Funding

Fully Funded · Salary

Program dates

Sep 1, 2026 – Aug 31, 2030

PhD Scholarship•Switzerland · Geneva

PhD Studentships — Narrative Belonging: Memory Politics and NATO Enlargement in Europe

Geneva Graduate Institute (Centre on Conflict, Development and Peacebuilding)

Application Deadline

Closed · May 29, 2026

Official Page

The Geneva Graduate Institute’s Centre on Conflict, Development and Peacebuilding (CCDP) recruited two doctoral researchers for the project “Narrative Belonging: Memory Politics and NATO Enlargement in Europe,” funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) and led by Professor Jussi Hanhimäki. The project examines how memories of the past shaped NATO enlargement and Europe’s evolving security order since the end of the Cold War, focusing on enlargement episodes from 1999 onward and drawing on archival research and oral-history interviews. Both are full-time, salaried four-year appointments based in Geneva, Switzerland. This was a one-off recruitment tied to a single research grant.

Benefits & funding

  • Full employment contract as a doctoral researcher, paid on the SNSF salary scale for PhD candidates — a salary, not a stipend.
  • Four-year appointment, 1 September 2026 – 31 August 2030, at a 100% activity rate (40 hours/week).
  • Enrolment in the Institute’s doctoral programme in International History and Politics.
  • Membership of an active research centre (CCDP), with archival fieldwork and interview work built into the project.

Eligibility

  • A Master’s degree in history or a closely related discipline.
  • Excellent command of English; an English-language certificate may be required unless a prior degree was taught in English.
  • Regional-language skills — Polish or a Baltic language — are highly desirable but not required.
  • Open to all nationalities; no residency restriction stated.

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Application process

  1. 1
    Prepare a single PDF application: motivation letter, research proposal (max 1,000 words), CV, transcripts and degree diplomas, a writing sample (thesis chapter or manuscript), and the names of two referees.
  2. 2
    Submit the package to the Institute by the deadline; address questions to the Principal Investigator, Professor Jussi Hanhimäki.
  3. 3
    Shortlisted candidates are interviewed.

Program timeline

  1. Application deadline (23:59 CET)

    May 29, 2026

  2. Interviews for shortlisted candidates

    2026-06 (second week)

  3. Positions start

    Sep 1, 2026

  4. Positions end

    Aug 31, 2030