Doctoral Student Collaborator; DSC) position; history of global maternal health; F​/M​/D

Position: Doctoral Student Collaborator (DSC) position (25%) in the history of global maternal health (F/M/D)
Location: Genf

The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies is recruiting a Doctoral Student Collaborator (DSC) position (25%) in the History of Global Maternal Health (F/M/D)

ACTIVITY RATE: 25%

Applications are invited for a Doctoral Student Collaborator position with the project “Global Maternity:
The Politics of Knowledge Production at the World Health Organization, ,” funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation and hosted at the Geneva Graduate Institute Gender Centre (project overview available here ). The Doctoral Student Collaborator will work with the Principal Investigator (PI) Dr. Nicole Bourbonnais and the Post-Doc (PD) Paula Orozco Espinel (both based at the Geneva Graduate Institute) as well as the Project Partner (PP) Dr.

Ogechukwu Williams (based at the University of Buffalo), providing support for research, logistics, and public dissemination of the findings.

The project began on June 1, 2026 and will run until May 31, 2030. The Doctoral Student Collaborator will ideally join the project from January 1, 2027 and continue for a duration of 2 years (ie. ending December 31, 2028). The candidate must be a PhD student currently enrolled at the Graduate Institute and available to work at a rate of 25% (10 hours/week in average) throughout the period of employment.

The

Collaborator’s tasks will vary over this period, including:

• Identifying academic literature and publications relevant to the project, uploading and organizing materials in a shared Endnote library;
• Compiling, organizing, and cleaning up various research data (for example, maintaining lists of key actors, organizations, publications and events in the history of maternity at the WHO, identifying basic biographical details for event participants… etc), using Excel and/or other software;
• Preparing, editing, and indexing transcripts for oral history interviews, cleaning up audio/video for those that will be publicly available (using transcription and editing software);
• Assistance in cataloguing/indexing relevant data for open science platforms;
• Support for publications, including coordinating with authors of an edited volume, checking footnotes and bibliographies, and ensuring adherence to publishers’ formatting requirements;
• Supporting events, including arranging room bookings, catering, participant travel/accommodation and reimbursements in coordination with the administrative team of the Gender Centre, as well as note‑taking and follow‑up;
• Scheduling team meetings and preparing agendas, notes, and follow‑up points;
• Preparing a successor Doctoral Student Collaborator to take over the relevant work from January 1, 2029 onwards (ie. Providing an overview of the work to date and schedule/planning materials);
• Other activities as required by the project.

Necessary Requirements:

• Currently enrolled in a PhD Program at the Geneva Graduate Institute and able to work at 25% for the duration of the employment period;
• Excellent knowledge of English;
• Good interpersonal skills and ability to work in a team.

Assets:

• Prior experience conducting or supporting archival and oral history research, planning events, working in a research team, and using relevant software;
• Basic familiarity with the research topic, ie. the history of global health, history of international organizations, gender history, reproductive politics