The Makerere Institute of Social Research (MISR) invites applications for the ENVIU Postdoctoral fellowship.
MISR offers three two-year postdoctoral fellowships as part of a five year (2025-2030) research project entitled ‘Everyday Violence and Environmental Change in Uganda (ENVIU)’.[1] Traversing MISR’s core research areas such as political economy, political studies, historical studies, and cultural & literary studies, and adopting decolonial and intersectional lenses, the project aims to foster understanding of the ways and extent to which relations between communities and public authorities in three selected environmental fields – i) forests and grasslands; ii) farms and lakesides; and iii) settlements and towns – become violent in the context of environmental change in Uganda. While different in kind, these three fields are comparable with regard to what forms of public authority are exercised, who can access natural resources, and what kind of identity claims people pursue along gendered, racial, class-based, and generational lines. The project’s main goal is to develop new analytical lenses and methodologies and advance empirically supported research on climate change and everyday violence that can inform just and pro-poor policy formulations and climate action.
Fellows will be selected based on the quality and relevance of their research proposal, academic experience and excellence. They will be expected to contribute to the project’s outputs through an initial conceptual and empirical mapping of the socio-environmental fields that they propose to work with and subsequent individual in-depth fieldwork-based research. Throughout the fellowship, they will also have opportunities for professional development, including strengthening their research, methodological and writing skills.
Eligibility Criteria
Academic Qualifications
- Candidates must hold a PhD or equivalent degree in a relevant field from a recognized institution awarded in the last three years.
- Candidates who have defended their dissertation and are awaiting graduation, or have been cleared by their committee for defense, and are expected to defend within four months from the beginning of the fellowship may also be considered.
Research Proposal/Plan
- Candidates must submit a clear and innovative research proposal that aligns with the focus, approaches and research questions of the ENVIU project, and MISR’s research areas, information about which can be obtained upon request. The proposal should explicitly target one of the project’s three socio-environmental fields.
- The proposal should outline how the candidate intends to achieve the following outcomes or deliverables:
a) Active participation in the project activities, including the facilitation of a research team focused on one of the socio-environmental fields.
b) A conceptual and empirical mapping of the socio-environmental field
c) Engaging in an individual research project within the ENVIU project.
d) Publication of articles in peer-reviewed journals and edited volumes as well as paper presentations at international conferences.
Research Competence
- Candidates must demonstrate intellectual rigor and innovative methodology that are aligned with, and can further contribute to, the ENVIU research project and MISR’s disciplinary fields.
- Evidence of independent research capabilities, such as publications in peer-reviewed journals or other significant academic contributions, is highly desirable.
Prior Experience
- Candidates should ideally have experience in academic conferences, research collaborations, or scholarly projects, as well as research-practice partnerships between academia and civil society.
- A track record of academic awards and fellowships will strengthen the application.
Communication, Leadership and Interpersonal Skills:
- Candidates must demonstrate strong communication and leadership skills, as well as an ability to work collaboratively within a research team.
Application Procedure
Submit a detailed Curriculum Vitae (CV), two letters of recommendation; copies of academic degrees and transcripts; a published or unpublished academic writing sample; and a research proposal that includes clear objectives, significance and potential contribution of the proposed research to the ENVIU Project.
Further information about the ENVIU project and the post doc position can be obtained by contacting the Director of MISR at: director.misr@mak.ac.ug.
All materials can be submitted by email as attachments. Email applications should be sent to: applications.misr@gmail.com (with copies to director.misr@mak.ac.ug).
The deadline for submission of applications is Wednesday, 29 October 2025
Selection Process
A committee consisting of the major researchers in the ENVIU Project will assess applications based on:
- Compliance with eligibility criteria.
- Alignment of the research proposal with the ENVIU Project and MISR’s disciplinary fields.
- Quality and potential of the research proposal.
- Academic experience and excellence.
The ENVIU Postdoctoral Fellowship values diversity, inclusion and equality, and encourages applications from women and underrepresented minorities.
[1] The research is funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark and managed by Danida Fellowship Centre.