Post-doctoral Research Associate DISPOP

The Department of Government and Public Policy invites applications from emerging scholars for a Postdoctoral Research Associate to support and contribute to the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Responsive Mode project Disability and Political Parties (DISPOP). DISPOP is a collaborative project led by Professor Elizabeth Evans (University of Southampton) and Professor Stefanie Reher (University of Strathclyde).

Despite reporting high levels of interest in electoral politics, disabled people are under-represented in legislatures around the world. To understand why these patterns occur, what barriers exist, and how to redress these inequalities, we need to study the relationship between disability and political parties - the key institution linking citizens and electoral politics. Political parties are important vehicles for mobilising and organising groups of citizens with an interest in politics; yet there are no studies focussed on how disabled people experience and perceive political parties, nor whether, when, and how parties think about disability, accessibility and inclusion.

DISPOP aims to:

(1) identify, analyse, and compare barriers experienced by disabled people

(2) map and evaluate existing party initiatives and best practices

(3) explore to what extent formal rules and informal norms render parties ableist institutions

4) co-produce recommendations with Disabled People’s Organisations to make politics more accessible.

The University of Strathclyde is a leading, multi award-winning technological university in the heart of Glasgow, one of the UK’s most exciting student cities. Rated by the Daily Mail as University of the Year 2026, research is central to everything we do. It informs our teaching and helps us make a difference to business, industry and society. Almost 90% of research produced by the University of Strathclyde was rated ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’ in the UK Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021.

The Department of Government and Public Policy combines world-class teaching and research exploring political systems and institutions worldwide. The Department has particular strength in the study of political representation of under-represented groups and quantitative methods. Our Research Excellence Framework 2021 submission was the highest-rated in the UK, with 62% of research rated world-leading and 100% of impact rated outstanding. The post holder will play a prominent role in developing conceptual and methodological innovations to study disability and political parties across Denmark, Germany, Spain and the UK.

The role will require using quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods, including survey design and analysis, survey experiments, interviews, and ethnographic methods. The post holder will take a role in all stages of the research process, from conceptualisation to data collection and analysis, as well as writing up and presenting findings, including attending international and domestic conferences and co-authoring publications. There is scope for the post holder to bring their own skills and interests to the study design. The post holder will work under the supervision of Professor Stefanie Reher and in close collaboration with Professor Elizabeth Evans and a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Southampton. The post holder will be the main point of contact for either the Danish or Spanish case.

Therefore, it is a strong advantage for applicants to be familiar with the political party system in either Denmark or Spain, and have good writing and conversation skills in either Danish or Spanish, in addition to having a keen interest in the role of disability in politics.