Student Assistant

To support different research projects on transitional justice, diaspora politics and international relations of Dr. Julie Bernath, senior researcher, we are recruiting a

Student Assistant (10 hours per week)

Duration: 1 September 2024 for six months.
Workload: 10 hours per week.
Remuneration: In accordance with the University of Basels regulations for student assistants.

• Conduct desk research (literature search and reviews) on various issues related to diaspora politics, transitional justice, and enforced disappearances, amongst others in the Cambodian and Syrian contexts, for publications and research proposals.
• Support the launch of the new research project ‘Supporting the psychosocial and mental wellbeing of displaced Syrian women dealing with ambiguous loss’ (SUPPSAL) with desk research, actors mapping, as well as administrative and logistical support.
• Support empirical research through transcription, coding, and analysis of interviews.
• Attend online academic workshops and other events and take detailed notes.
• Support the administrative and logistical organization of dissemination events for academic projects.

• MA student at the University of Basel, with a BA degree in political science or related field.
• Interest in transitional justice, enforced disappearances, diaspora politics, and international relations.
• Strong analytical skills, excellent attention to detail, conscientious approach to research tasks.
• Ability to work in a self-reliant and flexible manner.
• Pro-active communication and excellent time management.
• Team player, responsible work ethic, and strong organizational skills.
• Very good command of English; fluency in Arabic would be an asset.
• Experience using reference software (esp. Zotero), as well as transcription and data analysis software (esp. MaxQDA) an asset.

• Opportunity to work on practice relevant research and to gain insights into the various steps in research (literature review; data collection; data analysis; writing and publication), practice and project management in the field of transitional justice and peacebuilding.
• Opportunity to gain and demonstrate organizational and communication skills.
• A positive working atmosphere.

swisspeace is a practice and research institute dedicated to advancing effective peacebuilding. Partnerships with local and international actors are at the core of our work. Together, we combine competence and creativity to reduce violence and promote peace in contexts affected by conflicts. In collaboration with the University of Basel swisspeace offers a number of postgraduate programs and courses for peacebuilding professionals from around the world.