The Structure and Organization of Government Project (SOG-PRO) is a collaborative research programme that is recently jointly funded by the national scientific research foundations of the Netherlands (NWO), France (ANR), Germany (DFG), and the United Kingdom (ESRC) under the Open Research Area Plus programme.1 SOG-PRO aspires to develop and search for innovative ways to describe and understand the organizational dynamics at the level of central government. The research aims to contribute to the field of public administration, both academia as well as practice. The research aims of SOG-PRO are 1. The development and application of a cross-national framework for mapping the changing organizational structures across policy sectors of the central governments of France, Germany, the Netherlands, and United Kingdom between 1980 and 2010. 2. The identification of patterns of change, convergence or divergence between the countries’ central governmental developments as regards their organization and structures. 3. The theoretical explanation of the patterns that are found by developing and testing a variety of theoretical arguments in order to develop political, historical and sociological explanations for changes in the structure and organization of government. The project starts on 1 September 2014 and will run for three years. Job description In the research project, the four research teams will for each country (1) build a quantitative dataset that maps the changes in the structure and organization of central 1 http://www.nwo.nl/en/research-and-results/programmes/magw/open-research- area-plus/index.html  government between 1980 and 2010, (2) build case studies of organizational and structural changes in four selected policy areas, and (3) develop and test theories to explain the patterns found in both the quantitative and qualitative observations. Profile To this end the research teams are looking for highly qualified and motivated researchers at the postdoc and PhD levels. The candidates should have a background in the social sciences, preferably public administration, political science or sociology. The quantitative and qualitative aspects of the research project are equally important, so proficiency in mixed method approaches - (advanced) statistics and case study methodology – is highly preferred. Job conditions This is a general announcement of the project and the positions. The successful candidates will be hired by one of the participating universities according to the local employment and salary conditions. For specific information on these conditions please contact the individual research team members. The German research teams opens up one Postdoc and one PhD position, one in Potsdam and one in Speyer. Mastering the German language at the level of reading and speaking is a requirement. The Dutch, UK and French teams are opening up Postdoc positions (please note that the position is called an Associate Research Fellow in the UK). While English is the language of communication between the groups, for the Dutch postdoc position Dutch- speaking candidates will be favoured. For the French postdoc to have a thorough command of the French language is a requirement. The research teams will regularly convene to discuss the progress and (preliminary) findings of their research. Applications Interested candidates are asked to send their cv’s and a cover letter until July 2 2014 to the relevant members of the SOG-PRO team. Candidates will be required to complete the formal application process of the host institution according to the post(s) they apply for. APPLICATION DEADLINES MAY DIFFER PER INSTITUTION. PLEASE INFORM WITH THE RESEARCH TEAM MEMBERS INDIVIDUALLY. The SOG-PRO team Dr. Philippe Bezes (France) - bezes@hotmail.com, philippe.bezes@cnrs.fr Prof. Dr. Oliver James (United Kingdom) - o.james@exeter.ac.uk Dr. Kutsal Yesilkagit (Netherlands) - a.k.yesilkagit@uu.nl Prof. Dr. Werner Jann (Germany) - jann@uni-potsdam.de Prof. Dr. Julia Fleischer (Germany) - J.Fleischer@uva.nl Project description The Structure and Organization of Government Project (SOG-PRO) is a collaborative research programme that is recently jointly funded by the national scientific research foundations of the Netherlands (NWO), France (ANR), Germany (DFG), and the United Kingdom (ESRC) under the Open Research Area Plus programme.1 SOG-PRO aspires to develop and search for innovative ways to describe and understand the organizational dynamics at the level of central government. The research aims to contribute to the field of public administration, both academia as well as practice. The research aims of SOG-PRO are 1. The development and application of a cross-national framework for mapping the changing organizational structures across policy sectors of the central governments of France, Germany, the Netherlands, and United Kingdom between 1980 and 2010. 2. The identification of patterns of change, convergence or divergence between the countries’ central governmental developments as regards their organization and structures. 3. The theoretical explanation of the patterns that are found by developing and testing a variety of theoretical arguments in order to develop political, historical and sociological explanations for changes in the structure and organization of government. The project starts on 1 September 2014 and will run for three years. Job description In the research project, the four research teams will for each country (1) build a quantitative dataset that maps the changes in the structure and organization of central 1 http://www.nwo.nl/en/research-and-results/programmes/magw/open-research- area-plus/index.html  government between 1980 and 2010, (2) build case studies of organizational and structural changes in four selected policy areas, and (3) develop and test theories to explain the patterns found in both the quantitative and qualitative observations. Profile To this end the research teams are looking for highly qualified and motivated researchers at the postdoc and PhD levels. The candidates should have a background in the social sciences, preferably public administration, political science or sociology. The quantitative and qualitative aspects of the research project are equally important, so proficiency in mixed method approaches - (advanced) statistics and case study methodology – is highly preferred. Job conditions This is a general announcement of the project and the positions. The successful candidates will be hired by one of the participating universities according to the local employment and salary conditions. For specific information on these conditions please contact the individual research team members. The German research teams opens up one Postdoc and one PhD position, one in Potsdam and one in Speyer. Mastering the German language at the level of reading and speaking is a requirement. The Dutch, UK and French teams are opening up Postdoc positions (please note that the position is called an Associate Research Fellow in the UK). While English is the language of communication between the groups, for the Dutch postdoc position Dutch- speaking candidates will be favoured. For the French postdoc to have a thorough command of the French language is a requirement. The research teams will regularly convene to discuss the progress and (preliminary) findings of their research. Applications Interested candidates are asked to send their cv’s and a cover letter until July 2 2014 to the relevant members of the SOG-PRO team. Candidates will be required to complete the formal application process of the host institution according to the post(s) they apply for. APPLICATION DEADLINES MAY DIFFER PER INSTITUTION. PLEASE INFORM WITH THE RESEARCH TEAM MEMBERS INDIVIDUALLY. The SOG-PRO team Dr. Philippe Bezes (France) - bezes@hotmail.com, philippe.bezes@cnrs.fr Prof. Dr. Oliver James (United Kingdom) - o.james@exeter.ac.uk Dr. Kutsal Yesilkagit (Netherlands) - a.k.yesilkagit@uu.nl Prof. Dr. Werner Jann (Germany) - jann@uni-potsdam.de Prof. Dr. Julia Fleischer (Germany) - J.Fleischer@uva.nl