Research Fellow positions (Doctoral Researchers) (x/f/m)

The Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law in Heidelberg hosts scholars researching fundamental and current issues in public international law, European Union law, and constitutional and administrative law, supported by the largest library in Europe in these fields.

The Max Planck Research Group “Constellations of Global (Dis)Ordering” (DISORDER), led by Dr. Gordon Friedrichs, investigates how global order is transformed as states—particularly great and middle powers—pursue competing visions of international relations amid geopolitical rivalry. The group examines how states advance their visions by engaging with, reshaping, or disengaging from international institutions, building new arrangements, and leveraging economic and technological interdependence. DISORDER explores these processes across security, economy, and technology, analyzing the forms of global order they produce, transform, or erode.

Job description

The successful candidates will develop independent doctoral dissertation projects within the DISORDER research group. Their work should contribute to the group’s inquiry into how states pursue competing visions of global order through international institutions and how these processes reshape global order across issue areas.

Possible project orientations include:

• An actor-centred perspective, examining how a great or middle power pursues its vision of global order across different issue areas or institutional settings
• A domain-centred perspective, comparing how states interact with and reshape international institutions within a particular field (e.g., security, economy, or technology)

Empirical cases may include the United States, China, Russia, India, Brazil, Japan, or the European Union.

The doctoral researchers will:

• Develop and conduct an original PhD project aligned with DISORDER’s conceptual and empirical agenda
• Conduct empirical research using qualitative methods such as process tracing, qualitative content and discourse analysis, and semi-structured interviews
• Contribute to comparative and collaborative research activities
• Participate in group meetings, workshops, conferences, and other academic activities
• Present findings at international conferences and prepare publications for peer-reviewed outlets
• Assist in organizing workshops, conferences, and other group and MPIL activities

Your profile

• An excellent Master’s degree or equivalent in Political Science, specializing in International Relations or Foreign Policy Analysis
• Strong research interest in global order, international institutions, and great- and middle-power politics, including their foreign policies
• Substantive interest in one or more of the group’s empirical issue areas (security, economy, technology)
• Strong interest in qualitative research and familiarity with relevant methods
• Excellent written and spoken English
• Additional language skills and country- or region-specific expertise relevant to the doctoral project are assets
• Ability to conduct independent research while contributing to a collaborative environment

We offer

• An attractive, international work environment with unparalleled research infrastructure and a positive atmosphere
• A varied, responsible, and team-oriented role
• Remuneration in accordance with MPG funding guidelines (65% of EG13, TVöD-Bund)
• Access to a world-leading library and numerous databases
• A workplace easily accessible by public transport, with free employee parking and a job ticket for public transport
• Work-life balance support and access to four affiliated daycare centers

The Max Planck Society promotes gender equality, diversity, and the inclusion of severely disabled persons, and strongly encourages applications from women and underrepresented groups.

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