University of Amsterdam: Postdoctoral Researcher in Regional Human Rights Regimes (African System)

Deadline: 9 March 2025

Salary: €3,378 – €5,331 per month (based on experience)

The Beyond Compliance: Rethinking the Effectiveness of Regional Human Rights Regimes project investigates how regional human rights systems, including the African, European, and inter-American regimes, respond to human rights violations in non-democratic contexts. The project applies an interdisciplinary approach, combining history, law, and social sciences, to examine how these systems enforce norms against states engaged in gross violations, legal repression, or systemic rule of law breaches.

The postdoctoral researcher will focus on the African human rights system, analyzing:

1. How it enforces its norms against states committing systemic violations.
2. How domestic human rights advocates engage with the system through legal mobilization.

The researcher will work alongside a principal investigator (focusing on the European system) and another postdoctoral researcher (focusing on the inter-American system), applying a multi-method approach.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and refine the postdoctoral research project within the broader framework.
• Collect data through document analysis and interviews.
• Publish research findings in international peer-reviewed journals and edited volumes.
• Present findings at workshops and conferences.
• Engage with stakeholders, including activists, practitioners, and policymakers.
• Contribute to project activities, such as organizing academic events.
• Optional teaching duties, subject to department needs.

Qualifications

Applicants must have:

• A PhD (or near completion) in law, political science, sociology, or a related field.
• Interest in multi-method research on human rights systems.
• Strong independent research skills and ability to collaborate in a team.
• Knowledge of the African human rights system and its legal/political context.
• Academic research and writing experience in English.
• Proficiency in French (required for document analysis and interviews).
• Ability to set and achieve independent research goals.

Application Process

Deadline: March 9, 2025
Interviews: Late March/Early April 2025 (online option available)

Required Documents (to be submitted in two PDFs):

File 1:

• Motivation letter
• CV (max. 2 pages, including two referees)
• Research proposal (max. 1,500 words, excluding references)
• Writing sample (e.g., PhD chapter, single-authored work in English)

File 2:

• Copies of PhD & Master’s degree certificates (including program details, grades)

Apply via the university’s website.