Project description
The successful candidate will be part of the ERC-funded project The Making of a Lopsided Union: Economic Integration in the European Economic Community, 1957-1992 (EURECON) led by Dr Emmanuel Mourlon-Druol (Grant Agreement n°716849 — see http://e-mourlon-druol.com/eurecon/ for more details). The successful candidate is expected to begin on 1 September 2019, or as soon as possible thereafter (a few months’ delay is negotiable if need be).
The positions will be for 2 years, starting from September 2019 (or later if so negotiated). In addition to their salary, the Post-Doctoral Researcher will receive an allowance for research missions and participation to international conferences of at least £2,500 per year.
The goal of EURECON is to explore European policymakers’ views about how to make the organisation of the European Economic Community (EEC) fit for the creation of a single currency, from 1957 to 1992. It is often said that the euro has faults of conception. But how did this happen? How was the euro made in such a way that it nearly completely overlooked some critical aspects of monetary unions? The assumption is that in the run-up to the 1992 Maastricht Treaty, European policymakers just did not think properly about how to make the Euro work. Was this really the case? Did European policymakers really overlook the economic foundations of European monetary union?
The project aims to examine European policymakers' debates and proposals, understand the reasons for their success or failure, identify the dynamics of political and economic trade-offs and compromises, shifting priorities, and alternative approaches that were abandoned at the time but recycled later. The project focuses on five work packages: macroeconomic policy coordination, fiscal transfers, capital market integration, banking harmonisation/supervision and the deepening of the common/single market. The project will examine the origins of the issues that are currently bedevilling the European Union (EU) by investigating the period between the creation of the EEC in 1957 and the decision to create a European single currency in 1992.
The Postdoctoral Research Projects will focus on the role and influence of non-state, non-EEC actors and factors in the above discussions.
Postdoctoral Research Project
Interested applicants should focus specifically on the role of business (other than banks). The implementation of the common/single market, the issue of EEC fiscal transfers, and macroeconomic policy coordination had an impact on the conduct of business in Europe. Did business consider that these developments would improve their environment, in creating more business opportunities, easier financing and trade? The Roundtable of Industrialists famously lobbied for the Single Market Project; did business aim to actively support or oppose other developments at different time periods?
The successful candidate is expected to:
- Engage in independent scientific research that will result in high-quality publications in international peer-reviewed journals (individual and co-authored)
- Be an active part of the EURECON project and work in close cooperation with other team members
- Provide some organisational and administrative support, in collaboration with other team members, to the research activities of the EURECON project
- Present papers at conferences
- Participate in yearly workshops organised within the scope of EURECON.
To apply for the position, applicants are required to submit (www.glasgow.ac.uk/jobs, Job Ref: 024587):
- Their CV,
- The details of three referees
- A cover letter explaining how their research experience fits the EURECON project,
- A two-page description of the research they would like to undertake during their tenure, clearly mentioning: the scope of their project, the state of the literature, the archival sources they would like to use; and the expected outputs. Projects should preferably have a comparative dimension; there is no preference as to the business sector or size to be investigated.
Please upload your cover letter and two-page research document as ONE document.
Excellent English verbal and written communication skills. A good command of another European language would be an advantage.
Candidates should have a PhD in History (or related discipline), or be close to completion.
Application deadline is 15 April 2019. Short-listed candidates will be invited for an interview to present their research proposal. It is anticipated that the interviews for these positions will take place in late May 2019.
Interested applicants may contact Dr Emmanuel Mourlon-Druol (Emmanuel.Mourlon-Druol@glasgow.ac.uk) for informal enquiries.