Freie Universität Berlin seeks to hire two doctoral students (PraeDoc) in the project „Reconfiguring EU through Spending (ReSpend)" (lead: Prof. Dr. Miriam Hartlapp) that is part of the Research Unit “Reconfiguring Europe. Between Competence and Control” founded by the DFG. Envisaged starting date is 1st January 2024.

After decades of liberalisation and retreat of the state, current crisis responses show a great role of the expenditure state. At the national level, COVID-19 has been fought with massive market intervention, procurement of medical equipment, and large-scale short-term working schemes. The EU has also increased its financial powers with the Recovery Fund and Next Generation EU. These new funds, with other EU off-budget funds and the regular budget, make up the EU's financial resources. Understanding if and how these resources are used is relevant as (re)distribution has increased and is here to stay. With this aim, this project focuses on the process that lies between negotiating resources in Brussels and their decentralised implementation in member states. How does the EU spend its money?

The three aims of the project are to capture and assess how EU money is spent, explain spending processes and outcomes with competence-control (cc) arrangements, and theorise the effects of spending on the EU political system. Empirically, the project offers an analysis of social and industrial policies over four decades (1987-2027). Methodologically, it builds the first database on spending policy with indicators on the gap between allocation and disbursement (volume and targets) and institutional features of spending governance. It combines a quantitative analysis of spending patterns with an in-depth analysis of 16 cases, systematically selected to vary between social and industrial policy, over time, and in institutional features of spending governance.

Job description

Collaboration in the project ReSpend, in particular you will

• set up and feed into a database on social policy and industrial policy respectively
• elaborate and comparatively analyse case studies on one sector (social policy and industrial policy respectively)
• contribute to publication of the project results in English language and to organize scientific workshops

The doctoral students will carry out independent empirical research in a topic covered by the project and complete a PhD with reference to the project. There are no teaching obligations attached to the positions.

Requirements

• excellent degree in political and social sciences, with a focus on European integration, public policy and/ or comparative politics

Desirable

• fluency in English
• qualification in or willingness to acquire skills in quantitative (R) and qualitative (process tracing, expert interviews) methods
• a structured, analytical and independent way of working is desirable

Application

Your application should contain the following documents:

• Cover letter (max. 2 pages)
• Research/ dissertation proposal related to the project (2-4 pages)
• Curriculum vitae including contact details of two referees
• Certificates

Job talks are planned to be held mid-October. For further information on the position and the project please contact the project webpage Research Unit Reconfiguring Europe (delorscentre.eu) and do not hesitate to contact Miriam.Hartlapp@fu-berlin.de