upon proof of conferral of the Ph.D. degree, all postdoctoral fellow positions pay a stipend of $54,000 plus relevant fees and health insurance. The position also provides $2,000 in research support.

To apply, please go to: http://apply.interfolio.com/80778. Applicants will be asked to complete a short form as well as 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 two letter writers who can submit a letter of recommendation.

If you have questions, please email worldhouse@pwh.upenn.edu.

Borders & Boundaries in World Politics, AY 2021-2022

The Project on Borders and Boundaries in World Politics is looking to fill two postdoctoral fellow positions. Both are one-year and renewable. Partially supported by the National Science Foundation, the Project is concerned with boundaries between organized human communities, broadly understood. International borders, border regions and border crossings have multiple significance as designations of state authority, security buffers, expressions of social meaning and opportunities for economic integration. Border regions and activities speak to national and local encounters with neighbors and the rest of the world. This project is concerned with how humans demarcate the space between “us” and “them.” It contextualizes border architecture, infrastructure and institutions as expressions of various social, political and economic anxieties associated with globalization. This research team will concern itself with a broad range of questions relating to “bordering” in world politics. The project team is run by Professor Beth Simmons, Andrea Mitchell University Professor in Law, Political Science, and Business Ethics, as well as Assistant Professor Michael Kenwick (Rutgers University).

Research Postdoctoral Fellowship: The postdoctoral fellow will split their time between their own research and Borders & Boundaries project research. Postdoctoral fellows will be expected to work 25% of their time on project research. Applicants with an interest in territorial politics; migration and movement across borders; development in and across border regions; border crossing regimes, architectures and institutions; transnational migration; transnational crime, human trafficking and law enforcement across borders; and related issues are welcome to apply. Skills in empirical spatial analysis, GIS technologies, mapping technologies, experimental analyses, computerized textual and imaging analyses, and similar technologies are highly desirable, as are computer programming skills and experience using large computer databases and statistical software.

Research and Program Management Postdoctoral Fellowship: The post-doctoral fellow will work with and help manage the Borders & Boundaries research team. Since the successful candidate will have primary responsibility for managing team effort and output, strong data management and organizational skills are essential. Skills in computational methods, GIS and spatial data analytics, textual and imaging analysis, network analysis, and/or experimental methods are particularly valued, as is experience working within a research lab. We welcome candidates pursuing research careers inside or outside academia. Substantive interest in territorial politics; migration; development in and across border regions; border crossing regimes; transnational crime, law enforcement across borders and related issues is valued. The fellow is expected to actively work on lab projects and coordinate efforts among team members.

Requirements and Application Information

There are no mandatory teaching responsibilities. Postdoctoral fellows will be expected to give a presentation during the academic year in the Perry World House Seminar Series, engage with Perry World House’s Undergraduate Student Fellows, and attend regularly scheduled seminars. Perry World House will also introduce each postdoctoral fellow to related faculty and leaders of centers and institutes at the University of Pennsylvania.

Applications are welcome from scholars who have received their Ph.D. or equivalent degrees since June 2019, or who expect to complete their degree by June 2021. Applications will be reviewed starting Monday, January 4, 2021. To receive full consideration, applications and letters of recommendation should be received by that date.

To apply, please go to http://apply.interfolio.com/80777. Applicants will be asked to complete a short form as well as upload a cover letter, CV/resume, one-page research statement, writing sample, unofficial Ph.D. transcript (only required for current graduate students), and contact information for a letter writer, who will be asked to submit a confidential letter of recommendation through Interfolio.

Other Information

Upon provision of and contingent upon proof of conferral of the Ph.D. degree, Borders & Boundaries postdoctoral fellow positions pay a stipend of $54,000 plus relevant fees and health insurance. The position also provides $2,000 in research support.

If you have questions, please email worldhouse@pwh.upenn.edu.

Penn Identity & Conflict Lab

The Penn Identity & Conflict (PIC) Lab, led by Professor Nicholas Sambanis at the Department of Political Science of the University of Pennsylvania, seeks exceptional candidates for a one-year, full-time, renewable, residential appointment as a postdoctoral research fellow.  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.  Both violent and non-violent forms of conflict are considered, ranging from bias, discrimination, and protest to ethnic violence, secessionism and war.  The Lab’s recent work has focused on appeals to shared norms and normative change as strategies for conflict reduction; and on the cultivation of shared civic and national identities as instruments of peace-building. The Lab seeks to integrate knowledge across the social and behavioral sciences to better understand these topics.

Fellows will split their time between their own research and work with Professor Nicholas Sambanis on different projects developed in the PIC Lab.  Fellows will be expected to work on one or more ongoing projects in three broad areas: conflict and cooperation between native and immigrant populations; normative change and conflict behavior; and nation-building and state-building in conflict-affected countries.  Innovative new project proposals by fellows can also be considered and funded by the Lab. 

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; providing support with data collection, management, and analysis for ongoing projects; and managing the Lab website and seminar series.

Successful applicants will have excellent training in quantitative methods with an emphasis on statistical analysis, survey methods and experimental methods.  Programming skills are highly desirable.  Applicants should have outstanding organizational and communication skills and prior experience using large databases and different statistical software (including Stata, R, and Qualtrics).  Applicants should be intellectually curious, ambitious, energetic, and self-motivated; they should be able to work independently, but also as part of a team; and be open to travel for fieldwork if conditions allow. Training in behavioral economics and/or social psychology is a plus.

There is no formal teaching requirement.  Fellows will be expected to help organize the PIC Lab workshop, which will meet bi-weekly; they will give at least one presentation on their research at the workshop and/or as part of the Perry World House Seminar Series; and will be expected to help organize the Lab’s annual conference.

Compensation and Other Information

All postdoctoral fellow positions pay a stipend of $54,000 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 since June 2019, or who expect to complete their degree by June 2021.  Applications will be reviewed starting January 4, 2021.  To receive full consideration, applications and letters of recommendation should be received by that date.

To apply, please go to: http://apply.interfolio.com/80726. 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.

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

Lightning Scholars Sabbatical Residency, AY 2021-2022

The Global Innovation Program at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perry World House invites applications for its 2021-2022 Lightning Scholars Program. This program brings untenured, but tenure-track, faculty at either the assistant or associate level from around the world to Philadelphia for a semester or year of writing, fellowship, and bridging the gap between academia and the policy world.

The Global Innovation Program is the research arm of Perry World House, the University of Pennsylvania’s hub for global engagement and interdisciplinary international policy research. Perry World House connects Penn to the international policy world through research, student engagement, and public programming, bringing the university’s intellectual resources to bear on the urgent global challenges of the 21st century.

This fellowship program allows untenured faculty members at leading research universities around the world to join Perry World House and the Penn community for a semester or full academic year in residence in Philadelphia to produce a major research project or book. While the fellowship program is for faculty working on global affairs topics, preference will be given to faculty working on subjects broadly related to our two research themes, The Future of the Global Order: Technology, Power and Governance and Global Shifts: Urbanization, Migration, and Demography. More information on our research themes can be found here: https://global.upenn.edu/perryworldhouse/research.

The ideal candidates for this new program will be looking for an in-residence fellowship away from their home institution that will provide the space and support to write, but also the opportunity to collaborate with an interdisciplinary and vibrant community of global affairs scholars and practitioners. Perry World House is especially interested in faculty whose work connects to important global policy conversations and who will want to engage in dialogue with some of the many policymakers from around the world who visit Perry World House.

The program’s compensation is significant and negotiated on a case-by-case basis. The program is intended to allow the selected Lightning Scholar to take a comfortable leave from their home institution often by supporting the difference between a one semester sabbatical provided by the home institution and a full year leave. Although final compensation will depend on the circumstances of each applicant, the program will provide at least $50,000 as well as relevant fees and health insurance, if needed. The fellowship will also include $5,000 in research support, as well as the opportunity to help shape workshops and colloquia at Perry World House.

Applications, which should be submitted via Interfolio, are welcome from scholars who have either a Ph.D. or equivalent degrees (including a J.D.), are standing faculty members at a college or university, and are on the tenure track but still untenured. Applications for the 2021-2024 academic years will be reviewed on a rolling basis starting January 4, 2021. Applicants must include a cover-letter, three-page proposal, CV, a letter of support from their home department/institution, and a confidential letter of recommendation. To receive full consideration, applications and letters of support should be received by that date.

To apply, please go to: http://apply.interfolio.com/80840.

General Information

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 worldhouse@pwh.upenn.edu.