At the Faculty of Social Sciences (Department of Political Science) of the University of Vienna the position of a
Research Administrator within the ERC Project MARIPOLDATA
is vacant.
Overview:
The successful candidate will work in an interdisciplinary research team under the supervision of Dr Alice Vadrot. The role of the research assistant arises from the award of a 1.4 Mio Euro Starting Grant from the European Research Council to Dr Vadrot, Principal Investigator of the project hosted by the Department of Political Science of the University of Vienna. The grant is for a major research project on “The Politics of Marine Biodiversity Data: Global and National Policies and Practices of Monitoring the Oceans (MARIPOLDATA)” running from November 2018 to October 2023. The project will bring together an interdisciplinary team composed of the PI, the research assistant, 2 PhD students, 2 Post-Docs and 2 master students. The successful candidate will assist the PI throughout the duration of the project and play a crucial role in project administration, communication and dissemination activities.
Role of the successful Candidate:
Working closely with the Principal Investigator, Dr Alice Vadrot, and her team, the post holder will be responsible for the daily operational, administrative and financial support for the project, internal and external communication activities and –where appropriate- assist with selected research activities.
The successful candidate will need to be well organised, meticulous and confident working with spreadsheets, web-based administrative and finance systems, and a variety of digital and social media. He/she will be able to work on his/her own initiative and within the team, self-managing a varied workload with competing priorities, deal calmly with difficult or pressured situations and prioritise his/her own workload to meet deadlines, with the flexibility to reorganise his/her workload at short notice to accommodate any changing priorities within the team.
The ability to interact positively and to communicate effectively with the research team members as well as with colleagues from the Department of Political Science and the ERC, with a commitment to providing a high standard of service, is essential.
The successful candidate will be part of a research team based at the University of Vienna (Host Institution) and his/her principal duties and responsibilities will be:
- Manage the project’s calendar and the travels/meetings’ planning/agenda.
- Organise project-related events, such as seminars, workshops and conferences.
- Assist the PI in the planning and monitoring of the project budgets in close collaboration with the Research Service of the University of Vienna to ensure all expenditure and procedures around contracts are processed efficiently through the University’s finance system.
- Maintain records of project information and documentation and assist researchers in the storage and back-up of key data.
- Manage the project website, including regular updates.
- Assist the PI and her team in dissemination activities (e.g. Blogs, newsletter, content for Homepage, contacts to media).
- Maintain internal and external communication (e.g. with administrative staff of the Department, the Faculty and the Research Service of the University of Vienna).
- Maintain social media activity related to the project.
- Eventually undertake research tasks, including collecting literature/news on the main topics of the study or interviews’ transcription, depending on the project’s needs and his/her working schedule.
Duration of Employment: 5 years (duration of the project) 30.00 hours/week
Salary (gross): 1730, 03 EUR (Salary scheme of the University of Vienna: III b, 30.00 hours/week)
Basic Requirements:
- 2+ years of research administration experience.
- Demonstrated organizational and administrative skills.
- Strong interpersonal skills and ability to work in collegial, supportive manner with department, faculty and staff.
- Excellent prioritization skills, strong analytical, problem-solving and decision-making skills.
- Excellent communication skills in German and English, both written and oral.
- Demonstrated ability to manage multiple assignments with tight, concurrent deadlines and with frequent interruptions.
- Proficient with MS Office applications (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and internet.
- Experience with electronic grants management systems.
- Experience in the area of public relations and communication.
- Experience in the use of social media.
- Experience in financial management/budget planning.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Experience in administration of EU funded projects.
- Designation of Certified Research Administrator.
- Designation of Certified Project management Skills (e.g. PMA D Level, EBCL).
- Interest in Political Science, Science-Policy interfaces, Marine Politics, Data Politics.
Application:
Applications including a letter of motivation and curriculum vitae (in English or German) should be sent electronically to maripoldata.erc@univie.ac.at by 23rd of November 2018.
Selection & Next Steps:
Following the closing date, we will contact you by email to let you know whether or not you have been shortlisted to participate in the next stage of the selection process.
Interviews will be held on 10th of December 2018.
For informal enquiries about this job, contact the PI, Dr Alice Vadrot, via phone +43-1-4277-49455 or email: alice.vadrot@univie.ac.at
The University of Vienna intends to increase the number of women on its faculty, particularly in high-level positions, and therefore specifically invites applications by women. Among equally qualified applicants women will receive preferential consideration.
About the Project:
In order to protect marine biodiversity and ensure that benefits are equally shared, the UN General Assembly has decided to develop a new legally binding treaty under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Marine biodiversity data will play a central role: Firstly, in supporting intergovernmental efforts to identify, protect and monitor marine biodiversity. Secondly, in informing governments interested in particular aspects of marine biodiversity, including its economic use and its contribution to biosecurity. In examining how this data are represented and used, this project will create a novel understanding of the materiality of science-policy interrelations in global environmental politics as well as develop the methodologies to do so. This is crucial, because the capacities to develop and use data infrastructures are unequally distributed among countries and global initiatives for data sharing are significantly challenged by conflicting perceptions of who benefits from marine biodiversity research.
The central objective of MARIPOLDATA is to develop and apply a new multiscale methodology for grounding the analysis of science-policy interrelations in empirical research. An interdisciplinary team, led by the PI, will collect and analyse data across different policy-levels and spatial scales by combining 1) ethnographic studies at intergovernmental negotiation sites with 2) a comparative analysis of national marine biodiversity monitoring policies and practices and 3) bibliometric and network analyses and oral history interviews for mapping the field of marine biodiversity science.