Update: As of October 2018, this post has been filled by Dr Jun Jin. Heartfelt congratulations!

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The Department of English Studies at the University of Graz are looking to hire a post-doctoral research associate to take part in a new research project.

The research project

We were recently awarded funding by the Austrian Science Fund for a three-year research project which aims to investigate the psychological capital of language teachers in Austria and the UK. This project will be led by Professor Sarah Mercer, who will co-ordinate a team consisting of a postdoctoral researcher, two doctoral candidates and a technical assistant. The UK-based strand of the project will be co-ordinated by Dr. Jim King at the University of Leicester.

Starting in October 2018, the project will involve focus groups interviews with teachers at different stages of their career trajectory, the design and administration of a questionnaire survey, and life-history interviews, as well as the organisation of an international conference at the end of the project. It is expected that the findings of the study will be published in a number of articles, which will be submitted to appropriate ISI-indexed journals.

The candidate

It is expected that applicants for this post will have completed doctoral studies in Applied Linguistics, English or American studies. A doctorate with a focus on the psychology of language learning and teaching would be considered an asset.

As this is a mixed-methods study, the ideal candidate will need to be competent in both qualitative and quantitative methods, as well as have experience of conducting mixed-methods research. Familiarity with statistical packages like SPSS or R, and Computer-Assisted Qualitative Analysis Software (e.g., Atlas.ti) would be an advantage.

A high level of proficiency in English and German is necessary in order to be able to design research instruments in both languages, conduct interviews with teachers in English and in German, and analyse bilingual data.

In the interest of increasing the representation of women in our department, we are required to give preference to female candidates among equally qualified applicants.

A full list of necessary and desirable criteria is available in the job listing (link no longer active).

The post

The successful applicant will be directly answerable to Prof. Sarah Mercer, and through her to the Department Head, Prof. Ineke Mennen.

The postdoctoral associate will be expected to be present at the University of Graz premises for 30h per week (i.e., .75FTE), working on various aspects of the project. In addition, they will expected to take part in a number of data gathering trips in Austria and trips to the UK for data gathering and co-ordination with our international collaborator. The University of Graz has an onsite presence policy for staff in non-professorial grades, but there is limited flexibilty in arranging one’s working time.

Academic salaries in Austria are regulated by a collective agreement (Kollektivvertrag). For a .75FTE post at this post-doctoral (B1) level, a gross monthly salary of 2,783.30 Euros is stipulated. This corresponds to roughly 1,800 Euros net per month, with four quarterly bonuses in the region of 1,000 Euros net each. A more precise calculation, taking into account one’s particular details, can be generated in this website (German only). It is possible that the Human Resources department places a candidate to a higher salary spine point if considerable experience can be demonstrated. The health insurance, including dental care, is comprehensive and excellent.

How to apply

The full job advert is can be accessed here. Please read it carefully before applying, and feel free to contact me for additional information before applying.

If you decide to apply, you will need to submit a letter of interest and a CV to bewerbung@uni-graz.at citing job reference MB/83/99 ex 2017/18. The application deadline is 30th May 2018.