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The University of Lucerne is a modern, personal and dynamic human sciences university at the heart of Switzerland and Europe. In keeping with our guiding principle 'Moving Human Sciences', we focus on people and their institutions with our six faculties and two academies. Our aim is to develop the University of Lucerne into a pioneering, internationally visible centre for research and teaching in the human sciences.
The Faculty of Behavioural Sciences and Psychology conducts innovative research that strengthens professional care in Switzerland and helps position Lucerne as an international centre for research in the human sciences. It currently offers Bachelor's and postgraduate programmes, with a Master's programme set to launch in 2027. The faculty also runs a state-of-the-art practical training clinic and behavioural science laboratories.
The Faculty of Behavioural Sciences and Psychology conducts innovative research that strengthens professional care in Switzerland and helps position Lucerne as an international centre for research in the human sciences. It currently offers Bachelor's and postgraduate programmes, with a Master's programme set to launch in 2027. The faculty also runs a state-of-the-art practical training clinic and behavioural science laboratories.
As of 1 October 2026 or by agreement, we are looking for a
Postdoctoral Researcher for the ERC-funded project TRACES (Terrorism, Race and Embodied Security) 50 - 60%, 4 years
The research project is led by Prof. Dr. Ahmed Ajil and focuses on counterterrorism policies and practices in Switzerland, Germany and Belgium. It consists of the following three parts:
First: analysis of criminal and administrative case law and soft preventive measures (PVE) adopting a quantitative and qualitative approach.
Second: analysis of power dynamics and social categories produced through these instruments and confronting these insights with the views of practitioners in the three countries (semi-structured interviews).
Third: analysis of the impacts of counterterrorism measures using ethnographic interviews with directly affected individuals, focus groups with activists and civil society, as well as courtroom ethnography.
Tasks
- Quantitative and qualitative analysis of criminal and administrative law documents in Switzerland, Germany and Belgium
- Conducting semi-structured interviews with practitioners
- Conduct focus groups and courtroom ethnography
- Writing of scientific papers
- Participating in collaborative sessions of the research project team
Requirements
- Doctorate in the social sciences, ideally with a focus on security studies, criminology, counterterrorism
- Autonomy in conducting field research
- Experience in scientific writing and publishing
- Ability to work in an international research team
- Linguistic proficiency in English, German and/or French, basic knowledge of Arabic desirable
- Flexibility to travel abroad
We offer
- 4-year employment at conditions of the University of Lucerne
- Workplace at the University of Lucerne (with possibility to work remotely)
- Possibility of contributing to ground-breaking research in the social sciences with international relevance
For further information, please contact Prof. Dr. Ahmed Ajil, +41 41 229 59 12, ahmed.ajil@unilu.ch.
The application deadline is 15 September 2026. Please apply via our job portal
