Research Associate - Business of Bordering

Postdoctoral Research Associate – The Business of Bordering (Danish part)

We are seeking a Postdoctoral Research Associate (postdoc) to work on the ESRC funded ‘The Business of Bordering’ research project. The postholder will work under the supervision of Dr. Lucy Mayblin (University of Sheffield), in collaboration with Dr. Joe Turner (University of York) and Dr. Martin Lemberg-Pedersen (University of Southern Denmark). The project assesses the role of private border security businesses in the UK and Denmark.

From September 2026, the research will focus on Danish companies contracted by governments to support border control, involving data collection, institutional analysis, critical discourse analysis, stakeholder mapping, and qualitative fieldwork.

• Reading and reviewing relevant literature.
• Building a dataset of Danish border security contracts.
• Desk‑based policy analysis and stakeholder mapping in Danish and English.
• Undertaking qualitative field research, including elite interviews and observations at sector events.
• Attending and presenting at academic seminars, workshops and conferences.
• Assisting in writing project website/blog, newsletters, reports and scholarly publications.
• Contributing to conference presentations, practitioner workshops and research advisory group meetings.
• Performing other duties commensurate with the grade and remit of the post.

• Your Ph.D. (or close to completion) in a social science or humanities discipline, or equivalent experience.
• Fluency in Danish and excellent written and oral communication skills in both Danish and English.
• Solid familiarity with Danish borders and immigration systems, and broader policy areas.
• Strong time‑management skills.
• Ability to work independently.
• Familiarity with critical border and migration studies, political economy, outsourcing, arms trade and security technologies.
• Experience with financial data (e.g., investigative journalism techniques). Key requirement.

• Experience with stakeholder mapping.
• Experience with policy discourse analysis.

Grade 7 salary: £38,784 – £41,064. Full‑time, 30‑month contract from 1 September 2026. Work arrangement: full‑time, reporting to the Project Principal Investigator.

We encourage all qualified candidates to apply. We are a Disability Confident Leader and welcome applications from individuals with disabilities who meet the essential criteria.