Fellowship Programme on Violent Online Political Extremism

Call for Expressions of Interest

VOX-Pol is an EU FP7-funded Network of Excellence that integrates the world’s leading researchers and research groups in Violent Online Political Extremism. The network includes those researching the intersection of terrorism and the Internet (incl. violent jihadists, violent separatists, etc.), the online activities of the extreme left and the extreme right, the potential for violent online radicalisation, and related topics.

The Fellowship Programme will recruit promising researchers in the area of Violent Online Political Extremism, train them in related research and analysis, and mentor them in delivering excellent completed projects.

Selection criteria

Applicants must:

  1. Submit an innovative research proposal in the area of Violent Online Political Extremism, which should go beyond the state of the art and show excellent methodological skills and theoretical knowledge of the field.
  2. Have obtained a PhD (or be close to completion by the date of commencement) or hold an undergraduate degree in a relevant discipline and 5+ years professional experience in a relevant profession/institution (e.g. law enforcement, intelligence analysis, think tank, Internet company) or an MA in a relevant area and 3+ years professional experience in a relevant profession/institution (e.g. law enforcement, intelligence analysis, think tank, Internet company). Applicants should have research/professional experience in either the area of the Internet or violent political extremism, but preferably both.

The research fellow will be hosted and mentored by one or two VOX-Pol partner institutions for twelve months in total. The fellowship may also include a short stay at an associated end-user of VOX-Pol (details upon request). The provisional date for the first fellowship is October 2015.

The gross Fellowship salary will be €3,145.83 per month, payable via Dublin City University (the VOX-Pol Coordinator), and therefore subject to Dublin City University conditions, Irish taxation, social insurance, pension, etc. Dublin City University is an equal opportunities employer.

For further details regarding VOX-Pol, see http://www.voxpol.eu including details regarding VOX-Pol partner institutions, at http://www.voxpol.eu/about-us/

Applications should include:

  1. A cover letter specifying how you meet the requirements of the position, which host institution(s) you are interested in, and why;
  2. A 5 to 10 page research proposal (incl. theoretical and methodological considerations);
  3. A current CV;
  4. A list of publications or a 20+ page single-authored writing sample.

*** Deadline May 28, 2015 ***

Completed applications should be submitted by email to rmp@voxpol.eu. Late applications will not be considered.

Further details may be obtained by contacting rmp@voxpol.eu.

NicoVOX-Pol’s first Research Fellowship under its Researcher Mobility Programme was awarded to Dr Nico Prucha in September 2014. Dr. Prucha chose to undertake his Fellowship at VOX-Pol partner institute, the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation (ICSR), at the Department of War Studies, King’s College London. His research for VOX-Pol comprises analysis of ‘Viral Aspects of Jihadism: The Lingual and Ideological Basis of Online Propaganda and the Spill Over to Non-Arabic Networks.’ Dr Prucha obtained his PhD from the University of Vienna, Austria, in 2014. He is fluent in Arabic. 

On 17 March 2015, Dr Prucha spoke to a packed audience at ICSR on Jihadi use of the Internet. Listen to a podcast of Dr Prucha’s talk and check out his slides here.

Leave a Reply