Postdoctoral Research Associate, School of Government & Public Policy

The University of Arizona • Tucson, AZ

8d • Onsite

About The Position

The School of Government and Public Policy at the University of Arizona is seeking a Postdoctoral Research Associate for the SGPP Democracy Initiatives Postdoctoral Fellowship. This role will be part of the Arizona Policy Lab, focusing on Democracy Initiatives and Project Purple. The fellowship involves two main areas of responsibility. The first is Project Purple, an app designed to connect voters with primary candidates based on their ideological preferences. For this project, the fellow will provide feedback on the theory of change, develop the survey tool for matching voters to candidates, and test its effectiveness in increasing turnout. Key research questions include identifying ideological or policy questions that best match voters to candidates, understanding what motivates voters to use a voting app, and determining what information encourages primary election turnout. The second area of responsibility involves enhancing SGPP's activities and profile in democracy and civil discourse. This includes planning and facilitating symposia focused on democracy and polarization, with the aim of developing new strategies to reduce gerrymandering. The symposia will also feature experts on electoral system design and gerrymandering. The Postdoctoral Research Associate will collaborate with Dr. Paul Schuler and other SGPP faculty on these projects. This is a year-to-year appointment, dependent on funding and performance. The start date is flexible based on candidate availability and funding. This is an in-person position on the University of Arizona campus in Tucson, Arizona. Application review begins September 15, 2026, and continues until filled. Visa sponsorship is not available.

Requirements

• PhD in Political Science, Computer Science, Computational Social Science, Sociology, Economics, or a related degree.
• Applicants who are ABD (all but dissertation) in one of the above fields will be considered, provided all degree requirements are completed by the start date.

Nice To Haves

• PhD in Political Science.
• Expertise in American politics, voting behavior, and/or polarization.
• Experience in computational methods and/or quantitative methods, primarily spatial analysis.
• Experience in supervising and managing research groups.
• Experience in conducting academic research related to analyzing social and/or electoral data.

Responsibilities

• Provide feedback on the theory of change for Project Purple.
• Develop the survey tool that will match voters to candidates for Project Purple.
• Test the effectiveness of the Project Purple tool in bolstering turnout.
• Develop and implement a research design to answer questions about voter-candidate matching, voter engagement with voting apps, and factors influencing primary election turnout.
• Facilitate plans to host symposia on democracy and polarization to develop strategies to reduce gerrymandering.
• Collaborate with Dr. Paul Schuler and other SGPP faculty on these projects.
• Assess relevant literature.
• Design research ideas to test core propositions of the theory of change.
• Implement research designs.
• Organize symposia on polarization, elections, and voting behavior in the United States at SGPP.
• Participate in the intellectual life of the School of Government and Public Policy and the University of Arizona.

Benefits

• Health insurance
• Dental insurance
• Vision insurance
• Life insurance
• Paid vacation
• Sick leave
• Holidays
• U of A/ASU/NAU tuition reduction for the employee and qualified family members
• Access to U of A recreation and cultural activities

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree