Postdoctoral Research Associate, School of Government & Public Policy

The School of Government and Public Policy at the University of Arizona invites applications for a Postdoctoral Research Associate (SGPP Democracy Initiatives Postdoctoral Fellowship) position to work within the Arizona Policy Lab on our Democracy Initiatives and Project Purple.

The postdoctoral fellow will have two primary sets of duties. The first set will focus on Project Purple, an innovative concept for an app designed to match voters to primary candidates that match their ideological preferences. For Project Purple, the fellow will 1) provide feedback on the theory of change, 2) develop the survey tool that will match voters to candidates, and 3) test the effectiveness of the tool in bolstering turnout. In particular, the fellow will develop and implement a research design addressing the following questions:

• What ideological or policy questions best match voters to the "correct" candidates?
  
• What drives voters to provide information through a voting app?
  
• What kind of information makes voters more likely to turn out in a primary election?

The second related set of duties will focus on developing SGPP's activities and profile in democracy and civil discourse. To this end, the fellow will facilitate plans to host symposia on democracy and polarization. The goal of the symposia will be to develop novel strategies to reduce gerrymandering and its effects. In addition to Project Purple, we hope to invite other experts on electoral system design and gerrymandering to offer their own proposals. The Postdoctoral Research Associate will collaborate with Dr. Paul Schuler and other SGPP faculty on these projects.

This is a year-to-year appointment, contingent upon funding and performance. The expected start date for this position will depend on the availability of the candidate. The appointment will be contingent on the availability of funding.

This is an in-person position located on the University of Arizona campus in Tucson, Arizona.

Committee review of applications will begin September 15, 2026, and continue until the position is filled. The anticipated start date will depend on the selected candidate's availability.

Visa sponsorship is not available for this position.

Outstanding U of A benefits include health, dental, vision, and life insurance; paid vacation, sick leave, and holidays; U of A/ASU/NAU tuition reduction for the employee and qualified family members; access to U of A recreation and cultural activities; and more!

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Primary responsibilities will
include:

• Working with the SGPP Arizona Policy Lab, the host, and the donor to implement Project Purple. Duties will include:

1. Assessing relevant literature.
2. Designing research ideas to test core propositions of the theory of change.
3. Implementing research designs.

• Organizing symposia on the polarization, elections, and voting behavior in the United States at SGPP.
• Participate in the intellectual life of the School of Government and Public Policy and the University of Arizona.

• PhD in Political Science, Computer Science,
  Computational Social Science, Sociology, Economics, or a related degree.
• Applicants who are ABD (all but dissertation) in one of the above fields will be considered, provided all degree requirements are completed by the start date.

• PhD in Political Science.
  
• Expertise in American politics, voting behavior, and/or polarization.
  
• Experience in computational methods and/or quantitative methods, primarily spatial analysis.
  
• Experience in supervising and managing research groups.
  
• Experience in conducting academic research related to analyzing social and/or electoral data.

• Curriculum Vitae (CV).
  
• Cover Letter.
  
• Writing Sample (publication or work-in-progress).
  
• Three Letters of Recommendation.