Post-Doctoral Researcher at UNU-MERIT / Maastricht Graduate School of Governance of the School of Business and Economics

We are inviting applications for 1 Post-Doctoral Researcher within the framework of the European Research Council project “Reintegrate: Reintegration Governance”. The Reintegrate project is funded for five years (2021-2026) through a 1.5 million euro ‘Starting Grant’ from the European Research Council. Funding from the European Research Council means that applicants of all nationalities are eligible for this project. We are looking for enthusiastic applicants willing to contribute to a dynamic research environment focused on academic, policy and societal impact.

The Post-Doctoral Researcher will be part of a research team led by Dr Katie Kuschminder. Under the supervision of Dr Katie Kuschminder, the Post-Doctoral Researcher will be responsible for supporting the project implementation and taking a leading role in the research team. The Post-Doctoral Researcher will be responsible for carrying out fieldwork in at least one of the following countries: Ethiopia, Morocco, Nepal, or Serbia, within the overarching analytical and methodological frame of the project.

Project summary:

The Reintegrate project will study the governance of how return migrants are reintegrated into societies upon their return. The project will develop a conceptual understanding of what is reintegration governance, its implementation, and effectiveness and a new theoretical model of how different forms of reintegration governance shape returnee’s reintegration experiences and outcomes. Four types of reintegration governance are considered: 1) national reintegration governance (a nation states own legislation regarding reintegration); 2) supranational reintegration governance (includes assisted voluntary return programmes and readmission agreements); 3) high reintegration governance (including both the national and supranational); and 4) low reintegration governance (excluding both the national and supranational). The four country case studies to assess the different forms of reintegration governance are Ethiopia, Morocco, Nepal and Serbia.

The Reintegrate project uses a mixed methodology and interdisciplinary approach drawing from anthropology, geography, legal analysis, political science and international relations, and migration and development studies. The project will commence with a systematic mapping of global reintegration governance across countries. The second stage will be to conduct key stakeholder interviews to understand the policy and praxis of reintegration governance including how policies are developed and implemented and the gaps within this process. The third stage will be to conduct original field work (planned at six months) in each case study country with key stakeholder interviews and narrative interviews with return migrants. The final phase of the project will be a comparative assessment and synthesis of the findings that will provide systematic evidence of reintegration governance and its effectiveness.

More information on the vacancies can be found by contacting Dr Katie Kuschminder or by clicking here to view the full posting.