Two PhD Positions: Multistakeholder Global Governance

Leiden University is looking to appoint two fully-funded four-year full-time PhD positions in a project on Multistakeholder Global Governance: Capacity, Effectiveness, Legitimacy. One position will be based in the Institute of Security and Global Affairs (ISGA) at the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs (FGGA). The other position will be based in the Institute of Political Science at the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences (FSW). The project is embedded in Leiden University’s interfaculty programme on Global Transformations and Governance Challenges (GTGC) and funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO).

Project Description

These PhD positions contribute pivotally to the project Multistakeholder Global Governance: Capacity, Effectiveness, Legitimacy. This project undertakes the first comprehensive detailed systematic comparative analysis of the promises and pitfalls of multistakeholder

arrangements for addressing global challenges. As core participants in the project, the PhD students will make important advances on theory, empirics, and policy around global multistakeholder frameworks.

Today’s major societal problems have significant global dimensions that demand substantial global policy responses. Yet, at the present moment of unprecedented need for global-scale governance, old-style multilateralism through intergovernmental organizations is stalled. One prominent alternative to multilateralism is multistakeholderism, which assembles parties from business, civil society, foundations, government, research and/or technical experts. Three major instances of multistakeholder global governance (also the focal case studies for this project) include the Forest Stewardship Council, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. FSC, GFATM, and ICANN are key venues for global governance respectively of environment, health, and communications.

The central question for this project asks: how can multistakeholder global governance operate well? More specifically, the study enquires how far, and under what circumstances, multistakeholder global governance at FSC, GFATM, and ICANN can attain capacity, effectiveness, and legitimacy? Regarding capacity, how well equipped are these three global multistakeholder governance apparatuses? Regarding effectiveness, how far do they impact their respective fields? Regarding legitimacy, how much approval do these global multistakeholder regimes attract? Moreover, what conditions promote or hinder capacity, effectiveness, and legitimacy in these three key instances of multistakeholder global governance?

In terms of theory, the project pursues a broadly institutional approach. The study seeks to understand multistakeholder global governance primarily in terms of its organizational features, such as the purposes, procedures, and performances of the regulatory apparatuses. To be sure, the study also considers the individual level (i.e. how the features of persons shape the workings of FSC, GFATM, and ICANN) and the societal level (i.e. how the three bodies are nested in wider cultural, economic, and political contexts), since individual and societal circumstances often affect organizational workings. Moreover, while a general institutional orientation applies for the collective project analysis, the PhD students may in their individual dissertations pursue any preferred theoretical perspectives, from power politics to postcolonialism.

Regarding research methods, as already indicated the project adopts a comparative case study approach. Comparison across three cases in three issue areas allows identification of common and variable features between several key instances of multistakeholder global governance. To collect relevant data, the project looks primarily to written documentation, elite interviews, and surveys. Involvement of practitioners (practice-research exchange) is incorporated at all stages. Much of the research is deskwork at Leiden University, but fieldwork visits to the head offices of the three organizations and attendance of their international meetings will be required for other data collection. We will also conduct a public opinion survey with help from a survey company. Data will be subjected to both qualitative and quantitative analysis, so that the PhD students will obtain broad methodological competences.

Position Description

The two PhD candidates will be integral partners in the research project team, along with prof.dr. Jan Aart Scholte (coordinator) and dr. Hortense Jongen (senior researcher). In addition, the project has a six-member advisory board, including three international academic specialists and three leading practitioners from the FSC, GFATM, and ICANN.

Scholte and Jongen will provide high-quality joint supervision of the two PhD candidates. The PhD students can expect an attentive and empathetic approach, availability and accessibility, clear guidance, timely feedback, and solid advice for long-term career development. Since we work as a team, the PhD students will have close support from supervisors throughout the four-year period. In addition, ISGA provides a mandatory PhD training programme for its whole PhD community.

One doctoral student will undertake the main FSC research, while the other will undertake the main GFATM research. Scholte will undertake the main ICANN research. Jongen will support all three case studies, especially as regards data analysis.

Since the project depends on closely coordinated collaboration among the four researchers, the PhD students need to commit to the work period from early 2025 to end 2028.

In addition to completing their individual dissertations, the PhD students will also be co-authors on other project publications, including three journal articles and a jointly prepared book. The PhD students will also participate in presentations of project results and recommendations to academic as well as policy audiences. Modest teaching obligations address the educational side of an academic portfolio. Hence, the PhD students will in this position build up a strong all-round professional cv for their future employment.

What you will do

• Complete a PhD dissertation within the four-year timeframe of the project
• Pursue a project case study of either the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) or the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM)
• Conduct both independent and collaborative data collection and analysis
• Co-author 3 journal articles together with other researchers on the team
• Contribute to a co-authored book manuscript
• Prepare policy briefs and podcasts that present results to non-academic audiences
• Assist with project website and social media communications
• Present project findings and recommendations at academic and policy venues
• Contribute to the general research environment of the respective institutes as well as Leiden University’s Global Transformations and Governance Challenges programme

Where you will work

Leiden University is one of Europe's foremost research universities. It is the oldest university in the Netherlands, founded in 1575, and currently ranks in the top 100 of most international rankings. The University has approximately 34,000 students and 7,500 staff members.

Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs

Located in The Hague – the International City of Peace and Justice – the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs offers a range of other programs focused on international relations, security, international law and international organization. It also hosts the Leiden University College (LUC), an international honors college of Leiden University situated The Hague. Firmly rooted in the academic tradition, the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs provides an inspiring and challenging education and research environment, with a strong interdisciplinary character and international orientation; it is a meeting place for students, scholars and professionals, a platform for innovation and entrepreneurship.

Institute of Security and Global Affairs

The Institute of Security and Global Affairs (ISGA) is a leading research and education institute, focusing on the most pressing local, national, European and global security issues from an interdisciplinary perspective. It currently hosts more than 120 academic and support staff members and offers the BA in Security Studies, the MSc in Crisis and Security Management, the Advanced MSc in International Relations and Diplomacy, the executive MSc in Cyber Security as well as a variety of innovative teaching offerings in the professional and MOOC fields. In addition, ISGA runs popular Minor Programmes in Global Affairs, Security, Safety and Justice and Intelligence Studies as well as the Faculty’s Honour Programme in Security and Global Affairs. ISGA operates from The Hague, the third major city of the Netherlands, center of national governance and International City of Peace and Justice and advances both theory-informed and policy-oriented research.

Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences

Leiden University’s Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences comprises five institutes: Political Science, Psychology, Education and Child Studies, Cultural Anthropology & Development Sociology, and the Centre for Science and Technology Studies. The Faculty is home to 5,000 students and 600 members of staff. Its teaching and research programmes cover diverse topics varying from adoption to political behaviour.

Institute of Political Science

The Institute of Political Science has a strong research tradition in various areas of comparative, Dutch and international politics, as well as political theory. The Institute has around 85 academic staff, including many non-Dutch scholars, and houses a number of editorships of international refereed journals and book series. Members of the institute are also involved in a number of the university’s multi-disciplinary research centres, including Central and East European Studies, International Relations, Parties and Representation, Political Philosophy, Centrum voor Nederlandse Politiek en Bestuur and ReCNTR.

The Institute is based in Leiden and in The Hague, where a large part of the teaching is done.

The Institute offers a range of programmes at the Bachelor and Master levels and also trains PhD students in political science. The BSc programmes include general Political Science (in Dutch & English, in Leiden), International Politics (in Dutch & English, in Leiden), and International Relations and Organisations (in English, in The Hague). The one-year MSc programme (taught mostly in English) includes five specialisations in Leiden and one in The Hague.

Global Transformations and Governance Challenges

GTGC is an interfaculty interdisciplinary programme of Leiden University launched in 2020. It aims to advance knowledge and practice on how we govern – and could govern – major world-scale changes in contemporary society. GTGC links 200 researchers across the university, has supported 20 seed grant projects, runs regular seminars, and holds an annual international conference. GTGC works from Leiden University’s Campus The Hague, amidst the hundreds of intergovernmental agencies, NGOs, think tanks, and social movements that operate in this global governance hub.

What you will bring

• Master’s degree in a relevant field of study completed by the time of the appointment
• Relevant skills and interest for global governance research
• Capacity and enthusiasm for policy-relevant studies
• Excellent spoken and written English language required
• Ability to work closely in a team as well as independently
• Excellent time management to complete major tasks to schedule
• Availability across the full period 01.01.2025 until 31.12.2028
• Readiness to travel outside the Netherlands
• Academic publications are a plus
• Competence in French and/or Spanish language is a plus

What we offer

Our goal is to work together to create a transparent and inclusive work environment in which everyone feels welcome and appreciated. Our organisation is always evolving and we need your ideas for improvement and innovation to take us further. We want to devote attention to your personal development.

You can count on an enjoyable job within the socially relevant world of education and research. We also want to work with you to devote attention to your health and vitality, for example with the fun activities we organise through Healthy University. The successful candidates will be part of an ambitious and dynamic team. The appointments are for 1+3 years, with a confirmation decision after 9 months.

We also offer:

• An employment contract for the duration of one year with an extension of three years after a positive evaluation. This contract falls under the CLA of Dutch Universities;
• A salary of a minimum of €2.872,- in the first year and increasing to €3.670,- gross per month in the final year, based on a full-time appointment (38 hours) (PhD scale);
• A holiday allowance (8%), an end-of-year bonus (8,3%), and an attractive pension scheme at ABP;
• Flexible working hours: as a standard, you are entitled to a minimum of 29 leave days on the basis of a full-time working week of 38 hours; you can also save for extra leave, for example by working 40 hours a week, and in this way accrue an extra 96 leave hours, or exchange 96 leave hours for a 36-hour week.
• Lots of options when it comes to secondary employment conditions; for example, paid parental leave. Within our terms of employment individual choices model, you can exchange leave days and/or salary for benefits such as an advantageous sports subscription or bicycle scheme, and we also offer child-care options;
• If your work allows it, hybrid working is possible within the Netherlands;
• A home-working allowance (day and internet allowance) and attention for good workplaces. The University will also provide you with a laptop.