About the role
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 January 1, 2027, our Department Survey Data Curation, Team Survey Data Augmentation, located in Cologne, is looking for a
Doctoral Researcher in election data
(Salary group 13 TV-L, working time 75 %, limited to 3 years)
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. The curated data include long-running national (e.g., ALLBUS, GLES) and international (e.g., ISSP, CSES) survey programs, which are documented and curated to the highest quality standards, but also research data products derived from or connected to these surveys, such as geo referencing services or trend files. Electoral Spaces is a project of our team Survey Data Augmentation that develops a research data infrastructure for making geocoded electoral data more findable, accessible, interoperable, and re-usable.
Your tasks will be:Identifying election data with sub-national resolution for ingestion into Electoral Spaces
Developing and documenting the data ingestion procedure of the Electoral Spaces-infrastructure
Testing Electoral Spaces' framework, data model, and technical platform for compatibility with existing election data
Supporting the development of data quality tools
Conducting methodological or applied research showcasing the added value of the infrastructure
Your profile:Master’s degree in political science or a related discipline
Strong interest in geocoded electoral data, data collection, harmonization, and management
Training in quantitative empirical methods for the social sciences, including good skills in the statistical software R
Motivation to complete a PhD thesis closely aligned with the project
Excellent English language skills
Our Benefits:Opportunity to contribute to a research data infrastructure with substantial impact on the future of democracy research
Work in an integrated yet flexible team of quantitative social scientists with substantial synergies between survey augmentation projects specializing in geospatial data applications and democracy
Flexible working hours and regulations for mobile working
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 programme
Generous support for your pension provision as a direct insurance policy
Promotion of your skills through further training measures
ContactFor further information concerning the tasks please contact Lea Kaftan via E-Mail (). If you have questions about the application process, please contact Christine Laßmann via E-Mail ().
Interested?Please apply by submitting a motivation letter, a CV, and a writing sample via our online-application portal until October 2, 2026.
Our reference number is: SDC-35
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