We hereby invite applications for a PhD scholarship at the Department of Political Science. Enrolment will be at the Faculty of Social Sciences under Copenhagen Graduate School of Social Sciences.
The position starting date is 1 August 2026, or as soon as possible thereafter.
The successful candidate will be part of the research project “Moralizing Politics: The Practice of Judging Others” (MoPo), funded by the European Research Council, and led by Professor Christian Rostbøll.
MoPo investigates the role of moral judgment in contemporary politics, where citizens increasingly judge one another as good or bad people. While this moralization can reinforce democratic accountability, it also risks deepening polarization and hostility. By combining philosophical analysis with case studies on cancel culture, the dignity of work, fake news, and climate shaming, the project explores when the human propensity to judge others is pernicious versus beneficial for democracy.
You can read an abstract of the MoPo project
here. For the full project description, please send an email to
tpj656@ifs.ku.dk.
This PhD project will cover one of four cases covered in the MoPo project: Cancel Culture: Human Equality and Respect. Cancel culture is an obvious case of moralizing politics as a practice of judging others. It is a political practice in which people are called out—blamed, shamed, and punished—for violating what the accusers regard as fundamental moral principles for how people ought to treat and speak about other human beings. The PhD project is expected to examine the reactive attitudes (Strawson) involved in cancel culture, what kinds of moral principles are appealed to, and how it as a form of political practice relates to the ideal functions of deliberative democracy. The core normative question is whether and how cancel culture can be a legitimate form of political practice. In line with the overall approach of the MoPo project, the PhD project should apply the method of practice-sensitive reflective equilibrium, combining a qualitative case study of cancelling practices with moral philosophy and democratic theory. The candidate should formulate their own PhD project within this overall theoretical and methodological framework.
The selected candidate will write their PhD dissertation on the topic of cancel culture and collaborate with the other team members to develop a normative theory concerning the proper place and scope of morally judging others in democratic politics.
Funding is available for conference and summer school attendance, as well as field research, research visits, such that the candidate can develop their international network and research expertise.
The PhD Program The PhD program provides PhD students with strong research training which opens up a window of opportunities to a variety of careers within the private and public sectors. The program includes the drafting of a PhD thesis, active participation in research networks, PhD courses, teaching, and other forms of knowledge dissemination. The PhD program will be undertaken as a three-year full-time study within the framework of the 5+3 study program, or a four-year full-time study within the framework of the 4+4 study program. Further information about the PhD study program is available on the website of the PhD School in the Social Sciences:
https://socialsciences.ku.dk/phd/. Further information about the PhD study program is available on the website of Copenhagen Graduate School of Social Sciences:
PhD School in the Social Sciences – Faculty of Social Sciences - University of Copenhagen.
Under "Legal basis" on the website you will find information about the rules and guidelines for the PhD programme and the Danish Ministerial Order on the PhD programme at the Universities.
Duties and Qualifications The chosen candidate will be responsible for:
- Writing a PhD dissertation
- Co-authoring publications with team members
- Participating in workshops, conferences, and other scholarly activities
- Teaching
We are seeking to recruit a candidate with the following qualifications:
- A background in political theory (e.g., a master’s degree in political science or practical/political philosophy) (required)
- A demonstrated aptitude for doing research in normative political theory (required)
- An interest in democratic practice and in connecting political theory and political science (desired)
- Knowledge of qualitative methods (text analysis, interviews, and ethnographic research) (desired)
- A demonstrated aptitude for research (required)
- Proven skills in academic writing (required)
- A willingness to take on independent responsibilities and work collaboratively as part of a team (required)
If you have completed your education in Denmark, you must have a master’s degree covered by the collective agreement for academics in the state sector.
If you have completed your education outside of Denmark, you must either have a master’s degree equivalent to a Danish master’s degree (two years) or as minimum a bachelor’s degree equivalent to a Danish bachelor’s degree (three years) and be assessed as having professional qualifications at master's level.
If you have completed your education outside of Denmark, we will obtain an assessment of your education from the Danish Research Agency.
If you do not have an education equivalent to a relevant Danish master´s degree or qualifications corresponding to Danish master’s level, you might be qualified for the integrated MSc and PhD program (4+4).
Scholarship in the 5+3 or the 4+4 PhD study programs The 5+3 PhD study program PhD students are paid a salary in accordance with the agreement between the Ministry of Finance and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations (AC). The PhD student has a work obligation of up to 840 hours over the 3 year period of time without additional pay. The work obligation can include teaching, for instance. The PhD student is expected to seek funding for fieldwork as this is not included in the scholarship.
The 4+4 PhD study program Until an MSc degree is obtained, the grant is paid partly in the form of up to 48 state education grant portions (in Danish: SU-klip). More specifically the PhD student will be paid two grant portions per month plus salary for work (teaching, presentations etc.) which totals a workload of at least 280 hours. Payment and conditions of employment are carried out in accordance with the agreement between the Ministry of Finance and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations (AC). Upon completion of the MSc degree program, the student is transferred to the salary-earning part of the PhD studies. The PhD student is expected to seek funding for fieldwork as this is not included in the scholarship.
How to apply Please submit your application online. To apply, please click on the “Apply now” icon at the bottom of this page. The documents must be in Adobe PDF or Word.
- Cover letter, detailing your motivation and background for applying for the specific PhD project. Indicate whether you are applying for the 5+3 or 4+4 program.
- CV
- Project description, detailing how you will conduct the case study within the overall theoretical framework of the MoPo project (max. 1.500 words, not including references).
- Diploma and transcripts of records (BSc/BA and MSc/MA)
- Writing sample (article length)
- Other information for consideration, e.g. list of publications, documentation of English language qualifications (if any).
Please note that it is only possible to upload one document per attachment category. If more than one document must be uploaded in the same category, please make sure that they are scanned and collected into one file. Further details on the documents that should accompany your application are available on this website:
Admission requirements and application procedures – University of Copenhagen.
Applicants holding a degree from a university where the working language is neither English nor a Scandinavian language must include translated versions of their diploma and transcripts, verified by the issuing university. The documents must be translated into English, Danish, Norwegian, or Swedish. In addition, an official description of the relevant grading scale (e.g. diploma supplement) must be included
The recruitment process Selected applicants are notified of the composition of the assessment committee, and each applicant has the opportunity to comment on the part of the assessment that relates to the applicant themselves.
Further information on the recruitment process at University of Copenhagen can be found here:
https://employment.ku.dk/faculty/recruitment-process/ Enrolment In order to be awarded a PhD scholarship, the applicant has to enroll as a PhD student at the Faculty of Social Sciences, cf. the rules of the Danish Ministerial order No 1039 of 27 August 2013.
The Department of Political Science The Department is a top-ranked European Political Science department, which offers a vibrant, collegial, and pluralist academic working environment for ambitious scholars.
The pluralism of Political Science in Copenhagen is evidenced in the various epistemological and methodological approaches as well as subfields adopted by faculty, and in a wide range of core subjects in the MSc program.
The Department consists of some 75 faculty members, which currently includes more than 10 tenure-track assistant professors, as well as some 25 Ph.D. students, organized in four main research groups and a few centers. For more on the Department, please consult our webpage:
https://politicalscience.ku.dk/ An Equal Opportunity Workplace The University of Copenhagen is committed in its pursuit of academic excellence to equality of opportunity and to creating an inclusive working environment and therefore encourages all qualified candidates to apply, regardless of personal background, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, ethnicity etc. For more on the diverse working place environment at the University and the University’s participation in the HRS4R HR Excellence in Research, see
https://employment.ku.dk/working-at-ucph/eu-charter-for-researchers/ .
The Department of Political Science has a Code of Conduct expressing our continuous commitment to ensuring a welcoming, inclusive, professional and respectful culture at the Department for Political Science, please see
https://politicalscience.ku.dk/code-of-conduct.pdf International applicant? The University of Copenhagen offers a broad variety of services for international researchers and accompanying families, including support before and during your relocation and career counselling to expat partners. Please find more information about these services as well as information on entering and working in Denmark here:
https://ism.ku.dk/ Contact information For information about the position, please contact
tpj656@ifs.ku.dk For information about the Political Science PhD Program at the University of Copenhagen, please contact Head of PhD Program, Professor Jacob Gerner Hariri,
jgh@ifs.ku.dk Information about the recruitment process is available from HR, email:
hr-soendre@adm.ku.dk. Please refer to ID 211-2379/26-2H
The closing date for applications is 13 April 2026. Applications received after the deadline will not be taken into account.