Job offer - Research Assistant on CRIMGOV Project

One year RA – Russian speaker

The role

CEE Sciences Po is seeking to appoint a Research Assistant for a fixed term appointment for 14 months, starting September 1, 2026 or soon thereafter (to be negotiated). The post holder will join a team of researchers funded by a European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant led by Professor Federico Varese (Principal Investigator).

The project (CRIMGOV) aims to rethink the concept of organised crime (OC) and will develop a new framework that distinguishes key activities of OC groups. CRIMGOV will study a broad range of organised crime in depth: local cybercrime production hubs, the international trade of drugs, and the emergence of criminal governance inside and outside prisons. The project will produce high-quality data sets that are hard to collect and time-consuming to code, a challenging and risky yet highly rewarding contribution to knowledge. Breaking traditional disciplinary boundaries between the social sciences and adopting a global outlook, CRIMGOV will overturn long-held theoretical approaches, produce substantial new findings and data, and speak to scholars across different disciplines.

The post holder will be a member of the CRIMGOV research group with responsibility for carrying out research for a subproject which examines Soviet and post-Soviet organized crime. A key element of the subproject is to continue curate a data set of several thousand members of the criminal fraternity of the vory-v-zakone and continue to collect data and assist the PI with a book project related to this data set. The post-holder will also participate in the activities of the entire team and will be asked to contribute to those activities as required by the Principal Investigator.

The post holder is expected to have a certain level of experience in original data collection and knowledge of Russian history, near-native knowledge of the Russian language, and a good knowledge of English. 

The position will be based in CEE, Paris. 

Responsibilities

• Manage and curate a large dataset of information on the vory-v-zakone, and assist the PI in incorporating the data in a book project. 
• Conduct some interviews with experts.
• Manage research and administrative activities, within guidelines provided by the PI. 
• Provide day-to-day administrative support and research assistance to the research project.
• Participate in and contribute to CRIMGOV team activities as required.
• Represent the research group at external meetings/seminars, either with other members of the group or alone as required.
• Contribute to discussions and share research findings with colleagues in partner institutions, and research groups.
• Willingness to work with sensitive data and handling confidential information. The postholder might be required to sign a confidentiality deed as a part of the appointment process.

Selection criteria

Essential selection criteria:

• Hold a first degree in sociology, criminology, anthropology, law or history or a relevant field, near-native knowledge of the Russian language, together with limited research experience, and a willingness to engage in research activities.
• Ability to manage research and administrative activities.
• Some proven skills/experience related to qualitative and/or quantitative data collection, analysis and presentation.
• Good knowledge of English language.

Desirable selection criteria

• Experience of working in a research team and contributing ideas for new research. 

How to apply

Please send: 

• a cover letter outlining precisely the qualifications and skills that match the requirements for the position, and previous work experience carrying out similar tasks to those required here. 
• a CV
• a writing sample (an article or master thesis) 

to recruitment.cee@sciencespo.fr  by 5pm on May 22, 2026, Paris time. 

Please indicate in the object: Application for CRIMGOV - Research assistant – Russian speaker

Interviews will be planned in June.

Queries about these posts should be addressed to Professor Federico Varese at:

Federico Varese federico.varese@sciencespo.fr and to Eleonora Russo eleonora.russo@sciencespo.fr

All enquiries will be treated in strict confidence and will not form part of the selection decision.