In the last twenty years, scholars in public policy have devoted a lot of attention to the changes in the governance arrangements. The main focus of this stream of research has been on the transformation of governance modes (and of the policy tools adopted) without enough emphasis both on the real policy performance of these changes and on convincing interpretations of the occurred governance shifts. Thus, the research project in which the grant is given is focused on analysing which causal mechanisms have influenced the governance shifts, and ‘whether’, and ‘in what sense’, such “new” governance arrangements and policy instruments mixes have been, and are, effective respect to the expected policy outcomes. To answer these research questions, the project should work both on a small N of cases research strategy and a large N of cases research strategy (in the fields of education and higher education policies). Within this general framework, according to the indications of the scientific coordinator of the project, prof. Giliberto Capano, the grant holder should focus on the development of an innovative theoretical framework capable to grasp the causal relations between changes in governance arrangement, and policy instruments, with their real effects in education and higher education policies. Research activities will therefore include: a) an analysis of the literature on governance changes and policy mixes adopted in education and higher education policies in comparative perspective; b) the design and the test of policy performance indicators in both education and higher education policies; c) the selection of best suited methods for the Large N of cases (the 28 EU countries) research strategy and the Small N of cases research strategy (from 3 to 5); d) implementation of the empirical research; e) writing of a research report.

Duration of the contract: 2 years.

Annual gross compensation, inclusive of all taxes: € 30.000,00

Application deadline: the application must be received by September 30th 2014 at the Scuola Normale.

Information about the selection procedure can be found below. Candidates are invited to read the official announcement published on the website of the Scuola Normale Superiore, at the following URL: http://www.sns.it/en/servizi/job/assegnidiricerca/assegno356/<http://www.sns.it/servizi/job/assegnidiricerca/assegno230/> and to follow exclusively its detailed instructions should they decide to apply.

Giliberto Capano, Professor of Political Science and Public Policy Director, PhD Programme in Political Science and Sociology - SCUOLA NORMALE SUPERIORE Co-Editor, Policy and Society Co-editor, Rivista Italiana di Politiche Pubbliche

Department of Political and Social Sciences School of Political Sciences University of Bologna at Forlì via Giacomo della Torre, 1 47100 Forlì - Italy <mailto:giliberto.capano@unibo.it>email: giliberto.capano@unibo.it

         giliberto.capano@sns.it

phone: 0039.0543374180X mobile phone: 0039.335407496