The Disruption and Societal Change Center (TUDiSC) offers a position as Research Associate

The Disruption and Societal Change Center (TUDiSC) offers a position as Research Associate / PhD Student (subject to personal qualification employees are remunerated according to salary group E 13 TV-L) starting April 1, 2022. The position comprises 50 % of the fulltime weekly hours in the project ?The Disruptivity of the Others in Transformations“ (.DOT). The position is limited until September 30, 2024. It is intended to extend the position by 15 % of the fulltime weekly hours by means of the Leibniz-Institut für ?kologische Raumentwicklung e.V. (I?R). An extension of the position until September 30, 2025 may be considered if the intermediate evaluation is positive and if the personal requirements according to WissZeitVG are met. The period of employment is governed by the Fixed Term Research Contracts Act (Wissenschaftszeitvertragsgesetz - WissZeitVG). The position aims at obtaining further academic qualification (e.g. PhD).

The project .DOT is part of the initiative "Disruption and Societal Change” (TUDiSC) is part of the endeavor "Strengthening research areas with great potential" in the EXU focus PROFILE. It is intended to contribute to achieving scientific excellence and international visibility in all five Research Priority Areas of TUD, especially in the Emerging Field “Societal Change”, and thus aims to advance the university as a whole to a high level. In joint interdisciplinary work, the goal is to elevate disruption to a basic category of research into societal change and to record its preconditions, logics and effects more thoroughly by pursuing research into its foundations as well as into its possible applications. To the extent that this brings into focus the political, economic, social and cultural challenges that societies face in dealing with disruptions, TUDiSC is oriented toward the social sciences, the humanities and cultural studies, but it necessarily includes the expertise of natural, technical and life sciences in addressing these issues.

More information on the conceptual basis for TUDiSC: https://tu-dresden.de/gsw/ressourcen/dateien/tudisc/TUDiSC_Conceptual_Basis.pdf?lang=en

Project framework:

Disruptions are decisive for an accelerated societal sustainability transformation. However, their emergence, characteristics and effects are significantly correlated to the role of outsiders. The project .DOT therefore aims to develop a comprehensive understanding of the relationship between outsiders and disruptions as well as their impact on transformations. It develops new basic knowledge to enable the use of the transformative potential of outsiders for achieving societal goals, as well as to prevent their possible marginalization, radicalization or obstructive effects. The research approach is interdisciplinary and combines concepts from philosophy, psychology as well as urban- and transformation research.

Tasks:

The advertised position is assigned to the perspective of urban- and transformation research and includes the elaboration and implementation of the work package on “Actors and Institutions”, which is led by the IOER. The aim is to analyze the specific influence of outsiders, their values and logic of action as well as roles and interaction patterns, on the dynamics and development direction of urban transformation processes. Selected practical cases are to be examined comparatively using qualitative methods (e.g. interviews, participant observations and content analysis). Based on the results, implications for transformation research as well as for policy and intervention approaches are to be formulated. The position also supports coordination with the cooperation partners at TU Dresden.

Requirements:

• an above-average university degree in a relevant social science field or interdisciplinary field with a high share of social sciences,
• very good knowledge of transformation research and governance research,
• good knowledge of sustainable urban development and spatial science,
• in-depth knowledge of the methods of empirical social research,
• very good written and spoken English skills (at least CEFR level C1),
• very good communication and teamwork skills, resilience and flexibility as well as a precise,
• reliable and independent working method with a high level of commitment.
• Experience in inter- and transdisciplinary teamwork is an advantage.

Further details: https://www.verw.tu-dresden.de/StellAus/download.asp?file=02-2022\Wolfram_WIMI_en_021221_w535.pdf

Deadline: February 10, 2022