Description
Columbia World Projects (CWP) is a university-wide initiative established in 2017 to bridge scholarly knowledge and real-world action. CWP mobilizes scholars, researchers, practitioners, and students to identify and implement interdisciplinary solutions to complex societal challenges in partnership with targeted change agents.
CWP is seeking a Postdoctoral Research Scholar (PRS) to join its Research and Engagement team beginning on or after July 2024. The PRS will play a significant role supporting one or more of CWP’s program areas, most notably on democracy or urbanism, while pursuing their own research and publication goals.
While the PRS’s research agenda can focus on a range of relevant issues, we are particularly interested in candidates whose research might support, amplify, and extend existing initiatives on democratic institutions, political behavior, and norms; digital platform governance; or spatial, social, and political arrangements in large cities, notably including New York–each with attention to public impact. Candidates may work in a variety of scholarly fields, including (but not limited to) the social sciences, including history; planning, architecture and design; and legal or policy studies.
The PRS will have a strong research background on democracy or urban questions and an interest in how research can engage practitioners and public audiences. Key activities are to conduct research, help convene and support an advisory committee of Columbia faculty for CWP’s programming, design convenings, draft concept notes on relevant topics, and, as appropriate, produce public facing reports and scholarly publications. When relevant, the PRS will also participate in bridge-building efforts between the research community and the worlds of practice and policy.
As a member of the Columbia World Projects intellectual community, the PRS will likely engage with scholars and practitioners in academia, foundations, community organizations, and the private sector. They will join workshop discussions and make contributions across CWP’s range of research projects and activities. The PRS will be mentored and supervised by senior leadership in the Research and Engagement team, and work closely with a Project Officer.
Qualifications
Ph.D. required.
Application
Applicants should present the following materials to [email protected] using the subject line structure: First Name_Last Name_CWP Application. Incomplete applications will not be considered.
- Cover Letter describing their interest and relevant experience and how the PRS position would advance both intellectual and professional aspirations;
- Curriculum Vitae;
- Documentation of PhD;
- Writing sample consisting of a single journal article, essay, or chapter (published or unpublished); applicants may also include op-eds, policy briefs, or similar written pieces
- A detailed research plan (up to five pages, single-spaced) for the position stating specific goals to be accomplished during the period it will be held, together with an abstract; and,
- Contact information for three references, including a doctoral supervisor.