Postdoctoral Researcher - Mercenary Accountability Research at UCPH

Applications are invited for one postdoctoral position from 1 November 2025 or as soon as possible thereafter. The position is part of the ERC project MERCURY Mercenarism and the Accountability Void: Finding routes to accountability and remedy for the victims of human rights abuses perpetrated by mercenaries.

The position is a fixed term full-time position for 2 years.

About the MERCURY project
The MERCURY project is a 5-year €2M project led by Dr. Sorcha MacLeod and funded by a European Research Council Consolidator Grant that is researching viable routes to accountability and remedy for the victims of mercenarism.

While recent armed conflicts have increased the international focus on the problems arising from the deployment of mercenaries and related actors, accountability for the atrocities they commit is still rare. Therefore, these actors are effectively operating with impunity, as their victims are denied access to justice. Mercenaries operate in an accountability void, and there is little research on how accountability could be ensured for victims of mercenarism.

MERCURY focuses on this accountability void, combining (1) cutting-edge, data-driven mapping and analysis of mercenary operations with (2) thorough legal and qualitative analysis. The mapping will provide a novel understanding of mercenaries to underpin groundbreaking legal analysis of the shortcomings and weaknesses of national and international legal frameworks when it comes to remedies for victims. Through legal and qualitative analysis, MERCURY will then evaluate human rights routes to accountability and remedy via international and national human rights courts, tribunals, mechanisms, and transitional justice processes, and propose potential pathways to justice for victims. This position relates to the second part of the project.

The richer understanding derived from MERCURY will help inform stakeholders on how they can better prevent abuses perpetrated by mercenaries, or failing that, ensure accountability and redress for victims.

https://jura.ku.dk/privategovernance/english/research/mercury/

Duties and Responsibilities
It is a 100% research position.

About the position
The position is focused on understanding and evaluating international, regional, and national routes to accountability and remedy for victims and the successful candidate will join the MERCURY team in applying a ‘mixing methods’ methodological approach where we employ doctrinal legal approach, qualitative mixed methods, and critical legal theories. This involves analysis of publicly available materials and databases, including primary legal materials such as treaties, legislation, and decisions of courts and tribunals, as well as secondary legal materials such as scholarly work, reports, and databases. This normative analysis will allow the team to uncover potential routes to accountability, justice, and remedy, and to analyse the effectiveness of these routes. Qualitative empirical data will be collected from stakeholders during fieldwork, including victims, via questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and other types of stakeholder engagement and analysed to determine the effectiveness of existing routes to accountability and remedy for victims. To produce qualitative methods to gather empirical data to inform understanding of the frameworks it will be necessary to engage with relevant stakeholders including governments, international organisations, civil society, and victims.

The key research question for the successful applicant is ‘To what extent are there gaps in existing human rights frameworks and mechanisms specifically relating to accountability and remedy for the victims of mercenary activities**?’ Applicants should submit a proposal outlining how they will approach this research question.

Essential requirements for the position:

• A PhD in law
• A background in international and regional human rights law
• Knowledge of mercenaries and private military and security companies
• Qualitative research experience, specifically interviews

Highly Desirable Qualifications:

• Experience with human rights courts and tribunals highly desirable, in particular the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights
• Experience in legal practice
• Established networks in one or more regional human rights ecosystem
• Additional language skills in e.g. French, Arabic, Russian, or Spanish

The successful applicant will be supported in accessing academic training and workshops, membership of professional bodies, conferences and workshops, network-building, and further developing professional academic skills in research and academic writing. They will be effectively and constructively mentored by the PI in a positive workplace and supported in becoming an independent scholar in their own right. The successful applicant will be expected to engage actively in the MERCURY project, including project meetings, fieldwork, working with project partners, participating in international conferences, and publishing in high-impact peer-reviewed journals, as well as participating more broadly in the research environment at the University of Copenhagen.

MERCURY is anchored in and benefits from a strong research environment at the Faculty of Law and across UCPH, as well as with other researchers nationally and internationally. The successful candidate will be based at the Centre for Private Governance (CEPRI). CEPRI is a dynamic research centre with multiple ongoing international and national research projects, and a nurturing, lively, and inspiring atmosphere for postdocs.

Applicants are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the faculty's research areas and education programmes by visiting the Faculty’s website: www.jura.ku.dk.

The Faculty actively supports efforts to learn Danish.

Qualification requirements
Employment as a Postdoc requires academic qualifications at PhD level.

More information on careers at UCPH and the requirement for the different academic positions is available on: Career at The University of Copenhagen – University of Copenhagen (ku.dk).

For more information about Postdoc positions and qualification requirements, please see the Job Structure for Academic Staff at Universities: Job Structure for Academic Staff at Universities 2013 (ufm.dk).

You will primarily be assessed in relation to your research qualifications, including your publications, ability to conduct independent research and participate in research collaborations as well as your experience in research management. In addition, the applicant’s research plan and research potential will be assessed in relation to the overall MERCURY project’s focus areas described above.

Application
Please submit your application online. To apply, please click on the "Apply now" icon at the bottom of this page. The application must be written in English and include the following enclosures in Adobe PDF or Word format:

• CV including any publications
• Cover letter
• Documentation of qualifications (exam certificates and PhD diploma)
• Applications should include a Project Proposal addressing the research question: ‘To what extent are there gaps in existing human rights frameworks and mechanisms specifically relating to accountability and remedy for the victims of mercenary activities?’ Proposals should be no more than four pages long. The proposal should demonstrate the capacity to develop a postdoctoral project, identifying the relevant methodological tools to achieve the outlined project.

Please familiarize yourself with the faculty’s strategy here: Strategy 2030 – University of Copenhagen (ku.dk).

Salary and terms of employment
You will be paid in accordance with the agreement between the Ministry of Finance and The Danish Confederation of Professional Associations on Academics in the State. Depending on seniority, the monthly salary starts at approximately DKK 38,700/roughly EUR 5,100 + a 17.1% pension contribution. It is possible to negotiate salary supplements on an annual basis.

The recruitment process
Once the deadline for applications has expired, the Associate Dean of Research, with advice from the Appointment Committee, selects applicants for assessment. All applicants will be notified whether they have been shortlisted and selected for assessment. After this, the Associate Dean of Research sets up an expert Assessment Committee to assess the shortlisted applicants. The selected applicants will be informed who is serving on the committee. Each shortlisted applicant will be offered the opportunity to comment on the committee's assessment before the appointment is announced.

Further information on the recruitment process at UCPH can be found here: Recruitment process – University of Copenhagen (ku.dk).

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: For international researchers at the University of Copenhagen – University of Copenhagen (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, please see: HR Excellence in Research – University of Copenhagen (ku.dk).

Contact information
Information about the recruitment process is available from HR South, email: brandy34hr-soendreheather68@jenkins.dkadm.ku.dkmurphy.dkmccall-rose.dk. Please refer to ID number: 211-2285/25-2I.

Additional information about the position can be obtained from Dr Sorcha MacLeod, email: tramosmcleantiffanyrachelreevessorcha.macleod@gray-ramos.dkjur.ku.dkharper.dk.

The deadline for applications is 24 August 2025 at 23:59 [CEST]

Any applications or additional material submitted after the deadline will not be considered. However, changes may be made to the submitted application right up until the deadline.