European Research Council (ERC) Doctoral Researcher at University College Dublin

Fixed Term: 4 years (48 months)

Proposed Start Date: Monday 9th September 2024

Applications are invited for a PhD doctoral researcher within the UCD School of Politics and International Relations to deliver the research objectives of an ERC project – Democracy Challenged: Corporate Tax Avoidance and Wealth Inequality.

You will conduct a specified programme of doctoral research to deliver a specific work package of the ERC grant, under the supervision and direction of the Principal Investigator – Dr. Aidan Regan.

You will be given the autonomy to design your own research questions(s) within the scope of the ERC project. But as part of this, you will be tasked with mapping, visualising and explaining the global tax-avoiding wealth chains of big tech and big pharmaceutical multinational groups, using firm-level data from the Orbis database.

The benefits include:

• €25,000 tax-free stipend per year for 4 years.
• Full fees paid every year.
• Generous funding for conference travel.
• Laptop allowance.
• Organisational/administrative support from project manager.
• Dedicated office space.
• A multidisciplinary doctoral studies research panel
• Integration into UCD’s School of Politics and International Relations (SPIRe) doctoral training programme.
• Integration into UCD’s data science and politics lab.
• Acting as global researchers in a prestigious ERC consolidator grant.
• Privileged access to proprietary firm-level Orbis data.
• You can apply for student accommodation on UCD’s campus.

Salary: €25,000 Per Annum tax-free stipend

Closing Date: 17:00hrs (local Irish time) on 28th March 2024.

Application materials:

• Cover letter outlining your motivation for the PhD position (max 2 pages).
• Curriculum Vitae (max 2 pages).
• Thesis proposal that addresses the Democracy Challenged project (max 2 pages).
• Note – this is mainly designed to assess your engagement with the ideas of the project.
• Names and details of 2 referees.

All application materials should be emailed directly to aidan.regan@ucd.ie before 5pm on the closing date.