Postdoctoral researcher in social sciences

Description of the Project

The COMMUNE-HisDBD aims to:

1) Produce the first historical-GIS in the world by reconstructing, year by year, from the French Revolution to the current day, the precise boundaries of all communes in mainland France, linking them to population data and transport networks.

2) Develop a multi-modal model of the transport network, supporting the analysis of economic and demographic changes from the late 18th century to the present day.

3) Represent and analyse certain demographic and socioeconomic phenomena in fine detail.

Enriched with other historical information, this H-GIS will be a reference tool for researchers in human and social sciences.

Missions of the role

In line with the focus of the research project, the post-doctoral researcher will be responsible for analysing, modelling, and producing secondary data, based on data collected by the team. This will involve analysing geographic, demographic, and economic data, producing spatial models, and the statistical analysis of spatial data.

The post-doctoral researcher will work under the supervision of Isabelle Séguy (INED) and Alexis Litvine (Cambridge University).

The successful applicant will form part of an interdisciplinary team composed of researchers from the fields of history, population studies and economic history, and various institutions (INED; Cambridge Group for the History of Population and Social Structure (CAMPOP) at Cambridge University; the ThéMA Lab at University of Burgundy-Franche-Comté; the Institut National de l'Information Géographique et Forestière (IGN), the French National Archives, and departmental and municipal archive services). This team also relies on an international scientific committee (Universities of London and Lancaster, UK; University of Ghent, Belgium; Open University of Catalonia and University of Lleida, Spain; University of California, Irvine, USA; and University of La Rochelle, CNRS, INRA and EHESS, France).

The successful applicant will be attached to Research Unit 11 “History and Populations” at INED for administrative purposes.

Description of tasks

- Supervise and contribute to vectorization work;

- Analyse the archives collected by the team, particularly data for the 1790-1801 period, suggest appropriate solutions for the most complicated cases and offer reflections on the formation of communes during this period;

- Keep in regular contact with the spatial analysts at ThEMA, Cambridge and the IGN;

- Publish (at least) one peer-reviewed article with PIS, in English, and contribute to the team’s ongoing publications.

- Help organize research events (symposia, research days, seminars, etc.);

- Attend weekly team meetings and project workshops; take minutes of these meetings;

- Draft methodological notes and reports on the operations performed;

- Promote and communicate methodologies and techniques; ensure knowledge is shared between project partners.

- Create social media content throughout the programme and play a key role in the dissemination of research findings in French/English.