Call for Research Assistant on CRIMGOV Project

The role

CEE Sciences Po is seeking to appoint a Research Assistant for a fixed term appointment for 1 year, starting October 1st or soon thereafter (to be negotiated). The post holder will join a team of researchers funded by a European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant led by Professor Federico Varese (Principal Investigator).

The project (CRIMGOV) aims to rethink the concept of organised crime (OC) and will develop a new framework that distinguishes key activities of OC groups. CRIMGOV will study a broad range of organised crime in depth: local cybercrime production hubs, the international trade of drugs, and the emergence of criminal governance inside and outside prisons. The project will produce high-quality data sets that are hard to collect and time-consuming to code, a challenging and risky yet highly rewarding contribution to knowledge. Breaking traditional disciplinary boundaries between the social sciences and adopting a global outlook, CRIMGOV will overturn long-held theoretical approaches, produce substantial new findings and data, and speak to scholars across different disciplines.

The post holder will be a member of the CRIMGOV research group with responsibility for carrying out research for a subproject which examines the emergence of the criminal fraternity vory-v-zakone (thieves-in-law) and its role in governing prisons in the Soviet period. A key element of the subproject is to manage a newly created data set on the vory, conduct some qualitative interviews, and collect archival and newspaper data. The post-holder will also participate in the activities of the entire team and will be asked to contribute to those activities as required by the Principal Investigator.

The post holder is expected to have a certain level of experience in original data collection and knowledge of Russian and Soviet history, near-native knowledge of the Russian language, and a good knowledge of English. 

The position will be based in CEE, Paris, but location of the postholder can be negotiated. The contract is full time but it is negotiable. 

The postholder will be reporting to Professor Federico Varese (Principal Investigator).

Responsibilities

• Manage a large data set on the vory-v-zakone, conduct additional data collection (mainly online), clean the data set, and conduct a limited amount of translation from Russian to English.
• Conduct some interviews with experts.
• Manage own research and administrative activities, within guidelines provided by senior colleagues.
• Provide day-to-day administrative support and research assistance to the research project.
• Participate in and contribute to CRIMGOV team activities as required.
• Represent the research group at external meetings/seminars, either with other members of the group or alone as required.
• Contribute to discussions and share research findings with colleagues in partner institutions, and research groups.
• Willingness to work with sensitive data and handling confidential information. The postholder might be required to sign a confidentiality deed as a part of the appointment process.

Selection criteria

Essential selection criteria

• Hold a first degree in sociology, criminology, anthropology, law or history or a relevant field, near-native knowledge of the Russian language, together with some relevant research experience, and a willingness to engage in research activities.
• Ability to manage own research and administrative activities.
• Some proven skills/experience related to qualitative and/or quantitative data collection, analysis and presentation.
• Good knowledge of English language.

Desirable selection criteria

• Experience of working in a research team and contributing ideas for new research

How to apply

Please send: 

• a cover letter outlining precisely the qualifications and skills that match the requirements for the position, and previous work experience carrying out similar tasks to those required here. 
• a CV
• a writing sample (an article or master thesis) 

to recruitment.cee@sciencespo.fr   by 5pm on June 25, 2024. Please indicate in the object: Application for CRIMGOV - Research assistant

Interviews will be planned at the beginning of July.

Queries about these posts should be addressed to Professor Federico Varese at: federico.varese@sciencespo.fr and to Eleonora Russo eleonora.russo@sciencespo.fr

All enquiries will be treated in strict confidence and will not form part of the selection decision.