Applications are invited from highly motivated and qualified individuals for a Postdoc position available at the Department of History, Political Science and Public Administration, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.

Background

The Department of History, Political Science and Public Administration invites applications from emerging scholars for a Postdoctoral Research Associate to support and contribute to the European Research Council (ERC) project Political Parties in Africa and Democracy (PPADEM). PPADEM is an international research collaboration between the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, the University of Strathclyde, the University of Bristol, and the University of Reading.

The project is designed to discover the key drivers of democratic decline and democratic progress in Africa, by undertaking the largest empirical study of political parties ever carried out anywhere in the world. We ask: (1) What role do political parties play in the process of democratisation in Africa? (2) Under what conditions do they make positive or negative contributions toward defending and expanding democracy? And (3) How can political parties across Africa be supported to help counter the decline of democracy on the continent?

Applications are invited for the following under-listed position. The position is available from 1 July/August 2026 or as soon as possible thereafter.

One Postdoctoral Position

The successful candidate will join an international team of senior and early-career scholars working on political parties, democratic institutions and African politics. They will play a leading role in survey design, data collection and analysis, and will play a key role in building and analysing the project’s cross national data set, with opportunities to present co-authored or sole-authored publications at workshops and conferences with an aim to publish in leading peer-reviewed journals. Starting date – as early as possible. The PPADEM postdoctoral position is for two years, subject to yearly evaluation of tasks fulfilled.

Main Activities/Responsibilities

1. Collect, analyse and archive country and organizational level data on African political parties.
2. Assist in design of research instruments for party headquarters and branch studies, and constituency elite survey.
3. Assist in design of sampling strategies for constituency elite surveys and party branch studies.
4. Assist with pilot studies of party headquarters, branches and constituency elite surveys
5. Present project research results at local and international workshops and scholarly conferences, and advance individual and team publications with the goal of submission to leading peer-reviewed journals.
6. Assist with organisation of project events such as planning meetings and research seminars.
7. Participate in skills-sharing activities with the larger community of African politics researchers.
8. Assist with stakeholder engagement and dissemination of research findings.
9. To participate in limited teaching at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels at the Department of History, Political Science and Public Administration aimed at enhancing the pedagogical skills of the postdoc researcher.

Requirements

Postdoctoral researcher cannot be employed full-time at KNUST or any other public university/institution.

How to Apply

All applications must be submitted in a single PDF file to (ppadem@knust.edu.gh).

Applicants should submit:

• A covering letter detailing the knowledge, skills and experience you think make you the right candidate for the job (maximum two pages)
• Curriculum Vitae, as well as
• A Research Plan outlining your research strategy for the next two years and how it relates to the PPADEM project (maximum two pages). For additional information on the PPADEM project, please see (HERE!).
• A writing sample (e.g. working paper, recently published journal article/chapter).
• Two recommendation letters.

Use of AI in applications: We want to understand your genuine interest in the role and for the written elements of your application to accurately reflect your own communication style. Applications that rely too heavily on AI tools can appear generic and lack the detail we need to assess your skills and experience. Such applications will unlikely be progressed to interview.

The application deadline is June 1, 2026.

Any applications emailed or received after the deadline will not be considered. However, changes may be made to the submitted application until the deadline.

Contact Information

If you have questions concerning the PPADEM project, please contact:

Prof. George Bob-Milliar (gbobmilliar.cass@knust.edu.gh).

Department of History, Political Science and Public Administration

KNUST, Kumasi.