Recruitment: Postdoctoral Researcher in quantitative political science or quantitative sociology

As part of the "Democratic Commons (AI and Democracy) project", CEVIPOF/ Sciences Po is recruiting a postdoctoral researcher specialising in quantitative research, with a background in political science or quantitative sociology.

Download the job description (ENG)

The project

Democratic Commons (AI and Democracy) is an interdisciplinary project bringing together scholars in political science (political theory), sociology of technology and use, and computational social science, as well as computer scientists specializing in the use of large language models (LLMs) for translation, summarization, writing assistance, moderation, and facilitation. The project brings together researchers from Sciences Po (Medialab, CEVIPOF) and Sorbonne University (ISIR).

The project is coordinated by practitioners at Make.org.

We have developed and tested democratic principles and criteria tailored to new forms of participation enabled by digital platforms, as well as to the new possibilities offered by LLMs in supporting such forms of participation.

For an overview of the project, see: https://about.make.org/democratic-commons/landing-page#founding-members

Responsibilities

The position involves two main areas of work:

-Conducting a quantitative survey, following the type of research conducted at CEVIPOF, from questionnaire design and data analysis through to the preparation of scientific articles in English. Questionnaire distribution and data collection will be carried out by a polling institute.

The survey will examine trust in these new tools (LLMs for the functions described above), the role they should play in new forms of political participation, and comparisons between different modes of collecting and expressing political views and facilitating political interaction, including digital platforms, opinion polls, and citizen assembly experiments.

-Reviewing the state of the art in this type of research, considering related studies and approaches.

Knowledge of LLMs, whether as objects of study in quantitative research or embedded in participatory platforms that present themselves as democratic, will be considered a significant asset.

Strong quantitative empirical skills are essential, including demonstrated expertise in quantitative analytical techniques and survey design.

The successful candidate should also be open to interdisciplinary approaches, including sociology, political theory, computer science, and language sciences, and have an interest in the emergence of new online democratic platforms.

The successful candidate will be hosted at CEVIPOF, a leading research centre specialising in the study of political behaviour in France. Research at the centre follows an empirical approach and draws on a diversity of methods, including qualitative, quantitative, experimental, and formal methods, in dialogue with political theory and institutional studies. CEVIPOF’s research programme notably examines trust in democracy, electoral choice and decision-making, and what is commonly referred to as “democratic innovations.”

The successful candidate will join the inter-university research team involved in the project. They will work under the supervision of Bernard Reber, CNRS Research Director and member of CEVIPOF, in collaboration with two postdoctoral researchers already affiliated with the centre.

WORKING CONDITIONS

The position is available from October 2026 until the end of the project.

For a postdoctoral researcher, the proposed gross monthly salary is €3,200–€3,300, depending on experience.

Working languages: French and English. French will be useful for conducting the survey, while English will be required for publications.

HOW TO APPLY

Please send a CV and cover letter detailing your relevant experience and skills in relation to the requirements of the position to the following email address(es) by 25 September 2026.

The selection process will be conducted promptly.

Contact

Bernard Reber

CNRS Research Director, CEVIPOF

bernard.reber@sciencespo.fr