GRI Post-Doctoral Fellowship – International Diplomacy

Position description

The Global Research Institute (GRI) empowers teams of William & Mary students and faculty to make a difference in the world. We are a multidisciplinary hub that applies scholarly research to real world problems, investing in outstanding student and faculty scholars to catalyze new insights and cultivate the next generation of global leaders. GRI brings high quality researchers to W&M, supports intellectual diversity, and provides mentored research opportunities for undergraduate students, especially those from under-represented groups. Based in the Office of the Provost, GRI supports a whole of university approach to advance W&M by developing ideas, convening partners, creating and analyzing data, and inventing new methods. The Institute’s approach to incubate and scale applied research helps researchers push research frontiers and produce insights that matter at W&M and beyond. Under the auspices of the Institute there are several research projects, most grant-funded, with the largest being AidData.

Position Summary

The Global Research Institute (GRI) at William & Mary invites applications for a one-year postdoctoral scholar position with a focus on international diplomacy, foreign policy analysis, and international security. This position is designed to enhance GRI’s research capacity in these areas, increase the diversity of our scholarly community, provide a mentored learning experience to the postdoctoral fellow, and offer research opportunities for undergraduate students. The Institute seeks to attract outstanding researchers and educators from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, gender identities, and other underrepresented populations whose life experiences and scholarship will contribute meaningfully to the academic mission of William & Mary and GRI.

The postdoctoral scholar will be a core collaborator on the Diplomacy Project, a thriving initiative housed within GRI. This project brings together the Political Psychology and International Relations (PPIR) research lab and GRI’s NukeLab to investigate and advance our understanding of diplomacy’s impact on deterrence, escalation, and international security. With a dynamic team of faculty, undergraduate research fellows, and other collaborators, the Diplomacy Project is at the forefront of studying face-to-face diplomacy, digital diplomacy, and crisis diplomacy.
 

The postdoctoral scholar will work closely with the lab directors as an equal partner in shaping and executing the research agenda. This includes designing and implementing new predictive empirical models, conducting case studies of diplomatic initiatives, analyzing data on diplomatic visits and digital diplomacy, and engaging with practitioners in diverse contexts. The Fellow will have the opportunity to propose new avenues of research, contribute to publications and presentations, and mentor a team of motivated undergraduate researchers.
 

In addition to their research responsibilities, the postdoctoral scholar will teach one course during the fellowship year and participate in GRI’s professional development series, which provides guidance on:
 

 

• Pursuing funded research opportunities
• Organizing and managing undergraduate research labs
• Navigating the academic publishing process
• Making research accessible to policymakers and practitioners
• Enhancing teaching effectiveness in the classroom

 

Fellows will receive a salary of $60,000, shared office space at GRI, library access, and other benefits including comprehensive health insurance. The position also comes with over $30,000 in funds to conduct research and hire undergraduate student researchers.
 

To apply please submit your resume/curriculum vitae, cover letter, and a minimum of three references. You will be prompted to submit online the names and email addresses of three references who will be contacted by the system with instructions for how to submit a letter of reference. For full consideration, submit application materials by the review date

Qualifications

• Have a PhD by the time appointment begins (summer 2025) in political science, history, international relations, or another relevant field.
• Have a strong interest in building and pursuing a research agenda in international diplomacy, foreign policy analysis, or international security;
• Possess advanced training and expertise in qualitative or quantitative methods;
• Have strong organizational and communication skills;
• Demonstrate a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced quantitative methods training and expertise in areas such as causal inference, data science, or machine learning;
• Experience working with statistical software such as R, Stata, or Python;
• Engaged in applied/policy research that is directly relevant to the Diplomacy Project;
• Track record of publications in peer-reviewed outlets and/or preparation and presentation of conference papers;
• Track record of publications in public-facing outlets;
• Experience working collaboratively on large research project;
• Experience preparing grant proposals and securing external research funds;
• Experience teaching or mentoring undergraduate students, including on research

Application instructions

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