项目介绍

2025年3月2日

Job description

We are seeking to hire three fully funded PhD researchers as part of the new ERC project “Innovation and documentation. Reconstructing the paradigm of transitional justice from the ground up”. ([ink to project: https://justicevisions.org/research/innovation-and-documentation-reconstructing-the-paradigm-of-transitional-justice-from-the-ground-up/]
We are looking for three PhD candidates, ideally with experience as practitioners or as researchers on related topics.
The ideal candidates have an interdisciplinary profile, covering at least social & legal studies related to human rights and transitional justice. They are open to using or have experience with various relevant empirical research methods (quantitative or qualitative), and have good working knowledge of the various topics studied as part of this research project (see below).
The researchers will be based at the Human Rights Centre at the Faculty of Law and Criminology of Ghent University. On site presence is crucial given the highly collaborative nature of the project
We encourage candidates who self-identify as belonging to a minority group to apply and have a recruitment process aimed at ensuring inclusion and diversity.

DESCRIPTION OF THE BROADER RESEARCH PROJECT
The three candidates will be part of a broader research project on the role of documentation in contemporary transitional justice processes – including ones that are developed in contexts where no peace agreement was signed or no political transition took place (like struggles over historical injustice, transitional justice efforts in contexts of ongoing conflict, transitional justice initiatives dealing with ecological harm, etc).
The overall research project is a multi-disciplinary and multi-method study that seeks to theorize the role documentation processes play in the design of transitional justice initiatives. Documentation is crucial to almost every (institutional or grassroots) transitional justice initiative, but it is rarely the focus of transitional justice scholarship. Moreover, in contemporary transitional justice cases, where there may be no formal or institutional drive for transitional justice, it’s often grassroots justice actors who are the engine behind these documentation efforts.
This project seeks to better understand how and why grassroots justice actors document harm, what their objectives are, and how this shapes the multitude of transitional justice responses that shape up in response to it.
The ambition is to move away from a pillar-based understanding of transitional justice, and to consciously start from the practices of those most affected by violence to rethink transitional justice as an eco-system in which documentation connects most of the initiatives.
Our overarching research question is: How can recentering the everyday justice efforts of grassroots actors help us rethink the transitional justice paradigm in ways that are more reflective of and responsive to realities on the ground, more future oriented, and that navigate some of the most pressing problems identified by critical transitional justice scholars and practitioners.
We will use a mixed-method actor-oriented approach to analyze the practices and ambitions of grassroots justice actors in 6 contemporary transitional justice cases. It requires close collaboration between the three new PhD researchers and the three senior researchers already working on the project.
There is room for the PhDs to bring in their own regional, topical and methodological expertise, as cases are not pre-defined, but the cases should meet the logic of the project as discussed above and here. This means cases where (a) documentation efforts are central, (b) the language of transitional justice is used – notably in the absence of a peace agreement or political transition, and (c) grassroots actors are a driving force behind attempts at transitional justice.

DESCRIPTION OF YOUR SPECIFIC RESEARCH
Each PhD researcher will examine one case of contemporary and innovative transitional justice initiatives in the domain of documentation. They will be the lead researcher for that case, but will work in close collaboration with one of the three senior researchers, who will also study one case each, so as to ensure that cross-case comparisons become possible throughout the project.
While the individual PhD researcher has significant room to develop their own research project, the overall logic and focus should align with the focus of the project, given the project’s need for cross-case analysis.
The overarching logic and focus have been defined in advance, but within these limits there is room for collective decision-making on exact research design, research questions, methods, deliverables, etc. The collective dimension of this decision-making is crucial: we envision for everyone to be able to bring in their own expertise, experience and interest, but also to develop an overarching research approach that allows us to engage in mutual learning, forward thinking, and co-creation.
This is not an individual PhD project. There is a set research agenda and pre-established research focus. Please consider whether such a collective approach is the right fit for you before applying.
The selected candidates will be supervised by prof. dr. Tine Destrooper, dr Elke Evrard and dr. Brigitte Herremans, as well as having ample room for working together, and with the other members of the Justice Visions team, the Human Rights Centre, and the Human Rights Research Network at UGent.
Within the first year of their PhD, candidates will be expected to actively contribute to the development and finetuning of the overall research design, and the research design of their case study within this broader framework. This includes reading the suggested readings and identifying further relevant reading for individual and collective purposes; joining team meetings on research design; identifying the most relevant methodological, theoretical and conceptual framework; writing the first drafts of the methodological, theoretical and conceptual chapters; enrolling in the doctoral schools training and taking relevant courses and summer schools; participating in activities of Justice Visions, the HRC and the Faculty, including team meetings. In following years, the candidates will be required to do fieldwork; start the data collection and analysis, embark upon the writing (chapters or articles); present at conferences and scientific meetings; assist with teaching (limited).

Job profile

In order to be eligible, applicants must

• hold a MA, MSc or LLM degree in social and political sciences, law, anthropology or a related discipline;
• have obtained their degree at the time of application or demonstrate convincingly that they will have that degree in hand by September 1, 2025;
• be fluent in English as their primary working language and as their primary publication language, be fluent in the language spoken by actors in the case study they wish to examine.
  Furthermore, applicants who meet multiple of the following conditions will be ranked higher during the assessment procedure
• have demonstrable familiarity with transitional justice practice and or research, and the interdisciplinary study thereof (e.g. through dissertation work, professional experience, educational curriculum, prior research experience, consulting, volunteering, etc);
• have a multidisciplinary training (e.g. as demonstrated through multiple degrees) and/or a proven track record in multidisciplinary research;
• have experience with legal research, quantitative, or qualitative socio-legal research methods (such as participant-observation, interpretive research design) and/or a demonstrable interest in deepening and applying skills across various methods;
• have in-depth knowledge of the case studies they propose and pre-existing networks that can facilitate fieldwork;
• have demonstrable expertise in or familiarity with actor-oriented perspectives and/or users’ perspectives on human rights and transitional justice;

In addition to these project specific elements, we expect candidates to

• have the ability to work independently and pro-actively but as part of a multi-disciplinary and international team;
• have experience in working in complex (research) projects that require collaboration;
• have good (academic) writing/presentation skills;
• contribute towards the general well-functioning of the team and project;
• have some social media experience, or interest therein;
• work in a meticulous way and be able to manage deadlines;
• move to Belgium.

What we can offer:

• We offer a full-time position as a doctoral fellow, consisting of an initial period of 12 months, which – after a positive evaluation, will be extended to a total maximum of 48 months.
• Your contract will start on 09/01/2025 at the earliest.
• The fellowship amount is 100% of the net salary of an AAP member in equal family circumstances. The individual fellowship amount is determined by Team Personnel Administration based on family status and seniority. A grant that meets the conditions and criteria of the regulations for doctoral fellowships is considered free of personal income tax. Click here for more information about our salary scales
• All Ghent University staff members enjoy a number of benefits, such as a wide range of training and education opportunities, 36 days of holiday leave (on an annual basis for a full-time job) supplemented by annual fixed bridge days, bicycle allowance and eco vouchers. Click here for a complete overview of all the staff benefits.

How to apply

Send your CV, copy of your diploma (if already in your possession) and a motivation letter to Tine.Destrooper@UGent.be before April 6, 2025, 23:59 Brussels Time.
We do not accept late applications.